Day of Honor 01_ Ancient Blood - Diane Carey [38]
“Or loyalty.”
Slowly she turned now, eyes down to the woven carpet’s bundled flowers and Paisley scrolls. Her arms remained at her sides, her hands fanned out somewhat, as if she meant somehow to steady herself.
“Endangered my plans for this planet … a mission worth more than all your lives and all your mothers’ lives. A chance to slander our opposition and get everything we want in one sweeping blow. And you couldn’t follow through. Couldn’t do one thing right. Wouldn’t follow through on the promises you made. How can I ever trust any of you again? What am I going to do now?”
The word “now” came out like a slap. She suddenly raised her head so sharply that her hair bounced in punctuation.
Her face had changed. This one—Worf had never seen this face before. Her dark-smudge brows were flat, tight, the grooves around her lips suddenly defined, and her eyes were severe as dry ice. In them were both contempt and pure rage, as if she were dressing down a demure protegee who had unexpectedly said a bad word.
Worf’s face turned hot from bitterness and embarrassment for the whole Klingon race. He had tried all his life to be an individual, to resist taking the course of this group or that faction, or even this or that culture, but today he was a clutching mass of Klingon, both aggravated that a human woman was dressing down those who should be warriors, and yet pleased that Ugulan and these lowlifes had to endure being chastised like children.
They deserved it!
Step by step, Odette Khanty strode slowly down the middle of the office area, not looking any Rogue in the face, her eyes instead fixed on the carpet. None looked at her.
“Do you have any idea … what I could arrange to have done to you?”
She passed the last Rogue, turned around, and slowly strode back. She looked at none of them. Her eyes fixed upon the wall at the opposite side of the room.
“Do you comprehend how far,” she went on, “you would have to run?”
The clock clicked, then bonged. One, two, three …
“The sewers you would have to hide in?”
Five, six.
“There’s only one real man among you. If not for him,” she said with a sharp gesture at Worf, “where would I be?”
Worf stiffened and held his breath. Marvelous! To be a superior weed among a field of chaff! What am I now?
As its heavy knob clacked, the office entrance door brushed open against the thick carpet. One of the teenaged pages stepped in, carrying a bundle of wood for the fireplace’s evening fire. Fire was completely symbolic on Sindikash, a custom to have most nights. A warmth of spirit and connection with the difficult past.
But not tonight.
The page stopped, stared, realized what was happening, found himself skewered on Odette Khanty’s glare, and ducked out without even turning around. The heavy door clunked shut, and two of the Rogues winced at the sound.
Mrs. Khanty glared at the door, frozen in her fury.
Then she turned to the Rogues, and started looking them in the eyes, one by one.
In the next minutes, hell itself found voice.
Chapter Eight
“MRS. KHANTY … YOU SENT FOR ME.”
“Worf. Yes, I sent for you. One moment, please … all right, now … you were the one who kept the freighter from being captured by Starfleet.”
“How do you know?”
“I know. Why did you do that?”
“Because … I would rather not specify.”
The private office smelled of the wood fire burning at the other end of the room. Wood fires were popular on Sindikash, though unnecessary as of fifty or so years ago. Worf stood before Odette Khanty, who sat passively behind her carved 18th century barrister’s desk. He felt strangely small. Somehow the comforting smells and old-fashioned decor made him aware of how out of place he was. Every fiber of the carpet was another twist in the tightrope he walked.
She was wearing a thick velvet robe of some kind with brocade sleeves and a satin collar, posing Worf with an image of casual royalty. The robe must have possessed some kind of sentimental value, for the end of one sleeve was a bit frayed and no one had repaired it.
Worf was in privileged quarters here, for