Текст книги "Twilight "

Автор книги: David George

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16

Shar hoped the first day in the Gamma Quadrant would be an easy one. He had not slept at all during the night, unable to prevent his thoughts from traveling again and again to Thriss—and to Anichent and Dizhei, too, and even to Zhavey,but mostly to Thriss. He felt so physically and emotionally exhausted that he had even considered asking Commander Vaughn to replace him on duty today, but he thought that the commander would have been displeased that one of his crew had not heeded his instructions to get enough rest prior to their mission.

Shar specified Defiant’s dock as his destination, and felt the lift begin its journey. He set down his duffel, but resisted the temptation to put a hand or a shoulder against the wall for support. He rubbed his face with his hands and tried to shake off his fatigue. Perhaps he would be able to sleep for a little while aboard the ship. It was still early, and Defiantwould not depart the station for almost ninety minutes; he typically only slept three or four hours a night, anyway, so an hour’s rest now would be helpful. He had decided to embark now partly because he had been unable to sleep anyway, but also because he had wanted to avoid the possibility of another confrontation with Zhaveyand his bondmates. He had checked his companel this morning before leaving his quarters—he had enabled a security protocol to prevent anybody but station personnel from contacting him over the comm system—and he had seen that Zhaveyand Anichent had left several messages for him through the night. They might even have come to his quarters, for all he knew, but he had placed a security lockout on his door as well.

The lift slowed to a stop, and Shar reached down and retrieved his duffel. He exited the turbolift and approached the airlock that led to Defiant.Lieutenant Costello stood guard this morning, he saw. “Good morning, Lieutenant.”

“Good morning,” Costello said.

Shar walked up to the security scanner and operated its controls, activating it. “Please identify for access toU.S.S. Defiant,” a computer voice instructed him. Shar placed his hand in the center of the scanner, which lighted up at his touch.

“Ensign Thirishar ch’Thane,” he said. “Science officer.”

“Identity confirmed,”the computer said.

Costello turned at her post and worked a control panel beside the airlock entrance. The hatch spun open and retracted into the bulkhead. Shar started to climb the steps.

“Thirishar.”

He stopped and turned toward the turbolift. Thriss stood there, her lovely face slightly swollen, her eyes bloodshot. She must have been crying this morning, he thought, and then realized that she had probably been crying most of the night. Of all of them, Thriss had always been the most emotional; that had bothered him at first, but over time he had come to appreciate her passions as an integral part of her great beauty. To see her like this…it broke his heart.

Shar stepped back onto the deck, and Thriss raced over and threw her arms around him. Embarrassed, he told Costello, “I’ll…I’ll be just a moment.” He dropped his duffel on the deck and led Thriss down the corridor a dozen paces. He heard the airlock door close behind them.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, facing her and putting his hands on her hips, and then he realized the absurdity of the question. “I mean…” He let his voice trail off; he did not know what he meant.

“Thirishar, please,” Thriss said, staring into his eyes and clutching at his arms, her sadness palpable. Tears pooled in her eyes and slipped down her cheeks, leaving silvery trails along her beautiful blue skin. Shar reached up and wiped them away, then put the palm of his hand gently against her face.

“Oh, Thriss,” he said, and there was no denying how much he loved her. If this had been only about his feelings for her, the decisions he had been forced to make would have been different, and they would have been easier, for all of them.

“Don’t go,” she pleaded. “We love you. Ilove you. I need you.” He could not bear her sorrow, and to know that he had been the cause of it…

“Thriss,” he said, pleading himself. He took his hand from her face. “What am I supposed to do?”

“Come back to Andor with us,” she said, but the inflection in her voice told him that she knew he would not go back to Andor. And that—her terrible, desperate sense of resignation—pierced him to the core, and he knew that he could not continue to disappoint her.

“I will,” he said, and her eyes opened as wide and bright as full moons. For a moment, his heart felt full, and nobody in the universe existed but the two of them.

“You will?” she asked hesitantly, as though even her question might make him rescind his words.

“I will,” he repeated. “I’ll visit Andor as soon as I return.” Thriss’s face darkened, like somebody turning off a light.

“No,” she said. “Please. Now.”

“Thriss,” he told her, “this is what I can do right now. But it’s a promise. I will go to Andor.” He searched for something more to say to her, something that would convince her of the truth of what he was saying. He reached up and tapped his combadge. “Ch’Thane to Lieutenant Ro,” he said. He kept his eyes on Thriss.

There was a delay, and then he heard Ro’s sleepy voice. “This is Ro,”she said.

