Gateways 6 (New Frontier) by Peter David

Author:Peter David [David, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General, Fiction, Science Fiction, Space Opera, Adventure, High Tech
ISBN: 9780743418638
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2001-10-13T23:00:00+00:00

It was an hour later when Selar became aware of him.

He had entered so silently that he had eluded the notice of not only the doctor, but all the technicians in sickbay. She finally noticed him though. Surprisingly, he was standing next to Tsana, looking at the insensate girl. She strode over to him, her normally deadpan face slightly pinched to display her annoyance. "Moke," she said, "we have been over this. If you are not ill, you should not be here."

The boy glanced up at her, looking chagrined, taking a step back as if he thought he could scamper back into the shadows and elude detection. Apparently realizing that was a hopeless prospect, though, he stayed where he was. He didn't apologize for his presence. He didn't say anything; just kept shifting his gaze from Selar to Tsana and back again.

A thought crossed her mind. Watching his eyes very carefully for any sign of prevarication, she said, "Did Captain Cal did your adoptive father send you here?"

He looked puzzled. "No. Why would he do that?" And there was enough sincerity in that question, in that whole clearly befuddled attitude that she was immediately satisfied that he had come of his own initiative. She could not know for certain, of course, but every instinct told her that the child was as incapable of duplicity as she herself was. However, that still left her with an obvious question, which she promptly asked.

"Then why are you here?"

He did not answer immediately. Instead he looked at Tsana. "What's wrong with her?"

"I am not quite certain," admitted Selar, bound by Vulcan society and culture to answer truthfully in all things when it was remotely possible.

"Oh."

"Are you here because of her, Moke?"

"No."

"Then why?" Indeed, part of her wasn't the least bit interested in the "why" of it. She wanted him out and gone, and that would be that. But another part the hated, "less logical" side wanted its needs attended to.

"Because of you."

She stared at him. "I do not understand."

"Okay." And apparently that, in Moke's opinion, was that. The fact that she didn't understand seemed to be as far as he was concerned solely her problem. Instead, his attention was back on Tsana. "What's wrong with her?" he asked.

"It is very complicated, and you should not be"

"Can you make her better?" he asked with some urgency.

Well there it was. The question, stripped of all its second-guessing and rationalization. She wanted to lie to the boy. She wanted to lie to herself. But she could not. "Possibly, yes," she said.

He had been standing behind Tsana. Now he walked around the medscan table, his chin barely coming up to the edge, and his eyes were directly on level with Tsana's open but unseeing eyes. He blinked owlishly, stared into them, then looked up at Selar and said, "Then you should."

He said nothing more, just left that three-word statement hanging in the air. He left almost immediately thereafter, but Selar did not move from the bedside. She simply stood there, staring down at the immobilized child.

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