Star Trek: Voyager: The Garden by Melissa Scott

Author:Melissa Scott
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Science Fiction, Star Trek, Fiction
ISBN: 9780743453714
Publisher: Pocket Books
Published: 1997-02-01T08:00:00+00:00

With difficulty, Kim kept himself from glancing at Paris. There were still a few people on Voyager-ex-Maquis as well as Starfleet-who refused to accept the pilot's presence, and who did their best to avoid treating him as the officer he was. Paris said the only thing to do was to ignore them, unless and until it interfered with duty, but Kim could tell it wasn't easy. And it's not right, either, he thought, but knew this wasn't the time or place to press it.

"Ready, Tom?" he said, and took his place on the transporter platform.

"Ready when you are," Paris answered, and gave him a quick, wry smile.

"Stand by," the technician said. "Coordinates confirmed. Energize."

Kim took a deep breath, and glanced quickly around. The Kirse had given coordinates for another of the open areas inside the citadel, this one deeply shadowed by the tower and windowless wall that soared easily a hundred meters against the bright sky. The other walls had windows and the arch of a Kirse door, but there was no one in sight. There were no plants, either, but paving underfoot was banded with a golden lattice, and each intersection was picked out with a dull blue glass cabochon. Kim started to examine one, but straightened hastily at the sound of a voice from the open doorway.

"So you're here." Thilo Revek strode out from the archway, flanked by two more of the winged Kirse. They were both female, distinctly so, the curve of breasts and hips clearly visible under the thin tunic, and Kim heard Paris's soft, almost soundless sigh of admiration.

"Behave," he said, under his breath, and stepped forward to meet Revek. "The captain made arrangements with Adamant for us to examine the food they're offering in trade."

"And I'm here to interpret," Revek answered. "Not that you should need my help. These are-" He stopped then, and glanced at the Kirse on his left, who answered the unspoken question with a chuckling trill. "Lord, Adamant's not giving me the easy ones. All right. This is Harp-" He gestured to the Kirse on his right. "-and that's Grayrose."

"I'm to assist you however I can," Harp said, to Kim. She started a trill, then corrected herself, shaking her head. "Grayrose has been assigned to Paris."

"Lucky me," Paris said, under his breath, and added, more loudly, "Pleased to meet you."

Grayrose gave an austere nod, but her eyes were bright with curiosity.

"There are a number of fields to examine," Harp went on, "as Captain Janeway expressed interest in variety first. I thought it would be easier if we were to split our efforts. You and I could look at the crops closest to the-" She hesitated for a fraction of a second over the word. "-to the citadel, and Gray-rose and Paris could take one of the shuttles to the Lakeside area."

Kim hesitated, suspicion flaring. It was never a good idea to split an away team, especially when they knew so little about the Kirse-or, for that matter, about Revek. On

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