“Lieutenant, I’m sorry to wake you,” he said, “but I need to ask you for a favor.”

“What is it, Shar?”she asked, and he was surprised to hear the level of concern in her voice. “What do you need?”

“My, uh, my bondmates are here on the station,” he said, “and they’re going to be here until I return from the Gamma Quadrant.” The darkness had left Thriss’s face, he saw, but now he could not tell what she was feeling. Had his promise made her happy—or at least happi er—or did she think that he would not live up to his word? “Uh, at least, one of them will be staying,” he told Ro. “Perhaps all three. I’d like for them to be able to stay together in my quarters. Will you arrange that? I know it’s an unusual request.”

Ro did not respond immediately, and Shar feared that he might have irritated her by waking her for something that probably seemed trivial. But then she said, “I’d be happy to give them access to your quarters, Shar. Where are they now?”

“They’re staying with my zhavey—with Councillor zh’Thane. Their names are Shathrissía zh’Cheen, Thavanichent th’Dani, and Vindizhei sh’Rraazh.”

Again, Ro did not respond right away, and then she said, “I’m glad I’m recording this conversation. Trying to spell those names would probably be a waste of time.”

“Thank you, Laren,” Shar said.

“You’re welcome,”she said. “Safe journey, Shar. Ro out.”

Shar deactivated his combadge. He looked into Thriss’s eyes and still could not tell where her mind, where her heart, was. “I love you,” he said. He leaned in and kissed her. She did not respond right away, but then she reached her arms around his neck and opened her lips, and they kissed deeply. For a long, exquisite moment, they stood together as one, a joyous union of love. Yes,he thought. I’ll go to Andor.

Their lips parted and he stepped back from her. “Wait for me,” he said, looking into her eyes. She walked back with him to the airlock, which Lieutenant Costello opened after Shar had gone through the security check again. Shar squeezed Thriss’s hand, then picked up his duffel and mounted the steps to the airlock. The hatch rolled back into place behind him.

This time, he did look back, turning and gazing through the window in the hatch, but Thriss had already gone.

17

Vaughn settled into the captain’s chair on the bridge of Defiant.A hum—no not a hum, a vibration, something felt and not heard—played beneath the sounds of the ship and crew at readiness. A sense of anticipation imbued the tableau, even beyond Vaughn’s own excitement. He peered around at the alpha-shift command crew and watched as they prepared the ship for departure. Consoles emitted electronic tones all around the bridge.

Soon,Vaughn thought. Soon the ship would spring completely to life, and they would be on their way. And after all these years, hewould finally be on hisway.

Directly ahead of him, Prynn reviewed a display showing the first leg of Defiant’s course. Vaughn experienced a pang of remorse and anguish for what had happened at that console a month ago, but he quickly dealt with it, replacing the useless emotions with the happiness in his heart that Prynn had survived her ordeal, and that she would now share with him this journey into uncharted territory.

Vaughn looked to his left, where Ensign ch’Thane sat at the sciences console, which now possessed a great deal more functionality than it had when Defianthad been only a battleship. Now, though the vessel still had teeth, it had also been provided with enough scientific equipment and capabilities to carry them through their extended mission of exploration. Ensign ch’Thane and the rest of the crew would engage in more investigative science in the next three months, Vaughn was sure, than all that had been done aboard Defiantsince the original ship had been commissioned five years ago.

Next to ch’Thane, stationed at the environmental-control console since he had no responsibilities right now in the empty medical bay, Dr. Bashir sat quietly, gazing around the bridge himself. Vaughn made eye contact with Bashir, and the doctor offered him a smile. Vaughn nodded.

On the starboard side of the bridge, Lieutenant Nog occupied the engineering station, and aft, Lieutenant Bowers stood at the tactical console. Lieutenant Dax, whom Vaughn had chosen to serve as his executive officer for the mission, stood at his right hand. A fine crew,Vaughn thought. All of them.

He tapped the controls in the console to his right and opened a shipwide comm channel. “This is Commander Vaughn,” he said. He had known for a few days now that he wanted to speak to the crew before they embarked on their voyage, but he had not planned on exactly what he would say. With the moment upon him, though, he found that ideas and words came easily. “On Earth,” he said, “more than five centuries ago, a small band of people set out across the vast, unexplored continent of North America. They traveled on foot, by raft, and with pack animals, for almost two and a half years and covering more than six thousand kilometers.” A recollection occurred to Vaughn as he spoke, of sitting as a boy and reading about, and being enraptured by, the accomplishments of these and so many other explorers.

