by Peter David
“Checking to make sure he’s still alive?” asked Burgoyne. S/he was speaking from the door to the room in a voice that was barely above a whisper. Selar, naturally, heard it with no problem.
“I had no doubt of that,” Selar whispered back as she turned and walked out of the nursery. She stood there, facing Burgoyne, who still had a few bits of the lake dripping on the floor at hir feet.
Burgoyne braced hirself and asked the question s/he had been dreading. “Have you come here . . . to try and take him back?”
“No,” Selar said immediately.
“Oh . . . a visit, then. All right, uhm . . .” S/he started to step away from Selar. “Why don’t I get dressed and we can—”
“Putting on clothing would be a poor use of time.”
The remark caught Burgoyne off guard. “It . . . would?”
“Yes. For I will simply have to remove them again.”
She extended the first two fingers of her right hand and held them out.
Understanding, but almost afraid to, Burgoyne—instead of returning the touch with hir own fingers—took Selar’s hand in hir own and gently kissed the knuckles of Selar’s extended fingers. Selar let out a low sigh. “This is . . . highly illogical,” she said softly as Burgoyne kissed the nape of her neck.
“Yes. I know. Isn’t it great?”
They were eye to eye, and Selar said softly, “I will never tell you I love you.”
“Not true. You will never say with words that you love me. There are . . . other ways.”
“Really. And what,” said Selar, the edges of her eyes crinkling slightly, “would those other ways be?”
“I’ll show you,” said Burgoyne.
And s/he did.
SI CWAN
“IT WASN’T HIM,” said Kalinda.
Si Cwan’s sword never wavered from its place, nor did he take his eyes off the man he had identified as Olivan. “What do you mean? That is him. It’s been many years, but I would know him in—”
“I’m telling you, it wasn’t him. It was him,” and Kalinda pointed with utter confidence at Nik.
“What . . . in hell is going on?” demanded Robin.
“Robin,” Morgan said sharply, in a tone that clearly indicated she expected Robin to silence herself.
But Robin wasn’t buying that for a moment. “No, Mother. I’m a lieutenant in Starfleet. Si Cwan, whose aide I formerly was, has just come in here, throwing around accusations, and I insist on knowing what’s going on!” She had been addressing her mother, but the statement was as much aimed at Si Cwan as it was at her.
“Olivan . . . this man,” and he indicated Rafe, who had not moved from the spot, “was a former student of a teacher of mine. A man who taught me the art of self-defense, of camouflage. How to move, to fight . . . in some ways, to think. But they came to a falling-out, many years ago. Some weeks ago, Olivan returned . . . and killed him.”
“How do you know it was him—I mean, this ‘Olivan.’ ”
“Kalinda saw it. In a dream.”
“And you trust the imaginings of some young girl?” Nik said scornfully. “Based on that, you’d accuse—”
“Nik.” His father spoke, and there was something different in his voice. “Nik . . . let it go. This is unworthy. Is it not unworthy, Si Cwan? We were students of Jereme, after all. Denying who and what we are, and shying away from a battle . . . these are inappropriate things, wouldn’t you say?”
“Very much,” agreed Si Cwan. He had not relaxed a muscle.
“But it wasn’t him!” said Kalinda, pointing at Rafe. “He’s not Olivan! The other one is!”
“He’s much too young.”
“But he’s the one who killed Jereme!”
“It does not matter who did,” Rafe said evenly. He hooked his thumbs into his belt, pressing them against the belt buckle. “We are both responsible. Singling out one or the other is not relevant. If you have a grievance with one . . . you have it with both.”
Robin had never, ever seen Si Cwan like this. The fury was palpable, and when he spoke, it was like a voice from the grave. “Then I will kill you both,” said Si Cwan. “One or two . . . it matters not to me. For you killed my teacher, and you will die.”
“Oh, my God,” whispered Robin.
Si Cwan took a step toward him, and suddenly froze in place as he saw a grim smile spread across Rafe’s face. Kalinda was advancing next to him, but he put up a hand. She looked at him in confusion. “What’s wrong?”
“He’s done something. I don’t know what, but he’s done something.”
“My, my. You have learned a good deal, Si Cwan, even with the limited training that Jereme gave you,” said Rafe. He was starting to circle the table, his gaze locked with Si Cwan’s. “You see, Si Cwan . . . the true art of war is to plan for it, even if you do not know that you’re going to be in one. There is no such thing as too many backup plans. Tell me . . . does the name Gerrid Thul mean anything to you?”
It was Robin who spoke up. “A madman. Someone who created a computer virus that came close to wiping out the Federation. His allies introduced a virus into the Excalibur that nearly destroyed it—”
“Did . . . destroy it.”
There was dead silence.
“No,” whispered Robin. “It was . . . it was two separate incidents.”
Rafe shook his head. “No. You thought it was. But it wasn’t. The virus that led to the destruction of the Excalibur was a delayed farewell present from the incident your Federation has termed the ‘double helix situation.’ And I . . . helped create it. I helped conceive it, and my resources, my scientists, aided in its development. I’m rather clever when it comes to creating such things. And I like to spread the joy. That’s why I have introduced a virus into the central computer of the El Dorado, which I’ve just triggered,” he tapped the belt buckle, “with this. Within two minutes, this entire resort will become one gargantuan death trap. I am the only one who can stop it. If you kill me, Si Cwan—if you manage to do so, which I very much doubt—then you will be dooming everyone you see in this room to a very violent death. Your choice, Si Cwan. For the sake of everyone here . . . I hope you choose correctly.”
TO BE CONCLUDED . . .
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