Mora felt immediately dejected, despite all the progress he"d been making this afternoon. "Well, only time will tell," he said stiffly.
Yopal went on speaking, her usual refrain about men and the sciences, and to Mora"s grave embarra.s.sment, Odo began to chatter behind her, a string of senseless syllables. "Mem. Dobake. Goobsine."
Yopal at first raised her voice to speak over him, but she abruptly stopped speaking after a moment, looking at the shape-shifter with curious surprise.
"Mem dobake good sine-tiss."
Yopal turned to Mora with openmouthed astonishment. "Do you hear what he just said?" She turned back to the shape-shifter. "Say it again, Odo"ital!"
"Mem dobe bake good sine-tist."
"That"s right!" Yopal beamed. "That"s right, Odo! Men don"t make good scientists!" The Carda.s.sian woman then did something Mora had never dreamed she was even capable of: she laughed.
"Odo," Mora began, not sure quite how to respond.
"He"s making a joke, Mora!" She laughed again, and Mora was stunned at how natural her laughter sounded. But even more alarming than the revelation that the Carda.s.sian scientist was capable of genuine emotion was the change that had come over Odo"s "face." The strange pulling at the corners of his mouth looked anything but natural, but it was certainly nothing that he had ever even attempted before today-at least, that Mora had ever seen.
"He"s smiling," Mora said.
"Yes, he is," Yopal agreed.
This time, Mora laughed along with her.
Keeve Falor was a quiet-speaking man, dressed as shabbily as everyone else on Valo II, but with an even more elaborate earring than the one worn by Akhere Juk. Laren did not recognize the design; she only knew a few of the D"jarra D"jarra symbols, and his was not one that she had ever seen before. Bram, however, seemed to know Keeve right away, though by his face or his symbols, and his was not one that she had ever seen before. Bram, however, seemed to know Keeve right away, though by his face or his D"jarra, D"jarra, Laren wasn"t sure. Laren wasn"t sure.
"Minister," Bram said reverently, as Juk and Mace began the introductions.
Keeve broke into a sheepish laugh. "Not Minister. Not for a long, long time." He extended his hand to Bram, who shook it warmly. "We"re all more or less equals here on Valo II."
"But we do often defer to Keeve when a decision is to be made," Juk cut in.
Laren mentally nodded to herself; the D"jarra D"jarras did did still have some pull here, just as she had imagined. Keeve"s still have some pull here, just as she had imagined. Keeve"s D"jarra D"jarra must have designated him to the cla.s.s of politicians and civilian leaders. must have designated him to the cla.s.s of politicians and civilian leaders.
The adults commenced to talking about what to do with this and that, where could Laren and Bram make their camp, how could they return to Bajor, the specifics of which did not particularly interest Laren-at least not while Bis was standing so near. She imagined that Bis had probably lived on this windy, dusty rock his entire life. He had never even seen a proper tree before. The foliage here was scraggly, with spa.r.s.e leaves and dry, crackling branches, nothing at all like the grand forests in Jo"kala. She pitied him, a little.
Laren wondered many things about Bis. Had he ever seen a Carda.s.sian, here on this world? Had he ever flown in a shuttle? Was he impressed that she had been in a raider all by herself?
"So, if you and your daughter would like, we could set up a tent for you, just outside of-"
"I"m not not his daughter," Laren interrupted Keeve fiercely. She"d have expected Bram to have told him at least that much. his daughter," Laren interrupted Keeve fiercely. She"d have expected Bram to have told him at least that much.
Keeve looked surprised, and a little amused. "Begging your pardon, my dear. So how is it that you came to be in a ship all alone, in Carda.s.sian-controlled s.p.a.ce?"
Bram answered for her. "I look after her," he said. "She"s something of an orphan. My resistance cell has taken her in. We"re teaching her how to fly-"
"I already know know how to fly." how to fly."
Keeve continued to look surprised, and Bram spoke quickly.
