• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

Heedless of who saw, Verrak turned and regarded her directly. "Is it? Thirteen undetectable warbirds, which could fire without once dropping their cloaks, could take the Federation by the throat! And what do we owe to bikk'raa like the Shepherds? Lhiau uses every opportunity to insult the Empress, the Senate, the Praetor-even you, Chairman. Even you and the Tal Shiar."

His voice was tinged with wonder, and it was balm to Jekri's spirit She smarted under the stinging insults that dripped so casually from Lhiau's mouth, and it was beyond her comprehension how so esteemed a personage as the Empress, indeed the whole Triumvirate, could continue to tolerate such affronts. But the Shepherds offered quadrant, if not galactic, domination, and that was a tidbit worth shutting one's mouth to take.

"I cannot bear it that he says such things to you," Verrak continued, his voice warm and husky. His fists clenched and his throat worked, and Jekri's breath caught for the briefest of moments in her throat at this revelation.

At once, she quelled it. Verrak could get them all killed. She rose, standing over him as he remained seated, and backhanded his face as hard as she could.

"Looking at all these confusing codes must have

addled my brain," she said. "I thought I heard words that could be construed as treason from you, Sub-commander. But surely I was mistaken."

The green imprint of her blow stood out on his cheek. Verrak's face was impassive, the glow of con-cern-or something deeper-gone. "No treason, Chairman. I am a loyal servant of the Empire."

"As I know you to be," she said, softening her re-buke slightly. 'I will send someone with a fresher pair of eyes to work with you." Without another word, she strode from the tiny room into another tiny room. But here in Telek's quarters, at least, she was alone.

Her body thrummed with emotions-anger, fear, a touch, perhaps, of desire if she should care to name if so. Sighing heavily, Jekri dropped down on the bed and removed her boots.

Verrak's words-all of them-disturbed her deeply. He was right. They could probably take on the Federa-tion with their present number of dark matter-cloaked vessels. But the Triumvirate, true to their Romulan heritage, wanted to wait until there was no risk at all. They didn't want to fight the Federation. They wanted to sweep in with a victory so overwhelming that the round-ears wouldn't even know what had hit them.

And, had the Shepherd displayed any hint of good breeding or courtesy, Jekri probably would have agreed wholeheartedly with this plan of action. But Lhiau was unbearable. She did not trust him, and she didn't see how the Triumvirate could.

She placed her hands behind her head as she lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling. From the mo-

ment she joined the Tal Shiar after executing an unauthorized-but highly desired-assassination for them, Jekri had ceased to accept insults. The mantle of the intelligence service shielded her almost completely, and on the rare occasions when someone had dared show her anything but the utmost respect it had been a matter of hours before she had been able to find some charge upon which to arrest him. She was sorry that, as she moved with blazing swiftness up the ranks of the Tal Shiar, her higher positions took her away from administering interrogations personally.

She turned her head and regarded the holophoto of Telek's wife and child that the scientist had placed beside his bed. Jekri had never bothered to learn their names. The woman was quite lovely, and the child appealing. She realized that, in all the chaos, she had forgotten to give the order for then- torture and execution. It was just one more thing on a long, long list of things to do. A chairman's work was never done.

Sighing, she closed her eyes. She'd get to the order after a quick nap. Even behind closed lids, she saw the dancing images of Telek R'Mor's encrypted formulas.

CHAPTER

5

"ATTENTION, ALL CREW. THlS IS CAPTAIN JANEWAY.

We will shortly be going to