Part 14 (2/2)

Pulaski shook her head. ”One of the terms we agreed to was that if one of my team got caught spying-or there was a suspicion of spying we would all be killed.” ”That's traditional Carda.s.sian rhetoric,” Kira said. ”You don't believe they'd do it?” Pulaski asked. ”Oh, they would if they caught you. But right now they're not going to catch anyone. So many of the Carda.s.sians are sick, and those that aren't are concerned about staying well. It's a perfect scenario. Like I said, they won't miss you.”

Pulaski's smile was small. ”I wish I had your confidence in that. But I'm responsible for three other lives, and I'm not willing to risk them.”

”How Starfleet of you,” Kira said. ”Your lives are so much more important than ours.”

”You have quite a temper, don't you?” Pulaski asked.

Kira felt a flush build.

”It prevents you from seeing clearly.” Pulaski took a step closer to Kira. They weren't that far apart now. Pulaski was slightly taller, but Kira was in better shape. She could kidnap the lady doctor and get her on that shuttle with no trouble at all. ”I see clearly enough,” Kira said.

”Then you understand why I don't risk my team,” Pulaski said.

”Because you are afraid of violating an agreement with the Carda.s.sians.” Kira spit out that last.

Pulaski shook her head. ”We've had the privilege of coming to Terok Nor. As far as I know, no other Federation group-official or unofficial-has come here. I have spent most of my time in the medical lab, but my a.s.sistants have been all over the station, caring for Carda.s.sians and Bajorans. The majority of the work two of my team members have done has been in the Bajoran section.”

Pulaski stopped there. The words hung between them. Kira was beginning to understand where Pulaski was going, but wasn't sure she wanted to join her.

Pulaski's face was filled with compa.s.sion. ”The Carda.s.sians have worked hard to keep up their little fiction that everything is going well. But they've been having trouble doing so. As you said, there are very few guards and very little security right now. And my teams have had to venture into areas that I'm sure would have been off-limits otherwise.” ”It's not the same as seeing Bajor,” Kira said. ”No,” Pulaski said. ”It's not. But it will have to do. We'll be debriefed when we leave. And we'll be honest. We won't have to make anything up.”

”You're trying to pretend that you sympathize with us when you make agreements with the Carda.s.sians.”

Pulaski's shoulders sagged. ”If I were a Carda.s.sian sympathizer, do you think I would have been married to Kellec Ton?” ”But you aren't any longer.”

”That's right,” Pulaski said. ”Yet he's the one who asked for my help. There are many qualified doctors in Starfleet-and many unaffiliated ones all over the quadrant. Why do you think he asked for me?”

Kira crossed her arms and turned away. The woman had a point. A good point. Kira was letting her own disappointment blind her. She wanted the Federation group to come to Bajor so badly. She needed someone there. She felt if there were outside observers, things would change. They had to change-She felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked back to see Pulaski's calm eyes measuring her.

”You could do us a favor, though.”

”Us?” Kira said.

”Kellec and me.”

Kira frowned. ”How?”

”I tried to get permission to go to Bajor today. Gul Dukat refused, understandably. He's as afraid of letting me go down there as you are desirous of it. And probably for the same reason. He's worried about what information I'd take back to the Federation.” ”I know,” Kira said. ”If you”

”Please,” Pulaski said. ”Let me finish. We need to find the source of the virus.” ”I thought you had a cure.”

”We do, but it's not as effective as we'd like. We'd like a cure that destroys this virus completely. I don't know if you've been told, but this is a designer virus-” ”I know,” Kira said.

”Then you understand that someone created it and someone planted it somewhere, we're not sure where. I wanted to go to Bajor to search for the source of the disease, but Dukat said no. He a.s.signed a Carda.s.sian team to conduct the search.”

”Carda.s.sians!” Kira pulled away. ”You know what kind of search they'll do. They'll search until they have enough to prove that Bajorans did this thing, and then they'll use it as an excuse to slaughter hundreds of us.”