"Laren, please. My apologies-I"ve not done a very good job teaching her any manners. She lived on the streets, when I found her, running with a crowd of beggars..."
"I"m no beggar," Laren interrupted. "I stole things from the Carda.s.sians. That"s why Bram wanted me along, because I can break into their stockades better than any of the grown-ups in the resistance cell. He needs me to disable the security feeds before anyone approaches."
Keeve looked a bit unsettled as he turned to Bram. "She can"t be more than twelve," he said.
"I"m fourteen!" Laren shouted.
"Laren! It"s true, Keeve, the girl does have talent. She can hack into a security system like n.o.body"s business, and I can"t even begin to figure how she does it." He shot her a pointed look. "I"d never tolerate her impertinence if she wasn"t good for something." It"s true, Keeve, the girl does have talent. She can hack into a security system like n.o.body"s business, and I can"t even begin to figure how she does it." He shot her a pointed look. "I"d never tolerate her impertinence if she wasn"t good for something."
Keeve"s expression reset itself to one of thoughtfulness. "Is that right?" he said, and he turned to look at Laren. "So, you fight in the resistance, do you?"
Laren decided she didn"t like his tone. "Yes," she said sulkily. "And what do you you do, here on Valo II, to try and drive out the spoonheads?" do, here on Valo II, to try and drive out the spoonheads?"
Keeve"s eyebrows shot up and he addressed Bram. "I see what you mean, about the manners," he said, one corner of his mouth twisted into a forced-seeming smile. He turned away for a moment to speak quietly with Juk and Mace, arguing good-naturedly in hushed tones. Laren could barely catch the gist of what they were discussing, but she was fairly certain it had something to do with her. Juk"s voice rose above the others more than once, saying, "She"s only a child!"
"You"ll have to help me set up our tent, Laren," Bram said, apparently trying to draw her away from the conversation, but Laren did not answer, straining to hear what the other men were talking about. She caught Bis"s eye as he shifted his attention from his father"s conversation back to her, and she quickly looked away again, forgetting the men for the moment.
Keeve stepped away from the tight circle he"d made with the other two, and he turned back to Laren. "Well, Laren. If you can hack into Carda.s.sian computer systems, then we might just have a little job for you. You ask what we are doing to fight against the Carda.s.sians, and I"ll tell you. We observe. We gather information. And we have a little reconnaissance mission that I think might benefit rather well from a little girl who knows how to bypa.s.s a Carda.s.sian security system. A simple download at a hidden facility. Does this interest you at all?"
Laren lost her att.i.tude in no time at all. "Yes!" she said. She stole a glance at Bis to see if he was watching, and sure enough, he was staring right at her. Her eyes met his for a moment, but she was too excited to be embarra.s.sed. This was the perfect opportunity to impress him, and maybe she"d even get to kill a spoonhead or two.
16.
Lenaris could not resist flicking out his hands to steady the flight yoke. His little brother turned to him, burning with annoyance, to judge from his expression. "I know how to do this, Holem."
"I know you do, Jau. But I keep thinking that you might want to wait until after after we exit the atmosphere before you-" we exit the atmosphere before you-"
"Leave him alone, Lenaris." Ornathia Sten spoke from where he crouched in the back of the raider. It was a tight fit with the three of them in the little ship, but since most of the cell"s raiders had been taken to the Lunar V base, they generally had to commute in cramped quarters.
"I"m going to be flying on my own for this raid," Jau said firmly.
"Of course," Lenaris said, meaning to be rea.s.suring, aware that he probably sounded condescending. As always, according to Jau.
Jau shook his head, and Lenaris decided it would be best to keep silent. Jau was sixteen, and though it was true he was as good a pilot as any of the grown men, Lenaris still couldn"t help but regard him as a baby. The age gap was enough that Lenaris wasn"t entirely sure how it was that Jau had come to be the gawky near-adult he was now; Lenaris had already left home to join the resistance before Jau had even learned his first words. But this mission called for every available pilot, and he could not argue that Jau was capable. It was only...Lenaris wasn"t sure what his mother would do if anything happened to Jau. He wasn"t sure what he he would do. would do.
