Part 17 (1/2)

But the key question was the one that had yet to be voiced.

”Could Moset have succeeded?” Picard asked.

Chapter Sixteen.

O N THE WINDSWEPT RIDGE of the Jarkana Mountains, Deanna struggled against the biting wind to reach Tevren. The killer lay flat on his back, a small, charred dot in his clothing just below his right clavicle. He was still breathing. Deanna felt no emanations from his mind. Unconscious.

Only when she felt certain Tevren wasn't about to reawaken did she turn to her friend. Data lay stiff and inoperative, and the front of his uniform smoked where her phaser had burned through the fabric and scorched the bioplast sheeting of his chest. She hurriedly reached behind his neck, released a flap on his scalp to expose the tripolymer skull within, and found the contact that would reboot his positronic systems.

Data's eyes blinked open, and he bolted to a sitting position. ”What happened?”

”I shot you,” Deanna explained. ”Sorry.”

”No apologies are needed, Counselor. I am certain you had a very good reason.”

Deanna pointed behind him, and Data looked at Tevren, sprawled unconscious across the rocks. Deanna explained how and why Tevren had manipulated him.

”I will run a self-diagnostic to check for damage.” Data's eyes s.h.i.+fted back and forth laterally as the android checked his systems. ”Aside from a hole point-four centimeters in diameter in three of my upper pectoral struts, and a sear along one of my backup subprocessing units, all systems are in working order. Shall I reactivate the subs.p.a.ce transponder?”

Deanna nodded. ”We need to get Tevren down to Beverly and sedated before he comes to. Otherwise, we're back where we started.”

”Do not worry, Counselor. Some years ago, I mastered the Vulcan nerve pinch. If I feel him stir, I will render him unconscious myself.”

Data s.h.i.+fted the stunned Betazoid over his shoulders with ease, and Deanna started down the mountain with Data and his ominous load close behind. If Tevren awoke before they could get him to Beverly, there was no telling what he might do to them. That threat caused Deanna to increase her speed, and she stumbled and slid several times in her haste. Data remained sure-footed and fast. At one point he reached out and grabbed her elbow to prevent her from tumbling head over heels down the steep path.

Data carried Tevren into the shallow cave and laid him next to Commander Vaughn, whose face had grown more pale in the short time Deanna had been gone. Data stepped back outside to stand guard and broadcast his signal.

”You need to sedate Tevren, quickly,” Deanna said to Beverly, ”and keep him under until we get to Betazed.”

The doctor examined his wound first and verified that it wasn't life-threatening, then reached for a hypo. ”What happened?”

”I had to shoot him.”

”He didn't try to hurt you?”

”He seemed more anxious than angry,” Deanna explained. ”He didn't seem well when I found him, but he was threatening Data with a phaser.”

With a puzzled frown, the doctor set aside the hypospray, picked up her medical tricorder, and ran a quick scan of the Betazoid. ”I can't sedate him. The drugs would kill him.”

”But if he wakes up-”

Beverly sat back on her heels and stared up at Deanna. ”He's dying. He needs a sickbay as much as Vaughn.”

”Dying?” Deanna said in disbelief. ”But the wound-”

”It wasn't the phaser,” Beverly explained. ”All those years of having that psionic inhibitor in his brain have made him dependent upon it. The sudden renewed activity of his telepathic cortex, after years of inactivity, is killing him. I'm showing intense neural shock. His legs are already paralyzed. Even if he regains consciousness, he'll be in no shape to cause anyone harm.”

”But he can't die,” Deanna insisted.

Data hurried inside. ”Counselor, I just received a pulse in answer to my latest signal. The Defiant is here.”

Within minutes, the away team was transported aboard the small s.h.i.+p. Crewmembers stepped forward to carry Commander Vaughn and Tevren to the medical bay, and Beverly followed. Deanna and Data went to the bridge to meet with Worf.

”I regret the delay,” Worf said. ”I came as quickly as I could after a.s.sisting the Enterprise.”

”I'm glad you're all right,” Deanna said. ”I was worried that the Jem'Hadar might have-”

”The Dominion has taken too much from me already,” Worf said with his characteristic snarl. ”Today I repaid a few debts.”

”And the Enterprise?” Data asked.

”Captain Picard had the situation well under control when I left him,” Worf said. ”Commander Riker's away team was still on Sentok Nor, and the Tulwar and Scimitar were harrying the enemy.”

Deanna noted Worf's omission. ”The Katana?”

”Lost with all hands. They died valiantly as warriors.”

Deanna quelled her grief. Forty lives had been lost on the Katana and Commander Vaughn was near death, but she realized the toll would rise geometrically before Betazed was liberated.

If Betazed was liberated. There were still fifty thousand Jem'Hadar on the planet, and if Beverly couldn't save Tevren, there might be fifty million before long.

”But you will be pleased to know,” Worf went on, ”that long-range sensors are showing that their mission was successful. Sentok Nor has been destroyed.”

”At least something's gone right today,” Deanna muttered, then realized she'd spoken aloud. ”Worf, I'm sorry. That's wonderful news. How long before we reach Betazed?”

Worf turned to the young Ferengi at conn. ”ETA, Ensign Nog?”

”Forty minutes, sir.”

”Steady as she goes.”

”Deanna,” Beverly's voice sounded over Troi's combadge ”I need you in the medical bay.”

Fearful of what news awaited her, Deanna hurried from the bridge. When she entered the medical bay, however, her spirits lifted. Vaughn, his right shoulder bandaged and his arm in a sling, was sitting up on one of the beds. His face lit up in greeting when Deanna entered the room.

”Your color has improved, Commander,” Deanna said. ”How are you feeling?”

”Much better, thanks to Dr. Crusher. I should be back to normal in a day or so. And, as I understand it, thanks to you and Mr. Data as well.”

Deanna ignored the offer of grat.i.tude. ”I'll turn command of the mission back to you, then.”

He shook his head. ”Not yet, I'm afraid. Doctor's orders. Did I thank you for saving my life?”

She nodded. ”But I should be thanking you. You were ready to die for Tevren.”

”Not for Tevren,” Vaughn corrected. ”For Betazed. There's a difference. And I only did what any Betazoid would have done. Let's just hope it wasn't in vain.”