Nightshade - Laurell K. Hamilton [43]
‘Troi, is she harming you?” Worf asked.
‘Stasha is one of the most powerful projecting empaths I have ever been around, and the woman has no idea of her power. Earlier she was doing it on purpose, trying to gain me as an ally, but now it is accidental. She leaks her fear into my mind without meaning to.”
Troi took a deep breath and stepped away from the woman. “I don’t understand why I can’t shield my mind from her.”
‘Are you all right, Counselor?”
‘No, but it is not her fault. She doesn’t mean to hurt me.”
‘I am not harming you,” Stasha was almost in tears. “I have harmed no one.”
‘We are not going to hurt you,” Troi said. She glanced at Worf as she said it. Worf nodded his assent. Troi rewarded him with one of her warm smiles.
Worf would not harm the doctor. There had to be another way to find out the truth. Yet, he did not have the stomach to abuse someone who was such a victim.
Breck came in from the hallway. “Colonel Talanne and her guards are here.” His eyes widened, and a look of surprise crossed his face. Something in the room had caught him off guard, but what?
‘Yes,” Worf said. He glanced at Troi for some confirmation. If he had seen it on Breck’s face, then Troi must have felt something.
The look on her face said she had.
Breck saluted, then walked back to the door. “They are free to enter.”
‘What is wrong with Breck?” Worf spoke low for Troi’s ears only.
‘I’m not sure. Something he found in this room just now surprised him greatly.”
‘What?”
‘I don’t know.”
‘Not a satisfactory answer, Counselor,” Worf said.
‘I don’t have a better one, Worf.”
Talanne swept into the room with four guards at her back. Breck followed behind them. The long, narrow laboratory was suddenly crowded.
‘What is going on here?” Talanne asked. Her voice echoed in the room, demanding more than asking.
Worf stepped forward. “We are looking at the evidence collected from General Alick’s cup.”
‘Dr. Stasha, are you all right?” Talanne didn’t even look at Worf. Her attention was all for the delicate woman behind him.
Stasha glanced at Worf and Troi, then scooted around them, practically running to Talanne. She hid behind the wall of body guards, her relief plain on her face, almost smug. Had her cringing been an act?
Talanne cupped the doctor’s face in her hands, raising the small face upward. She stared into her eyes, seeking something. “Have you been harmed?”
Worf wondered for just a moment if Stasha would lie. He did not trust the woman, but what fell from her lips was the truth. “Not yet.”
Talanne nodded. “Good, I was hoping I would arrive in time. My guards told me you were questioning the good doctor.”
‘In time for what?” Troi asked. She walked forward toward Talanne’s bodyguards. Breck moved in her way.
‘Not too close, mind-healer. Everyone is nervous. Caution is best.”
Troi stared at the sentinel. “We have had a murder. If we are to find the truth, we must stop these elaborate precautions. We must trust each other.”
One of Talanne’s bodyguards laughed rudely behind his, or her, mask.
Talanne silenced it with a glance. “As you say, mind-healer, we have had a murder. It makes trust very difficult for us.”
‘You said you came in time. In time for what?” Troi repeated.
‘Breck, did you inform them of our laws on gathering evidence?”
‘No, Colonel, I did not.”
She nodded. “It is allowed that you act in your own best interest. But, Breck, Dr. Stasha did not deserve such treatment.”
‘She has not been harmed,” Breck said.
‘No,” Talanne said softly, “I see that.”
Worf stepped into the middle of the room. “I am tired of being talked around, as if I were not here. What did Breck fail to tell us?”
‘You are allowed to see all the evidence against your captain. You are allowed to use any means available to ascertain that the evidence gathered is legitimate.”
‘We were doing that,” Worf said.
‘But even in cases involving important leaders, no one is allowed to seriously harm, or kill, nonsuspects.”
‘You mean, Dr. Stasha thought we were going to kill her?” Troi asked.
‘Hurt her, at the