It was a long way to Jeraddo in a sub-impulse raider, the moon where the Ornathia cell had managed to store most of their raiders, since Pullock V. They couldn"t keep all of their ships in Relliketh, where the cell was currently headquartered-as quickly as Taryl came up with new fuels, new ways to mask them, the Carda.s.sians found ways to detect them, and the fleet was too large now to keep together.
The Ornathia fleet had regrown in recent years, as more people joined the cell. Some of Taryl"s cousins who had originally fled back to their families" farms had returned to the cell after the Pullock V report had gained notoriety. Some of the raiders could still be stored in the Berain mountains, where the natural kelbonite in the rock shielded them from overhead scans, but the constant lifting off from the same location was risky, and Lenaris had suggested moving some of the shuttles to Derna, but Taryl had insisted that it would not be wise to keep the communications links and the shuttles in the same place. Halpas had been the first to suggest Jeraddo; the spa.r.s.ely populated moon was of little interest to the Carda.s.sians, their presence there minimal. It was the perfect place to hide their ships.
Lenaris tried to make conversation to pa.s.s the time. It never hurt to remind everyone of the basics, either. "So, we"ll go in with a typical kienda kienda fan formation, with me and Sten in the lead. Jau, you and Nerissa will flank, and-" fan formation, with me and Sten in the lead. Jau, you and Nerissa will flank, and-"
"I know, know," Jau said wearily. "And the Legans will be at the tail. We pull down until we"re just about fifty linnipate linnipates above the base, and then we drop our ordnance in the center of four parked skimmers, and pull up. The blast should take out at least sixteen skimmers, if we position our explosives in the correct place, so make each hit count."
"Yeah," Lenaris said lamely. From the back, Sten chuckled.
Lenearis said little else until they reached the site, where they cruised over the forests of Jeraddo and quickly found the cave they had dubbed Lunar V. There were twelve raiders in all here, many of them engineered entirely from sc.r.a.p, mostly by Taryl. These improvised ships lacked the comprehensive sensors that some of the older raiders were equipped with, though Taryl hoped to change that eventually.
It was one of these "newer" birds that Jau would be flying, since he was considered an apt enough pilot to compensate for the lack of equipment. The Legan brothers were barely competent fliers, and Lenaris would have been happy to have left them behind entirely, but they were short on pilots just now. Taryl was pregnant, and Lenaris wouldn"t have dreamed of putting her in harm"s way. She was safely back at Tilar, working on the communications upgrades. Halpas and a few of the others were on Derna right now, calibrating new relay towers to keep the cells on Bajor connected. And there had been an accident recently. The warp carrier had been taken out to try and make contact with some of the Bajorans outside the B"hava"el system, and it had never returned. Seven people were on that freighter, seven members of the extended cell, seven friends, brothers, sisters, parents, children-seven pilots. Lenaris had to make do with what was left.
The Legan brothers were coming in with Ornathia Nerissa, and Lenaris didn"t trust them to take one of the sc.r.a.p raiders. No, it was better to put them in the idiot-proof ships, though he didn"t feel especially confident they wouldn"t find some way of getting themselves lost-or, more likely, killed.
Lenaris quickly claimed his own shuttle, and they set to work. The little vessels had to be pushed manually from the cave, and the three men worked to move their vessels out into a more reasonable takeoff position, stomping through the heavy foliage and sidestepping the unusually large insects that patrolled the moon. The second of their transport shuttles docked while they were struggling, and Nerissa and the Legans emerged to help them. They managed to get each ship into position, each one loaded with appropriate ammunition, each double-checked according to Taryl"s extensive list.