“On inhabited worlds all over the galaxy, similar courageous expeditions have taken place,” he continued, wanting to include all of the crew in his vision, and not just the humans. “The great Jalia, who discovered the Outer Islands on Ferenginar.” Vaughn peeked over at Nog, who returned his gaze with a smile, the lieutenant clearly pleased and probably surprised. Vaughn winked at him. “The intrepid Andorians, Shetthius, Shintral, and Chorna, who first circumnavigated their globe.” Vaughn glanced toward the sciences console to see ch’Thane looking back over at him, a smile now on his face. Vaughn went on to list valiant explorers from each of the civilizations represented aboard Defiant,and as he did so, he was gratified to see the rest of the bridge crew turn toward him as they listened.

“The two men who led the expedition across the North American continent on Earth, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, were set a mission to explore an expanse of unknown wilderness, to chart the lands they traveled, to seek out what new life there might be, to befriend the peoples they might encounter, to keep a record of their journey, and to bring that knowledge home.” He paused, thrilled that this moment had come at last. “They called themselves the Corps of Discovery. Let us therefore, on this stardate, rededicate ourselves to that ideal.” To Vaughn’s surprise and delight, the bridge crew—led by Prynn, he saw—applauded.

He closed the comm channel with a touch to the console, and then his gaze went to Dax.

She did not hesitate. In a voice that filled the bridge, she said, “All stations, report status.” The beeps and chirps of their equipment sang through the bridge, and in turn, each of the crew joined the chorus.

“Tactical and communications, ready,” Bowers said.

“Navigation and flight operations, ready,” Prynn said.

“Science and sensors, ready.” Ch’Thane.

“Impulse engines are online, warp power available on your command.” Nog.

“Life support at optimum. Medical bay standing by.” Bashir.

“The ship is ready, Captain,” Dax said. “Your orders?”

Captain,Vaughn thought. A fellow could get used to that.“Seal the airlock and signal DS9 that we are ready to depart.”

“The airlock is sealed,” Nog reported a moment later.

“Deep Space 9 signals that we are cleared for departure,” Bowers said.

“Release the docking clamps,” Vaughn ordered. “Aft thrusters at one-quarter, port and starboard thrusters at station-keeping.”

“Docking clamps have been released,” Prynn said. “Aft thrusters, one-quarter.” Around them, the ship seemed to change, like a great beast waking from its slumber, though Vaughn suspected that the feeling might have been attributable more to his imagination than to reality.

“Ensign ch’Thane,” Vaughn said, “let’s see where we’re going. Activate the main viewer.”

“Main viewer, aye.” At the bow end of the bridge, the large, primary viewscreen blinked to life. Ahead of them loomed the great, exotic form of Deep Space 9, the station receding gradually before them.

“We have cleared the station,” Prynn said.

“Ensign Tenmei,” Vaughn told her, “set course for the wormhole.”

“Course laid in,” she responded immediately.

“Ahead one-half impulse,” Vaughn said. “Take us in.”

The thrum of the impulse engines pulsed through the ship. On the viewscreen, the stars slipped from port to starboard as Defiantyawed onto its new heading. Seconds passed, and then the wormhole blossomed before them, a spinning maelstrom of blue light and circular shape, glowing purplish white at its center. The ship dove into the light, and then the light vanished, replaced by a bizarre kaleidoscope of luminous colors and alien contours. Vaughn watched in fascination until they emerged from the wormhole into the Gamma Quadrant, ninety thousand light-years away from where they had entered it.

“Ensign Tenmei,” Vaughn said, “set us on our planned course.” Prynn deftly operated her console. “Course laid in, sir.”

“Ahead warp factor six,” Vaughn said.

Vaughn felt Defiantleap forward beneath him, charging toward the unknown. Their mission to explore the Gamma Quadrant had begun.

Part Three

Gloom The Dark Seas

There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail;

There gloom the dark, broad seas. My mariners,

Souls that have toiled, and wrought, and thought with me—

That ever with a frolic welcome took

The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed

Free hearts, free foreheads—you and I are old;

Old age hath yet his honour and his toil.

Death closes all; but something ere the end,

Some work of noble note, may yet be done,

Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.

–ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON,

“ULYSSES”

18

Kasidy sat in a chair in front of the hearth. The warm breath of the crackling fire washed over her, chasing away the chill from the front room. Outside, the wind whistled through the eaves and lifted snow against the house, the frozen granules striking the window with a sound almost like rain.

