Death in Winter - Michael Jan Friedman [103]
“Jellekh… “
His comrades responded in kind, filling the alcove with the thin, high sound of their mourning. But then, Jellekh had been the bravest and most dependable of them.
And he might still be alive if there weren’t a traitor in their midst. Hanafaejas raised his head and regarded the comrades facing him in a rough semicircle.
Someone had told Sela where Captain Picard would be meeting Doctor Crusher, or those centurions wouldn’t have known where to find them. Clearly, there was a leak in the rebels’ camp, and Hanafaejas vowed not to rest until he found out who it was.
For now, however, he had a more urgent task. He had sworn to Captain Picard that he would send a brief, untraceable message to Sela’s headquarters, letting her know that he was in possession of a vaccine for the plague.
And that he would part with it-for a price.
It wasn’t the way of the Kevrata to make bargains with each other. When they gave something away, they did it unconditionally. However, when they dealt with other Kevrata, they could expect their largesse to be reciprocated.
In this case, unfortunately, they were dealing with their Romulan oppressors-the other plague ravaging their planet-which meant the rebels had to adhere to a different standard. Besides, Hanafaejas wasn’t asking for wealth in exchange for a cure. All he wanted was something the Romulans owed the Kevrata anyway…
Their freedom.
To Picard, the journey to Kevratas had seemed painfully long. However, the journey back seemed even longer.
One reason, of course, was the loss of Decalon. It was unfortunate that he could not have escaped the Empire a second time. However, he had gone down fighting, repaying his saviors for the sacrifices they had made to liberate him.
There were worse ways to die.
The other reason for the tedium-from Picard’s point of view, at least-was Beverly. She was acting as if nothing had changed, as if they were still the people they had been before.
But Picard knew otherwise. He could see it in her eyes, in her smile, in the distance she kept from him.
On the other hand, she seemed perfectly willing to converse with Joseph or Greyhorse. Especially when the alternative was to be alone with the captain.
It saddened him that it should be so. He wished he could change what he had done, erase every trace of it from Beverly’s memory. But he didn’t have that option. He could only take responsibility for his mistake and endure its consequences.
Eventually they received orders to rendezvous with the Zapata, a Surak-class starship that would take Beverly and Greyhorse to a starbase for debriefing. However, Picard would remain with the Annabel Lee the rest of the way to Earth.
He was grateful. It would be less awkward that way.
Days later, when they made contact with the Zapata, Picard and Joseph accompanied their comrades to the Annabel Lee’s transporter room. Feeling as if he were moving through a dream, the captain clasped Greyhorse’s big hand and wished him well.
Then he turned to Beverly, hoping he would find in her expression some trace of what had existed between them. But it was as if he were looking at a stranger.
“Good-bye,” she said, and gave Picard a hug. But it seemed lacking in enthusiasm.
“Good-bye,” he responded.
“Don’t forget,” Beverly said as she pulled away, “you promised you’d come down for dinner sometime.” But her eyes didn’t sparkle the way they had when she first extended the invitation.
“I will not forget,” he assured her.
And he wouldn’t. But he had no intention of bringing the matter up again. That way, if Beverly was just being polite, it wouldn’t lead to any more discomfort.
Picard watched as she said good-bye to Pug. If anything, Beverly seemed more genuine with him, more earnest in her intentions to see him.
Joseph clapped the doctor on the shoulder. “Who knows, I may come by and see you too.”
Greyhorse considered his old colleague. “I will look forward to it.”
Beverly laughed. It was an easy laugh, the kind she had once shared with Picard. But not anymore.
Someday, he believed, that would change. She would