”That's what I'm afraid of,” Pulaski said. ”So we need a pre-emptive strike. If you would go to Bajor and get this information on where the virus started before the Carda.s.sians do, then we have two chances. The first is to find a solution that neutralizes this disease completely, and the second is to prevent the very scenario you're describing. If I can go to Dukat with proof that the virus started somewhere and it was brought inward, even better, we can find the virus's designers he'll have to call off his team. He wouldn't dare slaughter Bajorans in revenge. Not in front of a Federation observer.”

”No,” Kira said bitterly. ”He'll wait until you're gone.”

”And by then, the Bajorans at risk will have disappeared, won't they?” Pulaski asked.

Kira frowned. She had completely misjudged this woman. No wonder Kellec Ton had been attracted to her. Beneath that calm exterior, she had the courage of a Bajoran. ”Yes,” Kira said slowly. ”They could disappear.” ”Good,” Pulaski said.

”Before I go, I'd like to check with Kellec Ton, see if he agrees with the plan.” ”Then do so,” Pulaski said.

Kira shook her head. ”It's not that easy. I can't move about freely in the Carda.s.sian sections.”

”Then I'll make certain he's in the Bajoran section in what? In forty-five minutes?”

Kira should be able to make it back by then. ”That'll do.”

”Good,” Pulaski said. She headed back toward the bed. ”I understand your need to check up on me. But you'll find I'm on the level. I'm sure Kellec will have no objections to your trip to the surface.”

”If you send Carda.s.sian guards, I'll shoot them,” Kira said.

”If I send Carda.s.sian guards,” Pulaski said, ”you have every right to shoot me.” ”Don't think I won't.”

Pulaski smiled. ”l know better than to double-cross a person like you,” she said. ”After all, I was once married to one. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll contact Kellec, and then try to catch at least another hour of sleep.”

Kira nodded. She couldn't quite bring herself to thank Pulaski-things hadn't gone as well as Kira had hoped. But they were still moving forward. And Kira felt as if she were being useful for the first time since this plague began.

And for her, being in the fight was always better than standing on the sidelines watching.

Chapter Nineteen

”I DON'T KNOW WHAT WENT WRONG,” Kellec said. He was in the office staring through the door at the green Carda.s.sians staggering in and the Bajorans brought up from below. Pulaski was at his side. She had never felt so discouraged in her life.

”Obviously something did,” Narat said, and Pulaski could hear the blame in his voice. The two of them got along fine when things were moving well, but now they weren't getting along at all. They were taking the problems out on each other.

Reports of illness had started to come in only an hour ago. Now they had an official run on the reed lab. Patients who had been cured ten hours ago were coming back, the sickness obviously in its early stages. A few had waited until the early stages were long past, and so, Pulaski believed, continued pa.s.sing the disease on to others.

”Something did go wrong,” she said without turning around. Governo was handling the Carda.s.sians as he did before. She had instructed him to give them another dose of the antidote. Marrvig was still in the Bajoran section, but Nurse Ogawa had come up with some of the sicker Bajorans to get them better treatment in the med lab. ”You know what it is?” Narat asked.

Pulaski nodded. Kellec was looking at her too. She let the door between the office and the main room close.

”If you think about it, you know just as well as I do,” she said. ”We haven't found how the virus starts. We have succeeded in preventing these patients from dying, but they're clearly reinfecting themselves.” ”Or picking up the virus elsewhere,” Narat said. She shook her head. ”I don't think so. Even when a patient caught the disease from the virus-and could prove that it wasn't incubating-that patient took at least two days to show signs of illness. These patients are coming back within ten to twelve hours.”

”That means,” Kellec said, ”that the infecting agent isn't the virus.”

Pulaski nodded. ”Perhaps if we run some cultures, we can imitate the course of this reinfection in the lab.”

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