“The excavation is advancing faster than any of us expected it to,” Prylar Eivos Calan said, seated in a chair to Kasidy’s left. “We may even be able to begin a new dig in the northwest section of the city by springtime.”

Kasidy listened without much interest as the Bajoran monk spoke about the archeological efforts proceeding at B’hala. She understood the historical and religious significance of the ancient city, especially considering that it had been lost for twenty millennia. She supposed she could have been proud that Ben had been the one to discover the ruins, or maybe she could have even attempted to deal with his loss by involving herself in something that had been so special to him. Jake had done that, working at the site for three months after his father had vanished. But in truth, B’hala scared her.

“There is some fragmentary anecdotal evidence to suggest that we may find the city’s main shrine in the northwest section,” Eivos continued.

When Kasidy thought of B’hala, she remembered how Ben had been hurt while researching its location, in an accident that had come dangerously close to killing him. And she also could not help recalling that, just a couple of months ago, a text had been unearthed there that some Bajorans believed identified the child she would give birth to as an important figure—the Infant Avatar—in their religion. B’hala held fascination and spiritual meaning for many, she knew, but for her it remained a source of anxiety.

“Of course, the timetable and order in which we’ll move into the other sections of the ruins haven’t been completely determined yet,” Eivos went on.

“Of course,” Kasidy said, interjecting in the hope that she might be able to move the conversation to another topic. “Can I get you some more tea, Prylar?” she asked.

“Oh,” he said, looking down at the empty cup he held perched on his thigh. “Uh, no thank you,” he said. He peered over at her cup, which she rested on the arm of her chair. She reminded herself that she needed to get a little table for this area. “But may I get you some more?”

“No, no,” she told the prylar, “I can get it myself.” She started to brace herself to stand, but before she could, Eivos stood up himself and plucked the empty cup from her hand.

“Nonsense,” he said. “If my wife ever found out that I allowed a pregnant woman to wait on me, she would refuse to allow me back in the house.” Kasidy returned his smile. “Herbal tea, were you having?” he asked. As Eivos walked between her and the fire, headed for the kitchen, she felt a momentary drop in temperature, like swimming through cold water in a warm pond.

“Yes, apple-cinnamon,” she said, actually grateful that she would not have to get up. She thought about when Nog had visited her almost two weeks ago, just before he had left for the Gamma Quadrant. She found it difficult to believe that she had so much less energy and mobility now than she had then. She peeked back over her shoulder at the picture windows on the other side of the room, remembering when Nog had called on her. Thinking of him made her a little sad; she missed their daily conversations, and she hoped that, wherever he was right now, he was safe.

Kasidy heard Eivos say something in the kitchen, followed a moment later by the warble of the replicator. Back when Jake had been working at the dig, he had told her stories about Prylar Eivos, about how dry he was, and how his monotone could put an android to sleep. But she actually liked Eivos—and really, so did Jake—and she enjoyed his occasional visits. He had been one of the many who had contacted her when she had first moved to Bajor, but unlike with most of the others, she had perceived his offers of neighborly assistance to be completely unmotivated by her status as the wife of the Emissary.

Eivos emerged from the kitchen and delivered her cup of tea. She took it from him and sipped at the warm, sweet liquid. “While I’m up,” he said, “may I make you something to eat?”

“Oh, no thank you,” she said. “You didn’t come over here to spend the afternoon serving me.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” he said as he stood beside her. “My wife tells me that there are few acts more virtuous than serving an expectant mother.”

“Well, you tell Audj I like the way she thinks,” Kasidy said. “And make sure you bring her with you the next time you come out.”

“I will,” he said. “In the meantime, even if I didn’t come out here to wait on you, I did come out for a reason.” Eivos crossed behind her to the front door, where he had hung his coat on the rack. “Actually, I brought you something,” he said. Kasidy watched as he dug first through one pocket, and then another, eventually pulling out a small package of some sort. He walked back over toward the fire and offered it to her.

Kasidy reached out with her free hand and took it. The package was slender, ten or twelve centimeters in length, she guessed, wrapped in plain, white paper, and tied in the middle with a red ribbon. “Is this a gift?”

“It is,” Eivos said. “It is a gift for a very specific purpose.”

Kasidy moved to put her teacup down so that she could open the package, and Eivos graciously took the cup from her. She pulled one end of the ribbon, and it came free. She dropped the ribbon in her lap and unfolded the paper. Inside lay an exquisite crystalline figurine made of an amber-colored stone…a Bajoran, she saw, just able to make out the ridges at the top of the miniature’s nose. The neck, though, sloped out toward the shoulders, like a Cardassian’s. How odd.As she raised the artifact to her eyes to look at it more closely, it caught the reflection of the fire and burned with an inner, golden light. And the eyes, she saw, seemed almost to gleam with a light of their own. “This is beautiful,” she said.

