After what seemed like an eternity, Kestra was the first to break the silence. “I know seeing me is…unexpected.”
“Unexpected?” Deanna said, louder than she’d intended. “I was told that you were dead.”
“I suspected as much,” Kestra said, with a nod in Luc’s direction. “That was Mother’s lie, not mine. I always intended to come back for you. It just took me a bit longer than I’d expected.”
“Years,” Deanna pointed out to her sister. “It’s been years. You couldn’t have gotten a message through? Couldn’t have let me know you were alive? Kestra, what is going on?”
“Deanna,” Luc said, laying a calming hand on her shoulder. “Your sister had some good reasons—”
Deanna turned on him, slapping his hand away. Now she understood what was buried under the emotions she had felt from him earlier. She knew why her mother had been suspicious of him. What he’d been hiding from them since he first came to their doorstep. “She abandoned me,” Deanna said to Luc while pointing back to the viewscreen. “Left me alone with Mother. I want an explanation. I’d prefer to hear it from my sister.”
“It’s okay, Jean-Luc,” Kestra said. “Let me talk to her.”
Luc stepped off to the side, but he did not leave the room.
“I know this seems crazy,” Kestra said, “but I can explain all of it. I thought it best to send Jean-Luc to make contact with you first. To get to know you. Because we need your help.”
“You couldn’t come yourself?” Deanna asked.
“Mother wouldn’t allow it,” Kestra said. “I’ve tried to contact her before, but she refuses to acknowledge that I’m alive. The one time we spoke after I left, she made her position clear. She thinks I put all of you in danger. And that is unforgivable.”
“And Father?” Deanna asked. “Have you found him?”
Kestra shook her head. “It’s a big universe.”
There was a pause in the conversation. Clearly, both sisters had so much they wanted to say. And so much that they knew they couldn’t.
“What do you want from me?” Deanna asked, breaking the silence. “I’m assuming you’re not here for a simple reunion, or you wouldn’t have Luc sneaking around for days before contacting me. No, wait. You didn’t contact me. You let me stumble across you.” She looked at Luc. “What did you do to me? How did you lead me here? Are you Betazoid, too?”
Luc laughed, throwing up his hands in an exaggerated manner, as if defending himself from her. “Don’t look at me,” he said. “Talk to your sister.”
Kestra shook her head in resignation. “We don’t have time for this. The longer we’re in contact, the greater jeopardy we’re all in.”
For the first time, Deanna noticed that her sister was standing on the bridge of a small ship. Shadows of movement behind Kestra suggested she was not alone, but the screen was cut in tight on her, so as not to reveal too much of her surroundings. “Where are you?” Deanna asked.
“Orbiting the planet,” Kestra said. “In Jean-Luc’s ship. Believe me, I wouldn’t have come back here if it wasn’t important. You know about Mother’s secret files.”
“The recordings she keeps as leverage on our guests,” Deanna said. Those data streams had always been the worst-kept secret in their family. It was the thing her parents had fought over the most when their father was still alive. Recordings of the most powerful people in the universe in less than powerful positions.
“Not those,” Kestra said, shaking her head and allowing a wry smile. “Same ol’ Deanna. Never questioning anything more than you need to know.”
Deanna couldn’t help but think that if her sister was trying to come to her for some kind of help, there were better ways to do it. Putting Deanna down as she did when they were kids wasn’t the best way to convince her. Then again, the questions Kestra was providing for Deanna’s mind to roll over were certainly making her curious to learn more.
Kestra let out a sigh that could be heard through subspace. “Mother taps into the deepest recesses of the mind of every guest of the Chalice. She’s kept a file of all of their secrets since the first day of operations. Assassination attempts. Secret battle plans. Weaknesses to exploit. Strengths to avoid. Years’ worth of information on everything she would need to protect herself if anyone started looking into the weird powers these people possessed who seemed to know their guests’ innermost desires.”
“That sounds like Mother,” Deanna allowed.
“Too much like her,” Kestra said. “Dad always wanted to get Mother to use that information to help the resistance. She probably has enough stored up to take the Alliance down ten times over. But she would never consider it. Never wanted to risk her people getting hurt.”
Deanna didn’t see how that was a bad thing. Her mother wanted to protect what was left of the Betazoid race. If anything, it was a noble goal. Several hundred people called the Chalice home. Why should her mother risk all of those lives to go against a government that largely left them alone? If the history Deanna had been taught was correct, it wasn’t as if anyone had rushed to the aid of the Betazoids when they were victims of genocide.
“All we’re asking is for you to access those files, make copies, and give them to Jean-Luc,” Kestra said. “That’s it. We’ll go off, and you’ll never hear from us again. Unless you want to. You know you’re welcome to join us.”
“That’s all, betray Mother?” Deanna said.
“Mother betrayed us!” Kestra said bitterly.
“What are you talking about?” Deanna asked. She could see that her sister was trying to calm herself.
“Mother has been lying to us since birth,” Kestra said. “The Betazoid telepathic powers aren’t dying out. We both inherited some of her abilities. Or, at least, I know that I have. I’m empathic. With some flashes of telepathic images from time to time. But mostly, I can just read other people’s emotions. Jean-Luc thinks you can, too.”