There were a few backslaps and encouraging words, and it was time. Each man or woman climbed into his or her vessel, all looking deferentially to Lenaris. It had never been said-at least, not within his earshot-but he knew they considered him the leader. It wasn"t a job he"d lobbied for, but he couldn"t deny the responsibility.
"Good fighting, everyone," Lenaris said, and pulled the glacis plate of his raider closed. He tapped in a few commands and lifted his shuttle into Jeraddo"s mild sky, pushing through the sound barrier and out of the atmosphere in almost no time at all. There was little in the way of shock absorption. The inertial dampers did their best to keep up, but Lenaris was still rocked crazily about his c.o.c.kpit before the shuttle broke into the openness of s.p.a.ce.
He immediately tested the new sensor array that Taryl had come up with. He could see where the others were, and he tapped a command to each of them in code. Jau was the first to respond, and Lenaris felt a tightening pride in his chest, surpa.s.sed only by the residual traces of fear for his little brother"s safety that still lingered.
Prophets, keep him safe.
Dukat"s duties on this day had not permitted him to visit Meru as soon as he would have liked. For Dukat, there was no love that would ever transcend that which he shared with his wife, but between his few and far-between visits to Carda.s.sia Prime, he grew lonely for female companionship. Most of his Bajoran dalliances had failed to hold his attention for long, but Meru was different. It could truthfully be said that he loved her. He may have been distracted lately by the birth of his new daughter, but his consideration of Meru had not faltered, only been put aside while he enjoyed the heady experience of having such close access to the newborn in his life. His children on Carda.s.sia Prime had mostly been born while he was away on a.s.signment, and he had been permitted to spend only brief stints of time with each of them while they were infants. His new half-Bajoran daughter represented a risky situation for him, but the cautious nature of the experience was easily displaced by the intense joy at her beautiful presence.
But today, he must not be thinking of Naprem and the little one; he must do what he could to make things right with Meru. For if what Ba.s.so was saying had any truth to it, she might have taken it into her head to do him harm. He was only too aware of the Bajoran propensity toward revenge-numerous attempts on his very life were ample proof. He considered a handful of Bajorans to be among the people closest to him, but he could not forget that they were a naturally mistrustful, jealous race. No matter how much he loved Meru, no matter what he did to placate her, he could never be entirely sure that she would not someday turn on him. And he feared that the day might have come.
He entered her quarters without knocking, as he always did, for she knew to always be prepared for him, at every moment. It was one of the things he loved about her, that most often she was able to drop whatever she had been doing to come to him. Of course, there were those times when Dukat had been forced to exercise patience with her; she was only humanoid-only Bajoran, Bajoran, after all. She after all. She was was remarkably cool-headed for a Bajoran, but she was still p.r.o.ne to occasional bouts of sulkiness. Dukat didn"t always care for the effort of maintaining her, but she wasn"t generally overly needy. He hoped that this latest rash of irritable behavior would pa.s.s, as the others had pa.s.sed-usually easy enough to smooth over with a gift, or sometimes just a little extra time to herself-though lately, perhaps she"d had a bit too much of the latter. Dukat knew he"d better come up with a promise of a vacation of some sort, just the two of them, even if he couldn"t immediately deliver it. He was a busy man. remarkably cool-headed for a Bajoran, but she was still p.r.o.ne to occasional bouts of sulkiness. Dukat didn"t always care for the effort of maintaining her, but she wasn"t generally overly needy. He hoped that this latest rash of irritable behavior would pa.s.s, as the others had pa.s.sed-usually easy enough to smooth over with a gift, or sometimes just a little extra time to herself-though lately, perhaps she"d had a bit too much of the latter. Dukat knew he"d better come up with a promise of a vacation of some sort, just the two of them, even if he couldn"t immediately deliver it. He was a busy man.
