Nightshade - Laurell K. Hamilton [84]
‘No,” Veleck said, “I can fix it.”
‘The engine does not trust you anymore, Bebit said. “It will not listen to you ever again.”
‘I know. I have betrayed everything I held dear for greed’s sake. I was even going to give the Orianians one of our weapons to finish their little war.” Veleck stared at the control panels on the wall. “But I never thought my engine would reject me. An engineer without an engine is not whole.” He stared at Geordi and Crusher. “I can tell Bebit how to make the repair. I will not let it die. Go, help your people. I will do this last honorable thing, then I will await what comes next.”
Geordi looked at Captain Diric. “It’s up to you, Captain, if you still need us, then we’ll stay. If worst comes to worst the Enterprise can return to the planet without us.”
‘We will let Veleck make these small offerings of reparation. He cannot bring back our dead, but he can do this one small thing. Then he will be imprisoned for a very, very long time.”
Geordi glanced at Veleck, but the Milgian didn’t seem to react to that last bit of news. Veleck had always given up too easily.
‘All right, thank you, Captain. It’s been a very unique experience.”
‘You can say that again,” Crusher whispered under her breath.
‘La Forge to transporter room, two to beam up.” The last thing Geordi felt was the warm pulse of the engine in his head, saying goodbye.
Chapter Twenty-one
Worf was surrounded golden-skinned children. Their large, shining eyes stared up at him adoringly. Curious little hands traced the ridges on his forehead. He had tried glaring at the children, but it had not worked. A low growl had only made them giggle, a high, fluid sound.
Worf sat in a small hut that was like no dwelling he had ever seen before. The walls and domed roof were made entirely of plants. Vines, small trees, even what he would term flowers, were all woven together.
And all of it was still alive. Worf had seen trees trained to unusual shapes-bonsai miniatures, standards trained against trellises-but the Enterprise arboretum had nothing like this.
He wasn’t a person who noticed plants much, but these were impressive. Flowers grew and bloomed at the edges of the wall. A vine with huge white flowers like stars climbed up the far wall. The hut had been invisible in the greenery they had first seen in the cave. It was camouflage to make any warrior’s heartbeat quicken.
There were twenty huts all hidden in the rich vegetation. But even standing right beside some of the houses, Worf had almost missed them.
It was an ideal place for an ambush.
A little girl that couldn’t have been more than four had quickly climbed into Worf’s lap. Now, he didn’t know what to do with her, accustomed to most of the children on the Enterprise being wary of him. Perhaps not afraid, but not comfortable either. Certainly not comfortable enough to climb into his lap, lean against his chest, and nearly sleep. Two boys nearly Alexander’s age were leaning against his right side. Their eyes were intent, their attention touchable, seemingly interested in the conversation.
The Greens overall leader, Portun, was sitting just in front of him. He, too, was surrounded by children. A very small baby was asleep in his arms. Portun, Worf had learned, was a child-rearer, who tended children while their parents worked.
A small child of perhaps two toddled from Portun to Worf and struggled to crawl into his lap next to the first little girl. Worf was finally forced to help the child settle comfortably. All the children were like this. They expected to be welcomed by any adult, alien or otherwise.
Portun smiled at him. “You have a way with children, Ambassador Worf.”
‘Thank you, Leader Portun,” Worf said. He doubted if his own son, Alexander, would have agreed with the compliment. He knew he did not, but it was not polite to correct the man.
‘You wish to discuss the unfortunate accident that befell Alick of the Venturi, do you not?”
‘It was no accident, Leader Portun. It was murder.” Worf glanced down into the curious eyes of the children. The two oldest boys were