“Luc…Jean-Luc…doesn’t even know me,” Deanna said, with a glance back at the relative stranger.
“But you know Jean-Luc, don’t you?” Kestra asked. “At least, you’ve had a few glimpses into his mind, haven’t you?”
Deanna should have been surprised, but her ability to tap into Luc’s mind was too much of a coincidence. They had to have set this up in some way. “You’ve been planting emotions and images in my mind? How?”
“Not planting them,” Luc said. His calm tone was almost a whisper compared with Deanna and Kestra’s heated dialogue. “Allowing you to experience them.” He raised his foot and slipped a small metal device out of the heel of his shoe. “With this.” He pressed down on the device, and Deanna was hit by the full force of Luc’s uncensored thoughts.
It was the worst sensation she’d ever felt in her life. Luc’s conscious and subconscious were entirely open to her. As was the mind of every other person in the Chalice. Love. Hate. Passion. Fear. She felt it all, jumbled together with an orgy of images that she did not want and could not make sense of. It was as if everyone in the compound were screaming into her mind. Even Kestra was coming through over the viewscreen, and Deanna couldn’t begin to imagine the distance those feelings were traveling. It was all a blur of colors and moods. The only clear messages came from the person physically nearest her. Everything else was a cacophony.
Deanna’s legs collapsed beneath her, and she fell to the floor. She may have passed out, because the next thing she saw was Luc squatting beside her as her mind started to clear the din.
“You never told me that would happen,” Luc admonished Kestra with a level of anger the previously serene man had never revealed before.
“I didn’t know for sure,” Kestra said with a shrug. “It was a possibility. Deanna was never taught how to focus her powers. She couldn’t even manage to keep Mother out of her thoughts. It took me years of practice to hone my abilities.”
“What is that thing?” Deanna asked. Her eyes were locked on the slender device that Luc was slipping back into hidin
g. “Something that plants images and emotions in my mind?”
“Just the opposite,” Kestra said. “It allows you to tap into what has always been there.”
Deanna didn’t respond.
“After I escaped on that Romulan shuttle,” Kestra said, “I slipped off at the next port, where I had arranged to meet one of Dad’s old friends. He’d lost contact with our father, but he was able to tell me what he knew about us. That Mother had been suppressing our powers since birth. As soon as we’d shown a predisposition to the Betazoid gift, she had a neural suppressor implanted in each of us to conceal those abilities.”
“Why?”
“To protect us? To control us? Who knows?” Kestra said. “The point is, she’s been lying to us our entire lives. I had the device removed and taught myself how to tap into my abilities. How to use them. It took years, because I’d started so late. After I got the hang of it, I started using my powers to help out where I could. During one of my missions, I stumbled across Jean-Luc. He’d recently turned against the Alliance himself.”
Deanna looked to Luc, who merely shrugged. Even with the neural suppressor functioning again, she knew that there was deep sadness behind his controlled response.
“We teamed up,” Kestra said. “And found a scientist who possessed the technology to tap into the neural suppressor. It was then that I knew it was time to reestablish contact. To see if you’d be willing to help us.”
“You’re asking a lot, considering most of it is based on lies,” Deanna said.
“I know,” Kestra said. “But all I’m truly asking is for you to look into Mother’s files. Then you can make your decision based on what you find.”
Before Deanna could respond, a klaxon sounded on the bridge of the ship. Kestra maintained her cool, but Deanna could see concern in her sister’s eyes.
“Looks like we’ve got company,” she said as the shadows behind her moved more frantically. “Jean-Luc, talk to her. I’ve got to go.”
“What’s happening?” Deanna asked.
“I love you, Deanna,” Kestra said as she cut off communication.
The viewscreen went suddenly blank, leaving Deanna in silence. Her sister was alive. Her sister was alive, and her mother had been lying to her since birth, if Kestra was to be believed. And now Deanna was expected to help this virtual stranger betray their mother. All in all, it was not the morning she had expected.
“It’s a lot to take in,” Luc said. “But you can trust your sister. And you can trust me.”
“I know,” Deanna said. “I saw it in the flood of information. I could make out a few things. Kestra has grown very fond of you.”
“We make a good team,” he said.
“It’s more than that,” Deanna said. “The emotions…they’re similar to how she feels when she thinks of our father. I suspect I was feeling some of that myself.”
“I never did have any children of my own,” Luc said. “Though I’ve often wondered what became of my nephew. It might be nice to have a family again.”
“I’m not so sure that you’d want to be a part of this one.” Deanna surprised herself with the joke, considering all that was going on inside her own head at the moment. She had felt something else in the rush of emotions. Something much darker that she couldn’t quite access yet. Luc’s emotions were still there, in the back of her mind, along with another secret he never intended to reveal.
“Deanna, I know this must be difficult,” Luc said. “But I also know a thing or two about going along with the status quo simply because it is the easier way. I allowed myself to be oppressed by my Cardassian patron so long that I convinced myself that I was actually a free man. Is that really so different from your relationship with your mother?”
“How is it you’re keeping your thoughts from her?” Deanna asked.