"h.e.l.lo, Skrain," she said, the same breathless way she always said it. Dukat had once found it to be interminably exciting, but it had lost much of its appeal these days. There was a part of him that now considered his relationship with Meru to be a bit superficial-even tawdry, compared to what he shared with Naprem. Naprem, so beautiful as she nursed their child, a nimbus of sunlight highlighting her hair, her cheeks...the backdrop of the elegant old estate he had chosen for her and the child, isolated, surrounded by carefully tended gardens and trickling fountains...The purity of the atmosphere did little to recommend those indistinguishable dalliances with Meru here on the station, in her artificially lit quarters, surrounded by the dozens of paintings she was always churning out-wooden-faced old priests from millennia ago. Dukat was sick of the sight of them.
He took her by the hands. "Meru. It has come to my attention that you"ve not been happy lately. I apologize that my business has taken me away so frequently. I propose that you and I plan a retreat for the near future-the two of us, for a week, perhaps. Anywhere you would like to go in the B"hava"el system-or farther, if you want. I can think of numerous places we"ve not seen yet."
Meru was quiet, appearing to be struggling with her response. "It"s very kind of you, Skrain. You know how I"ve enjoyed the traveling we"ve done in the past. But I feel...that your mind, your heart, they lie elsewhere these days. I...I know about the child, Skrain, and I understand. And I was hoping that perhaps it would help you to understand my position, as well."
Dukat"s breathing became tight. He did not want to lie to her, but he did not care to discuss Naprem, either. "Meru, whatever it is that has you so upset, I a.s.sure you it has no bearing on my feelings for you. Please, let"s discuss happier topics. What can I provide you with that will ease you from this pall?"
Meru shook her head, appearing frustrated, and Dukat squeezed her hands. He began to speak again, but she cut him off in a rush of words. "Let me go," she said, her voice strangled. She began to cry. "I want to go home, Skrain, can"t you understand that? I want to see my family again-my husband! husband!" Her face crumpled and stretched unpleasantly, and Dukat let her hands slip away from his.
"I...see," he said faintly. He felt an unfamiliar writhing inside. He could not quite place the emotion he was experiencing. It was a combination of things, things he was not sure he could identify. Anger? Sadness? Embarra.s.sment? Whatever it was, it was perhaps the most unpleasant sensation he could ever remember, and before he quite knew what he was doing, he had flung out his arm and knocked over Meru"s easel, its contents of paint and canvas splattering and crashing to the floor. Meru let out a sharp cry.
"Skrain! Please-can"t you see? I love you, but-"
"But it"s not enough!" he roared. "It"s not enough, all I"ve done for you, for your family-you would still choose your cowardly vole of a husband over a man like me, is that it?" He lunged for her, and he felt the back of his hand make contact with the hard surface of one of her well-sculpted cheekbones.
"No!"
Dukat abruptly stopped. Meru hid behind her hands, shoulders hunched in fear. A livid mark spread quickly across her face. Dukat turned slightly to see his reflection in the mirror above her dressing table, and he did not like what he saw-a panting man, his slick hair flung loose around his ears, an expression of dirty, dying rage still spread across his face. He straightened up, caught his breath, and smoothed his hair back, though Meru still crouched and sobbed.
Dukat did not care to think of himself as an abuser of women. He spoke coolly. "I have to go now, my dear," he said. "I will send Ba.s.so to see if you need anything, as always. Perhaps we will continue this conversation later, when we"ve both had time to clear our heads."
Meru continued to whimper and cry piteously as he left the room, and the sound of it made him sick to his very core. He was immensely bothered by the awareness that he could not erase the scene he had just created. He could pretend it had not transpired, but he knew that every time he laid eyes on Meru, it would return to him in all its shameful detail. Once out in the hallway, he quickly pressed his comcuff. "Dukat to Ba.s.so. Please meet me in my office immediately."
He did not like what he was going to have to do, but he could see no other reasonable alternative. As prefect, he was forced to make difficult decisions every day; some took their toll on his conscience, to be sure, but he never let that dissuade him from his duty.
