Star Trek The Original Series From History's Shadow by Dayton Ward Page A

to learn more, and this may well prove advantageous to us.”
    Adlar said nothing for a moment, rising from the bed and moving to the small sink at the back of the room, positioned against the rear wall next to the bathroom door. Gejalik watched him run water from the faucet, wetting his hands before pressing them to his face, then repeating the action to the top of his head.
    “We know that the American military has pursued investigations of extraterrestrial activity, and Jaecz has reported that similar efforts are under way in other countries around the world. If we could infiltrate that program, it would give us insight into their progress.” He turned from the sink and leaned against the vanity. “I doubt that anything they currently know could possibly lead them to us, and neither can they comprehend why we are here. Still, it would be wise to confirm my suspicions.”
    “Agreed,” Gejalik replied. They already had been infiltrating the American military establishment almost since their arrival, taking on numerous guises and identities in their ongoing quest to acquire ever more information. “It’s even possible that more thought and effort will be channeled toward responding to a perceived extraterrestrial threat by using nuclear weapons.”
    In the wake of the Second World War, a new emphasis now was on the proliferation of such weapons even as other global powers worked toward the same goals. Maintaining close ties to the military and the immense industrial infrastructure that had been created to support it was the best means of keeping apprised of rapid technological advancement. In just the handful of years since the United States’s deployment of two atomic devices against its lone remaining enemy, Japan, to bring about the end of that conflict, the Soviet Union and Great Britain also had conducted successful tests of such weapons. Meanwhile, the political strain between the United States and Russia had only increased now that America’s principal rival had become a “nuclear power.” It was this heightening tension, Gejalik knew, that likely would provide their most promising leads toward accomplishing their mission.
    “Any weapons the humans might bring to bear would be of little use,” Adlar said, his gaze not on her but instead on the dingy linoleum tile covering the floor space near the sink. “They likely would do more harm to their own planet, rather than having any detrimental effect on an attacking force from space. Such a foolhardy tactic would only help the aggressors.”
    Gejalik considered this. “It would render large portions of the planet uninhabitable. Hardly a satisfactory conclusion, for either side. Then again, isn’t this not at all dissimilar to the result we’re trying to bring about?”
    “In a manner of speaking,” Adlar said. “While I would like to think we might find a means of accomplishing our mission that did not involve genocide, manipulating events so that Earth’s major factions unleash their own destruction upon themselves is still the course of action with the greatest chance of success.”
    It was not the first time he had expressed such thoughts, of course. Though Gejalik knew him to be a steadfast soldier, Adlar did possess a contemplative side that often had put him at odds with his superiors who tended to see things in much more stark, easily discernible lines of thought. Gejalik often had wondered if their extended exile here on Earth might be affecting Adlar’s perspective with respect to their goals, and whether he could be persuaded to abandon the mission. There was a time when she believed such a notion to be ludicrous, but now? She found it difficult to remain so confident, and she even wondered if Etlun’s death could somehow be playing into whatever doubts he might be harboring.
    “You disapprove of our mission?” she asked, deciding a forthright query was warranted.
    Sighing, Adlar shook his head. “Such actions do not require my approval