Part 16 (1/2)

With a weariness that made her feel older than her years, Lwaxana placed Barin on his small cot and wiped his limbs with a damp cloth in a futile effort to reduce his fever.

”Water,” he choked through a parched throat.

Lwaxana reached for her cup and held the last drops of her water ration to his lips. He drank greedily, emptying the vessel. ”More.”

Tears filled her eyes. ”There is no more, my darling Barin. Not until the men return from the river tomorrow morning.”

The boy was too ill to protest further. He had contracted the Rigelian fever the previous day, and the disease had progressed rapidly. Without ryetalyn, he had no chance of recovery, and with the increase of Jem'Hadar patrols in every village within a hundred kilometers, no one had been able to obtain more of the medicine.

Three other children of the resistance cell had died after the night Enaren had been forced to take Okalan's life, but since then, the doctor had discovered an antidote. Processing a serum from a relative with a matching blood type, he had transfused antibodies from the vaccinated adults into the ailing children. The serum did not cure the fever, but it prevented the disease from killing its victims. Since the introduction of the serum, not a single child had perished.

Until now.

When Barin was stricken, Lwaxana had begged the doctor to use her blood to produce a serum of antibodies for her son.

”Your son is only half Betazoid,” the physician had replied with deep sadness in his tired eyes. ”An infusion of serum created under these conditions from pure Betazoid blood might kill him outright.”

”But the fever will surely kill him if we do nothing!”

”We must wait-”

”For what? A miracle?”

”There is always the possibility the next scouting party might return with ryetalyn.”

Lwaxana had shaken her head in despair. ”We might as well wish the Jem'Hadar off-planet. Both possibilities are equally remote.”

The doctor had laid his hand on her shoulder. ”You will know when the time comes. Call me. If there is no hope, then the serum will do no harm.”

His words echoed in her memory. She felt the fever rising in Barin's rugged little body, draining the life from him, and sensed the time to alert the doctor had come.

Shoving wearily to her feet, she stumbled to the opening of her sleeping niche and drew back the curtain. ”Chaxaza?”

Her cousin hurried toward her from the common room, her face drawn with fear. ”Barin?”

Lwaxana shook her head. ”He is still with us. But the doctor must come quickly. Please, find him.”

She dropped the curtain and returned to her son. As a leader of her people, she was required to be strong, to represent hope, to keep up their spirits. But as a mother, she had already lost one child. Her darling Kestra had drowned when she was a beautiful little girl of seven, and her death had devastated Lwaxana so terribly, she had repressed the memory for over thirty years. As a result, Deanna had been a grown woman before she'd learned she'd had an older sister.

Losing Kestra had almost killed Lwaxana. Compounding that blow had been the deaths of Ian Troi and Timicin, the two loves of her life. Now she faced the death of her only son, the beloved child of her older years. She knelt and buried her face in his cot, letting her tears flow.

Footsteps sounded in the tunnel, and the fabric covering the sleeping niche was brushed aside. With tear-stained cheeks, Lwaxana glanced up, expecting to see the doctor.

Instead, she discovered Sorana Xerix, but the woman lacked her usual haughty expression. Worry lined her forehead and bracketed her mouth, and her eyes were moist with unshed tears. ”I brought you this.”

In stunned surprise, Lwaxana accepted the bowl Sorana handed her. ”But this is your entire day's water ration.”

”I regret it's all I have to give.”

With a cry of grat.i.tude, Lwaxana wet her almost dry cloth and sponged her toddler's searing flesh. Then she tilted Barin's head for a long drink.

”The doctor is gathering his medical kit,” Sorana said. ”He'll be here soon.”

She turned to leave, then hesitated in the opening. ”It's not good to be alone at such a time. If you wish, I'll stay with you.”

”Please.” Lwaxana gestured toward the niche's only chair.

With a nod, Sorana took the seat, her presence surprisingly comforting.

”We've had our differences,” Lwaxana admitted. ”Why are you here now?”

”Because we also have shared tragedy,” Sorana said. ”Like you, I lost a child when I was much younger, but one does not forget the pain.”

Lwaxana gazed at Barin, lying too quiescent on his tiny cot. ”I've lost one child,” she said fiercely. ”I refuse to give up another.”

Chapter Fifteen.

”D ATA?” D EANNA CALLED in a loud whisper.

Her voice echoed eerily off the rocky ledge, but she received no reply. Without combadges, which had been deemed too risky, she had no way of contacting Data and no idea why he had left without informing her of his departure. She wondered if he had picked up movement of more Jem'Hadar troops and gone out with Tevren to meet them, until her foot struck something on the ledge.

Bending down, she retrieved the object: Tevren's psionic inhibitor in the sterile pack where Beverly had placed it after removal. Deanna's blood ran cold at the sight of the inhibitor implant, apparently ground beneath someone's heel into the red stone until only fragments remained.

With terrible foreboding, she scanned the forest nearest the rendezvous point, fearful Tevren had somehow disabled Data and abandoned him. She saw two sets of footprints on the path leading up the mountain, one made by Data's boots, the other the distinctive tread of soft, prison-issue shoes.

Their departure made no sense. Even with his emotion chip, Data was unlikely to be susceptible to Tevren's psychological manipulations, especially in so short a time, so how had such a powerless little man overcome Data? And if Tevren hadn't somehow gained control of the android, why hadn't they returned yet? Could the Jem'Hadar be closer than they'd thought?

She had to find them both quickly. Data possessed their only means of signaling Worf, but more than that, he was her friend, and she ached at the possibility that he might be hurt or even killed while trying to help her homeworld. Besides, she was responsible for Tevren, and the last thing she wanted was his running amok among the unsuspecting citizens of Darona. Bad enough that they had to endure the Jem'Hadar occupation without adding a serial killer to their problems.

When Deanna stepped inside the cave, Beverly glanced up from her patient, her expression hopeful. ”Did Data receive a response?”

Deanna shook her head and handed the doctor the remains of the inhibitor. ”Data and Tevren have disappeared.”

Beverly's eyes widened at the sight of the ruined inhibitor. ”Dammit,” she whispered. ”We have no way to control him now.”

”Finding him is my first worry. In the meantime, until I return, step onto the ledge at irregular intervals and fire your phaser into the air. If Worf returns, he'll scan this location and will recognize the Starfleet weapon signature. The sooner you can get Vaughn aboard the Defiant, the better.”

”And the Jem'Hadar?” Beverly asked.

”We'll hope the Defiant homes in on your phaser fire before they do.” Deanna checked the setting on her phaser rifle and released the safety.

”Be careful,” Beverly said with a bittersweet smile.

”You, too.”

Deanna hurried up the mountain path above the cave. Tevren was quick to tire, and she hoped to catch up with him before he could travel far. But she doubted she could take him by surprise. When Beverly had removed his inhibitor, Deanna had been astounded by the magnitude of his telepathic powers. Tevren would sense her coming a mile away. Her only hope was a face-to-face confrontation to coax him into keeping his original bargain-if she had a chance to speak before he struck her dead.