Double Helix 03_ Red Sector - Diane Carey [114]
“Oh-” Zevon moaned as if he’d just remembered, just realized. A sheet of pallor drained across his face. “I never imagined you might come yourself….”
Now that he’d gotten his pound of flesh, Stiles gave him a light punch in the chest. “That’s okay, we got out of it. Come on, let’s get moving. We’ve got work to do.”
He pulled Zevon to his feet, while at their side Mr. Spock also stood up and scanned the horizon for trouble. The trouble, though, was right here.
“Eric, I want to go back to my lab.” Zevon announced. “I don’t want to go with you.”
Stiles huffed out his disbelief. ‘Tm serious, Zevon. Don’t kid around. Lives are at stake. The stability of a hundred star systems are at stake, the Romulan Empire’s-“
Zevon squared off before him. “I want to go back to my life. This is where I belong now, where I do good work. I refuse to go.”
“Sure, refuse. I’ll just stun you again and carry you the rest of the way if I have to.” “Commander” Spock began, “perhaps we should-“
Stiles waved his stun-set phaser demostrably. “Sir, I’m sorry, but there’s no time. I want my ship away from this planet. We can talk while we move. That’s the direction. Go on, Zevon, unless you want another dose.” “Eric, this is not at all like you.” “Too bad. Ambassador, which way?” Hesitating only a moment, Spock said, “Follow me, please.” The traipse through the root swamp was messy, tedious, and most of all uneasy. Stiles didn’t like holding a phaser on Zevon, but he never let it waver. Whenever Zevon looked at him, he brandished the phaser and made sure his thumb was on the fire pad. How many times did he look at the weapon himself, making good and sure it was set on stun and nothing worse. It had been years upon years since he’d been in a position to use a hand weapon against another person. The idea of making a mistake absolutely petrified him to the bone.
Before him, Zevon’s moss-green cardigan flickered in the rays of the lowering sun through the huge twisted roots overhead and around them. He endured delirious joy that Zevon was still alive and here with him, tempered by the obvious tension of Zevon’s resistance. He’d been brainwashed or something. He’d given up on being rescued and, surviving any way he could, had conditioned himself to live here, convinced himself it was right.
I’ll talk him out of it. Now that I’m back, everything can go ahead and change. I’ll walk him through it. He’ll like it in a week
“Eric, I don’t wish to go” Zevon attempted again after a half mile. “How can you force me?” “You’re a Romulan, you understand force, right?”
“Orsova will do everything he can to keep us from leaving the planet. If you let me go, I can convince him to allow you to leave Red Sector. He wants no outside-“
“What’s wrong with you?” Stiles blazed, pulling up almost to Zevon’s side so they could look at each other between steps. “Don’t you understand? Of course he doesn’t want outside interference! I saw the looks in those soldiers’ faces. The Pojjana see Orsova as if they wouldn’t survive without him, like he’s holding up the planet all by himself. If you or the Federation or anybody manages to stop the Constrictor, suddenly he wouldn’t be the great savior anymore. That’s why he stuck Mr. Spock and me in a cell and wouldn’t deal. He doesn’t want anybody to stop it!”
“I have to stay here, Eric, I have to be here every day. We have succeeded in reducing the effect of the waves, but my system requires almost daily adjustment and no one else call do that. I have no one thoroughly trained enough yet to take my place. Every day I breathe, I extend to the Poijana the chance of someday outdoing my expertise. That has been my goal. I have arranged for Orsova to sponsor engineering and science colleges, apprenticeships and clinics so that some day the Pojjana can go on without me. That day has not come.”
“You’re taking this self-blame too far, Zevon.” Stiles tripped on a cracked root and almost fired the phaser by accident. Ahead of them, Spock glanced back while Stiles recovered, then moved on.
Why didn’t he come back here and lay some logic on