“I’m glad you think so,” Eivos said, sitting back down.

“What is it made of?” Kasidy wanted to know.

“A material called jevonite. The piece was discovered at B’hala, and we—”

“B’hala?” Kasidy asked.

“Yes,” Eivos said. She could see that he detected her uneasiness. “Actually, that’s one of the reasons I brought it. I originally was going to ask the Bajoran Archeological Authority and the Vedek Assembly if we might make a gift of the figurine to Jake, as a token of the work he did himself at B’hala, but primarily as a keepsake of his father.” The generosity of spirit embodied by such a gift touched Kasidy, and she knew it would have touched Jake. “But with Jake still missing,” Eivos continued, “and knowing how close the two of you are…well, I just thought this might be a nice keepsake of Jake for you.”

Kasidy gazed down at the figurine. “I…I’m…” she stammered, unsure how to express her gratitude, unsure how to convey how much Eivos’s kind gesture stirred her. She wished that it had not been found at B’hala, but—

“This piece was one of the last things I discussed with Jake when he was working at the site,” Eivos said.

Kasidy looked over at the prylar. “Thank you,” she said. “This means a great deal to me.”

“I’m so glad,” Eivos said, and she could hear the joy in his voice at having given her something like this.

“Prylar, I have to tell you, you’re the only member of the Bajoran religious order who doesn’t make me feel uncomfortable.”

“How kind of you to say,” Eivos told her. “I certainly understand, though. With the unrest these days in the Vedek Assembly, I sometimes find it difficult myself not to feel ill at ease among my peers.”

“Unrest?” Kasidy asked. She picked up the paper the figurine had come wrapped in, along with the ribbon, and dropped them on the floor beside her chair. She held the figurine in one hand in her lap.

“Yes, I’m afraid so,” Eivos said. He leaned over from his chair and offered Kasidy her cup of tea back. She took it from him with a smile. “When the translation of the ancient—and some believe apocryphal—Ohalu text was posted to the Bajoran communications net, it initiated a major division within the Assembly.” Kasidy knew that Kira had been the one who had posted the translation to the comnet, an act for which she had been Attainted by the vedeks.

“How bad is it?” Kasidy asked, concerned that the greater the impact of Kira’s act, the less likely it would be for her Attainder to be withdrawn.

Eivos sighed heavily. “It’s not good, I’m afraid. The divide seems to grow wider each day. It is very disturbing. I’m worried that the very unity of the Bajoran religion may be at risk.” He sounded troubled, and Kasidy understood why. While political differences had always existed within the Bajorans’ government—particularly in the first days of the provisional government that had been established after the end of the Occupation—their religion had stood as very nearly a monolithic source of harmony for them for a long time, even throughthe Occupation. There had always been issues regarding who would be the next kai, or what actions the Vedek Assembly should take in various situations, but overall the Bajoran religion had remained united. There was the Pah-wraith cult, of course, but that had never threatened overall religious accord. A true schism within the faith could, Kasidy suspected, bring tremendous turmoil to Bajor.

“I’m very sorry to hear that,” she said. “Is there anything you can do to address the situation?”

“I do what I can,” Eivos said. He sat quietly for a moment, his expression one of pained contemplation. Then he shrugged and seemed to throw off his worries; Kasidy suspected that he simply did not wish to burden her with his troubles. “Who knows?” he said. “Maybe we’ll find another text at B’hala that will repair the damage caused by the first one.”

“Maybe,” Kasidy said, but although the Bajoran religion had certainly been full of surprises in the last few years, she somehow doubted that Eivos or anybody else would find anything in the ruins to offset what had happened—what was continuing to happen—in the Vedek Assembly. That would have to be accomplished by the vedeks themselves, and after what that august body had done to Kira, Kasidy had no confidence that they would be able to find a solution. Following Eivos’s lead to change the subject, though, Kasidy said, “You were telling me about possible plans to excavate in the northwest area of B’hala.”

“Yes,” he said, and he immediately launched back into a discussion of the archeological site. Kasidy listened, smiling and nodding as appropriate, but her mind drifted to Deep Space 9. Later, once Prylar Eivos had left, she would contact Kira on the station to make sure that she knew what was happening on Bajor.