The Fall of Terok Nor by Judith Reeves-stevens & Garfield Reeves-stevens

Author:Judith Reeves-stevens & Garfield Reeves-stevens [Reeves-Stevens, Judith & Reeves-Stevens, Garfield]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction, Fiction, Space Opera, General
ISBN: 9780671024017
Google: 64xha76DfrsC
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2000-03-01T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 14

In the surgery, Vash was sitting up in the angled examination bed. She had shadowed circles under her large, expressive eyes and her lustrous skin was pale, but Jadzia could see no signs of trembling or weak-ness.

Vash’s query was unspoken but obvious to all who observed her.

Kira started to speak but Odo coughed and she reluctantly turned to Jadzia.

“You’re safe for now, Vash. Odo’s using suppression screens to protect against unauthorized transportation.” Jadzia moved to block Kira and Odo from Vash’s line of sight. Julian was standing on the other side of the examination table with his hands behind his back, keeping watch on the Cardassian diagnostic displays above his patient. “And there are security officers standing guard outside the Infirmary.”

Vash wasn’t impressed. “Oh, I see. Being safe must be some new Starfleet term for being a prisoner.”

Jadzia smiled. Sweetly. “You’re not under arrest. Yet.”

Vash’s answering smile was just as sweet. “Why would I be under arrest? Is it against some Bajoran law to be the target of an assassin? Or did I obstruct traffic on the Promenade when I collapsed?”

Interesting, Jadzia thought. Of all the experiences of all Dax’s previous hosts she had to draw on, the ones she usually found herself returning to least were those of Joran, her sixth. He’d been a mistake, his existence still suppressed by the Symbiosis Commission to avoid alarming the Trill public with the revelation that the selection process was not perfect. Joran had been unbalanced. He’d committed murder.

Jadzia now took the rare step of brushing lightly against the disturbing memories of that perverted mind and its hideous act. Because she sensed a similar lack of equilibrium in Vash.

But could Vash kill? Jadzia wondered. Not in self-defense, because almost anyone was capable of that. Could she kill in the way that Joran had, merely for sport, or lust, or greed?

“On Bajor,” Jadzia said severely, “even the attempt to traffic in Orbs is one of the most serious crimes in their system.”

Vash stretched and moved her shoulders as if verify-ing the health of her body. “I told him that, huh? The captain? About Quark being involved in selling the Orbs?”

Jadzia nodded, looking beyond Vash to see Kira now caught in an impressive struggle to remain silent.

The archaeologist bent forward, rubbed gingerly at the side of her head. “On the Promenade, when I got hit... I thought I was dying, you know? I remember wanting to tell someone... the captain... something that might make it easier for him to find who killed me.” She gave a sudden, rueful laugh. “My bad luck I didn’t die.” She twisted around to look over her shoul-der at Bashir. “Why is that, Doc?”

Bashir looked away from the Cardassian readouts. “The dart contained an Andorian toxin.”

Vash suddenly laid back against the angled table, as if all the strength had left her. “Satr and Leen. They’ve been after me for a long time. Ever since the Mandylion retrieval.”

Jadzia saw Odo shake his head ‘No’ at the possibil-ity that the two Andorian sisters were involved in the attack on Vash.

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