Nightshade - Laurell K. Hamilton [15]
Dr. Zhir began to sing clear and soft, but it carried. A song Troi did not know. The whispering echoes of the babies, hundreds of babies, thoughts, ragged bits of dream responded to the singing. Troi felt a brush of pleasure, like a whisper of happiness from the babies.
Doctor Zhir was singing to the lifeless children, and they heard her. Her voice, her… love for them.
The corridor outside seemed somehow wider, fresher. Everyone was relieved to be out of that room. Everyone. Troi was no exception, but she could still feel Dr. Zhir singing. Not the words but the feelings-grief, horror, pain, but under it all like something new… hope. The last refuge for madmen and dreamers.
Chapter Four
Pickard, Troi and Worf were just outside their room when a guard hurried toward them. The Orianians pointed rifles at a nearly running figure. He or she, displayed empty hands. “Please,” the voice was male, “I am Breck and Colonel Talanne has sent me to find the Federation healer. A mind-healer.”
‘What has happened?” Picard asked.
‘The general’s son, Jeric, he is… not well,” the guard said.
‘What is wrong with him?” Troi asked.
‘I know not. Colonel Talanne ordered me to fetch the mind-healer from the starship. She said only that her son is ill and in need of help.”
‘Counselor?” Picard said.
‘He is telling the truth, Captain. He is worried about the boy.”
Troi stepped out from between the still cautious guards. “I am the mind-healer. I will come with you.”
‘No,” Worf said. “It could be a trap.”
‘He believes what he’s saying,” Troi said.
‘He could have been lied to as well.”
‘No,” Troi said.
‘Captain, this could be a ploy to separate us. The counselor could be used as a hostage.”
‘If I understand the word properly,” Breck said, “we do not take hostages. To hide behind a nonwarrior is an act of cowardice.”
‘You use assassins and poison,” Worf said.
‘Yes, but not hostages,” Breck said. He seemed to find nothing wrong with his code of honor. Poison, but not hostages. Interesting.
‘Lieutenant, we must trust our hosts,” Picard said.
The look on Worf’s face said plainly how far he trusted their hosts. Picard chose to ignore it. “Counselor, do you feel safe going to the aid of this child?”
‘Yes, Captain.”
He nodded. “If you could help the general’s child, it might help negotiations.”
‘Understood, Captain.”
‘But that is not worth sending you alone. Lieutenant Worf, you may accompany Counselor Troi.”
‘I agree someone should accompany her, Captain, but what of your own safety while I am away?”
‘I managed to stay alive long before I met you or Commander Riker. I think I can manage a short time alone. Besides, the Orianian guards should be able to stave off the attackers until your return.”
Worf frowned. “Your safety is not a laughing matter, Captain.”
‘I am not laughing, Lieutenant Worf.”
The guard who had come to fetch Troi was shifting from foot to foot. “Please, Colonel Talanne was most insistent. Will you come now?”
‘Yes,” Troi said, “I’m coming.” She followed the guard down the hallway, the opposite way from the nurseries. Worf trailed behind her like a frowning shadow.
The boy’s room was nearly identical to the one where Troi had awakened-was it only an hour ago-only the wall hangings were different. Scenes of nearly life-sized children playing games. Beautiful Orianian children. Children like Jeric, not like the babies in the nurseries. There were no wounds or deformities here. The running, laughing children were as perfect as the flowers they picked.
Had Oriana been like this once? The vibrant green trees, the flowers like melted rainbows covering soft, rolling hills. The golden skinned children with their liquid, bright eyes. Laughter, play, life.
Troi stared at the two bodyguards in their ever-present face masks and goggles, their rifles. What had happened to this planet, these people, to make them destroy everything? Surely, nothing was worth such total destruction.
Talanne sat on the edge of a sleeping mat holding her child. Jeric cried softly, his small hands clutching her loose blouse. She was stroking