Laren sat back on her haunches to regard the tent she and Bram had just finished a.s.sembling. It wasn"t much, but it would do. Keeve had warned them that the nights this time of year could be quite windy, making it inadvisable to try and sleep out in the open-the lack of substantial tree canopy exacerbated the blowing dust, a condition that apparently caused respiratory problems for a number of the residents here.
"Why would they choose to stay on such a world if they have access to warp vessels?" Ro grumbled. "This place is worse than the worst parts of Jo"kala."
"Valo II wasn"t always like this," Bram reminded her.
"But it"s like this now," Laren pointed out.
Bram sighed. "They aren"t welcome anywhere else," he said, tugging on a rope to test its strength. "Bajorans are outcasts on many other worlds, considered burdensome refugees. This place may not look like much to you or me, but at least they can call it their own."
He squinted toward the place where the "town" was located, and Laren thought he looked sad. She wondered, fleetingly, how old Bram was. What kinds of things had he seen as a young man, when he was her age, or younger, before the Carda.s.sians came to Bajor? She had never really considered it before. She started to ask him, when a traveling speck caught her attention. Someone was headed toward their camp, and she thought it might be Bis. Laren started to tell Bram, who had ducked inside the tent, but then decided that she"d prefer to speak to Bis alone. She began to walk out toward him, to meet him before Bram would have a chance to notice that he was coming.
"Hi," she called out, as she came close enough to ensure that it was really him. "What"re you doing?"
"I came to tell you something," Bis said, his green eyes immediately shifting away from her face. "My pa says to tell you that you can join us for breakfast in the morning."
Laren fell in step with Bis as she came closer to him, and began to deliberately walk in the opposite direction from Bram"s camp. "How old are you?" she asked him.
"I"m sixteen just last month," he said, and cleared his throat.
"I"m fifteen," she said, before remembering that she"d already told Keeve she was really only fourteen. Bis didn"t point out the discrepancy. "Do you ever fly those warp ships?" she asked him.
Bis looked ashamed. "I...have flown them with my father," he said. "Not by myself."
"Are you coming along, on this mission?"
Bis"s mouth twisted. "I don"t know," he said. "I want to, but..." His voice trailed off.
"What?"
"I don"t know," he replied.
They continued walking in silence.
"I"ve never met anyone like you before," Bis suddenly blurted out. They stopped walking.
Laren felt a flush of excitement. "I"ve never met anyone like you, either," she told him. She took a step closer to him; perhaps now she would find out what all the fuss was about with kissing and the like, but just as she thought it might be about to happen, Bram"s angry voice blared out from behind them.
"Laren! I don"t appreciate your just walking off like that. Prophets" sake, I thought a wild animal had carried you off! If you"re going to go wandering, you might want to give me a heads-up. Now, come back to camp, I need your help digging a latrine."
Laren wrinkled her nose with embarra.s.sment and looked to Bis with apology. "I have to be getting back, anyway," he mumbled, and scurried off in the opposite direction while Bram herded Laren back to their miserable camp.
"What did I tell you about that boy?" he admonished, but Laren wasn"t really listening. She dragged her feet on the way back, considering the possibility of sneaking out later on, but rejecting the idea on the basis of Bram"s confounded twitchy sleeping habits. The man tended to wake up at the slightest sound; a useful trait in the resistance, but pretty infuriating for a pair of curious teenagers.
Mora"s eyes grew heavy as he blundered through his notes; he knew Yopal would trouble him about the grammatical errors, but he couldn"t be bothered with it now; he was tired, though excited. He"d managed a few conversations lately with Odo wherein the shape-shifter had demonstrated inarguable reciprocity; there was simply no longer any doubt that the being was self-aware.
"Doc-tor More-ah," Odo said from behind him, his newfound voice rough and guttural. Mora started. He"d been under the impression that Odo was "sleeping."
"What is it, Odo?"