VOY - The Nanotech War (c) by Star Trek

Author:Star Trek [Star Trek]
Language: deu
Format: epub
Tags: \Star Trek
Publisher: Pocket Books
Published: 2011-01-02T07:58:43.027000+00:00

“You! Human!”

Tom’s stomach tightened with tension. So it began. He turned, though he knew from the smell who it was. “Hey, Nylo old buddy.”

They were in the greenhouse. Tom, armed with a pair of pruning sheers, was snipping yet another meal for Zedrel. Unlike rooms in the rest of the house, the floors and walls of this room remained the same—tile floor, wood walls, lots of big windows. The windows were why Tom was spending as much time as possible there. He needed them if he wanted his plan to work.

“I have heard certain things about you,” Nylo snarled.

“Oh?” Tom said. “Like what?”

“I know now why I was removed as the Master’s attendant,” Nylo said. His anger smell made the air thick and heavy. “You told the Master that I was incompetent. You told him that I disliked my job.”

Not the brightest star in the cluster, are you, Nylo? Tom thought. Since I didn’t even know you were Zedrel’s attendant until he announced I had the job.

“On my planet we have a saying, Nylo,” Tom said aloud. “‘If the shoe fits, wear it.’ I mean, you must have been pretty awful to have your position handed over to an ugly alien like me. I guess I should thank you. If you weren’t so bad at the job, I wouldn’t have it right now. Gratitude.”

Nylo fixed Tom with a hard stare, though some of the effect was lost because the Chiar had to stare upward to do it. The anger smell increased, and Tom knew he was on the right track. He wondered if this was how it felt to be an empath.

“I don’t know a whole lot about Chiar customs and all that,” Tom continued, “but I figure being the Master’s personal attendant must be a pretty high-ranking position. I show up and you get demoted. That must be pretty humiliating. I’ve heard some people talking, that’s for sure.”

“Talking?”

“Yeah. You know how it goes. ‘Nylo couldn’t hack it as the Master’s personal attendant, so the Master had to buy a new one.’ ‘Nylo must have been doing a pretty rotten job for the Master to replace him with some weird creature.’ ‘We knew Nylo was going to lose it, and it was only a matter of time.’ That sort of thing. Everyone’s talking about it.”

“I see.” Nylo’s anger scent strengthened until Tom was almost gagging. Tom settled himself back until he was almost leaning against one of the large greenhouse windows. His outer coating tingled a warning.

“I figure they must be right,” Tom went on. “Zedrel keeps going on about how good a job I’m doing. Muaar doesn’t like me, but so what? Zedrel says I’m the best personal attendant he’s ever had. Lots better than you, anyway. He says you messed up a lot. He’s even thinking of giving you one of these.” He pointed to the earthen mark on his forehead. “Except he wants to make it permanent. You know—a tattoo? Anyway, I just wanted to thank you for—”

Nylo leaped.

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