“Your mother’s not the only one who knows how to whip up a neural suppressor,” Luc said. “The one I’ve got just works in reverse.”
Deanna nodded, wanting to keep him engaged while her mind worked through the confusion to remember what it was she had seen. She was so focused on both tasks that she almost failed to notice the door opening.
“Now, this is an interesting surprise,” Lwaxana said coldly, as she entered the communications chamber.
For once in her life, Deanna was not cowed by the woman’s attitude. “Mother, we need to talk.”
“Yes,” Lwaxana said, eyeing both her and Luc suspiciously. “Yes, we do. But now is not the time. We have some very high-profile guests on their descent. We must prepare.”
Deanna was about to protest, but when she caught the eager look in Luc’s eyes, everything fell into place. Her mind had finally pieced together his true mission. This kind, fatherly figure had somehow become an assassin.
Tension filled the salon of the Sacred Chalice along with the Klingon music Luc provided with his Ressikan flute. Had there been time to find a replacement musician, he would surely have been exiled from the planet, simply for being in a room where he was not permitted. That, coupled with his mind still being closed to Lwaxana, was more than enough for Deanna to worry for his very life. But that was not the main concern at the moment. Deanna was certain of Luc’s plan to assassinate their approaching guests.
Half of the staff were lined up in the main hall to receive their special guests. It was like this every time they visited. Their tastes changed on a whim, which only the varied talents of the Chalice pleasure providers could quench. Lwaxana had even abruptly shown several of the overnight guests of lesser position the door to avoid any unpleasantness. This was one of the few arrivals that could have pushed back the discussion Deanna and her mother were destined to have.
When Lwaxana finished addressing the staff in the hall, she came into the salon, where Deanna was sure to keep as much room between herself and Luc as physically possible. A wave of Lwaxana’s hand silenced Luc’s playing. “I assume you know some Terran music?” she asked.
“I may have picked up a song or two,” Luc said, throwing a smile in Deanna’s direction. She looked away quickly. If he got the idea that it would be funny to play her father’s lullaby, it was likely that her mother would kill him on the spot.
“Do not trifle with me this morning. It will not improve your situation any,” Lwaxana said. “When they heard we had a Terran musician, they requested music from your homeworld. Something slow and mournful is more to their tastes.”
Luc made a show of thinking about the request. “I guess I could try—”
“I do not care what you play,” Lwaxana said. “Just play.”
As Luc began the first notes of a suitably morose tune, Lwaxana returned to the main hall to greet the new arrivals. He tried to make light of the situation by screwing up his face and throwing a glance in Deanna’s direction. She was in even less of a mood for that than her mother and ignored him. She was too busy trying to figure out a way to stop the inevitable. It would not be the first assassination attempt to take place at the Chalice, but it would be unique in that it involved an employee. That would not be good for business.
Deanna silently cursed her sister for setting this situation in motion and then hovering in orbit while it played itself out. Now that she and Luc were alone, Deanna considered speaking to him about it, but voices from the grand hall put that plan to a halt. Their guests had arrived.
After an initial review of the selection of pleasure providers, Lwaxana led her guests into the salon to rest from their travels and settle on their tastes for the visit. The Klingon women of the House of Duras, Lursa and B’Etor, were known for being difficult to satisfy. They put much thought into their pleasure and rarely chose their partners without due consideration. The debate between the two women was considered part of the foreplay. Many times, Deanna had been torn between embarrassment and horror as she listened to the women plan their activities for the day. Having some musical accompaniment to drown them out was much appreciated.
“Do tell me that this fine specimen
is available to us as well,” Lursa said as she entered the room and set her eyes upon Luc.
“Sadly, no,” Lwaxana said, quickly adding a lie to keep them from being offended. “All musicians at the Chalice are eunuchs. It ensures that they focus on their jobs and not the guests.”
“A grand idea,” Lursa said, with a pointed look to her guard as if she were considering adapting the concept for her own needs. “But it is a pity,” she added, with a lingering glance at Luc.
Deanna watched Luc watch the women as they settled onto the couch to discuss their options. She couldn’t help but notice that he was positioned with his back against the wall, standing equidistant from the two exit points of the room. Lwaxana was hovering over their guests the entire time. If only Deanna had seen what Luc was planning, she might be able to stop it. But the abilities that revealed themselves were more empathic than telepathic. She was just glad that she’d gotten a glimpse into his intentions. All she could do was be vigilant.
“We are in need of something special,” B’Etor said to Lwaxana, “as this may be our last visit to your establishment.”
Lwaxana looked horrified by the suggestion. “Is there something here that displeases you?”
“Security issues,” Lursa explained. “A known rebellion ship was orbiting your planet. A ship flying under the name Stargazer. Naturally, we blew it out of orbit, but who knows what might come in its place?”
Deanna’s mind went immediately to her sister. She refused to think it possible that she could have lost Kestra again, so soon after being reunited. These two Klingons were so blasé about it that it would be easy to let herself believe it didn’t happen. Luc, however, did not seem to have any doubt. His body tensed, visibly, which did not go unnoticed by Lwaxana.
Star Trek®: Mirror Universe: Shards and Shadows Page 21