Lost Era 06_ Catalyst of Sorrows - Margaret Wander Bonanno [85]
Jarquin glowered at the snow, closed his eyes, cleared a space amid the datachips on his desk, folded his hands and sighed. His features-the hawklike eyes and upswept brow ridges, the characteristic bowl-shaped haircut, even a tendency to fat in his middle years-were more Romulan than Romulan.
“Tell me what it’s like. Is it true it’s warm enough in summer to swim in the lakes and rivers? Is it true that when all the moons are in the sky, it’s as bright as day? Do you know how rarely we can even see the sky on this world?” He did not give any of them a chance to answer before he went on. “I read a book about Romulan butterflies once. Can’t imagine what it must be like to see such delicate, multicolored things actually flying through the air. Here they’d freeze in mid-flight!”
The mere memory of the illustrations in the book was enough to make his eyes moist. He shook himself as if shaking the snow off his shoulders and demanded once again: “Tell me what it’s like!”
Speak up! Zetha told herself. It’s situations like this for which you’ve been sent along as cover, because the Vulcans can’t provide the detail you can. He may only be making conversation, awed because he so rarely meets what he thinks are true Romulans, or it may be a ploy to test who we really are. It all depends on you now. Say something!
Back on the ship, Sisko was less than happy. While he was willing to accept input from his crew, Admiral Uhura had put him in charge, and he hadn’t expected Tuvok, of all people, to try to undermine his command decisions. But Tuvok had decided the antihuman sentiment on Quirinus was strong enough for Sisko to remain on Albatross.
“I figured we’d work in shifts,” Sisko said when the subject first came up. “Selar and I, you and Zetha. That way there’s always someone here to monitor the landing party in the event there’s a problem and we need to beam up in a hurry.”
“This will be the first time Selar and I have to pass as Romulans,” Tuvok pointed out. “I would prefer Zetha accompany us. And, as security officer, I am compelled to point out that you would be put at unnecessary risk on Quirinus.”
Disgruntled though he was, Sisko had to concede that Tuvok was right. It was ironic, though, that the Vulcans, who hated the cold, were obliged to go, but he had been looking forward to a visit to Quirinus and was forced to stay behind. He and Jennifer had gone cross-country skiing in Calgary once before Jake was born; he’d been a natural at it, and wanted to try it again.
Well, so what? he thought. This isn’t a vacation, and it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun without Jennifer, anyway.
He contented himself with running diagnostics and keeping a weather eye on the three onscreen blips among the several thousand heat readings in the city below whose safety he was responsible for. That was another thing. Except for the rare occasion on Okinawa when his name came up for bridge duty-and he always made it a point to request gamma shift, when things were usually quiet-he had never been responsible for people’s lives before. It was one thing to make command decisions onboard a ship, particularly one as small as Albatross, but seeing those three small blips on his screen made him feel almost as vulnerable as they were. He liked that not at all. And suddenly he was not alone.
“Mr. Sisko?” It was Dr. Crusher’s voice, soft as always, but it made him jump. Dammit, he thought he’d shut the holos down! He was beginning to feel like