Star Trek Voyager #10: Bless the Beasts by Karen Haber

Author:Karen Haber [Haber, Karen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction, Fiction, Space Opera, General
ISBN: 9780743453707
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Pocket Books/Star Trek
Published: 2002-07-05T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 13

MARIMA MADE HER WAY ACROSS THE DECK, HAND OVER hand along the railing, and settled down carefully beside Tom Paris.

"Hey, stranger." He smiled and offered her a spoonful of the thin, pink, fishy gruel that was his midday rations. Paris suspected that it was made from darra parts, but he really didn't want to know.

She shook her head in refusal. "Just wanted to feel the sun." Leaning back, she closed her eyes and rested her head against the outer wall of the cabin. Her lavender hair looked stringy and unkempt.

Paris stared at the girl. Lines had been etched into her pale skin by her pain. Grimly he wondered how far the disease had progressed. He knew that each night she was wracked by convulsions. It was obvious that she was growing weaker, despite her assurances that each attack was not in itself life threatening. Paris didn't think that she looked strong enough to weather another big one. With relief he watched her slip into a light sleep.

He lifted his head to look for Harry Kim, although he already had a suspicion of where he would find him.

Sure enough, Kim was leaning against the deck railing, badgering the Micaszians with concerns about the darra, forcing them to lean down and talk to him, fraternizing with the enemy, including Assurna.

Kim seemed fascinated by the big sea creatures. He couldn't ask enough questions: Was there anything that the darra wouldn't eat? Did they sleep? How many young did they spawn? How long did it take to raise them? Did they stay together in pods? How long did the average darra live?

It was driving Paris mad. Harry Kim seemed like a data-hungry machine. "Harry," he called. "Give it a rest, will you?"

Either Kim chose to ignore him or he was too deep in discussion about darra breeding habits to hear him.

Paris was about to raise his voice even louder to make his point when he saw something that drove all thoughts of darra right out of his head.

A winged man, floating through the air above the ship. Long purple wings of incredible delicacy were strapped to his back. His legs seemed to be lashed into a sack of some sort.

I'm cracking up. Losing it. A flying man?

As he stared in fascination, Marima stirred beside him and opened her golden eyes. "Paris?" She looked up, following his gaze. "Oh."

"What's keeping him up?" Paris said.

"Air currents. He can hang from those wings for hours so long as the wind holds."

"He's tied into a harness?"

"Yes. The Micaszians like to use this to aid navigation. It's an old tradition with them."

"Then it's not recreational?"

"No. At least, I don't think so."

"That's dumb." He turned to shout in Kim's direction. "Hey, Harry, look up."

For a moment Kim glanced upward, but almost immediately turned his attention back to the guard. Paris doubted that the glider had even registered on him.

As Paris watched, the glider swooped down to circle over the ship, and he felt the hot needle of envy in his soul.

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