Nightshade - Laurell K. Hamilton [90]
‘No,” Talanne said, “no, we can’t. Two hundred years of fighting has proved that.”
‘The Venturi are leaderless, we can win the war.”
‘No, Basha, no. We cannot,” Talanne said.
‘Yes, I have bargained with an alien race. They will give us a weapon to finish this war. To destroy the Venturies.” He strode to her, hands clenched into fists.
‘Who did you bargain with?” Talanne asked.
‘Milgians, a race far superior to us and to the Federation,” he said. “They lured your precious starship away.”
Worf started toward him. “It was a trap!”
‘They will not harm the ship. The Orianians do not make war on children, and your ship carries families. We would not deal with anyone that would do such a vile thing. The Milgians do not have any policy of noninterference.”
‘Apparently not,” Worf said. “What could you offer them in return for such a weapon?”
Basha glared at them all. The look on his face was one of fierce determination. Determination not to be wrong. “They wanted the Green technology. They wanted our genetic material.”
‘How could you promise it to them,” Talanne asked. “How could you contact the Greens?”
‘This one,” he pointed at Liv, “we caught this one. She bargained for her life and gave us enough.”
‘Enough to kill Alick and blame the Greens,” Troi said.
‘Yes!” He whirled on Troi. “The Greens could have helped me win this war, but they refused. So I decided that they would help me win this war, one way or another. With everyone believing the Greens murdered the general,” he smiled, a most unpleasant smile, “we could have hunted them down and wiped them out. No one would have protested.”
‘Husband, husband.”
Basha turned to Talanne, slowly. “Don’t you understand? Don’t you see?”
‘Have you never wondered why Jeric is healthy, perfect?”
He frowned. “What are you talking about? We were simply blessed.”
‘No, husband, it was bioengineering. It was the Greens that gave us our son, healthy and whole.”
‘You are lying to me.”
‘No, Basha, I would not lie about our son, you know that.”
He turned to stare at Audun who was still unconscious, then back to the tear-stained face of Liv. “No, they are evil. She was weak and gave me the means to destroy her own people.”
‘She is weak, but they are not evil. They gave us Jeric.”
He shook his head over and over again. “No, no, I don’t believe you. I can’t. They are evil.” He took a step toward her. “Why are you lying about Jeric? Such wicked lies.”
‘I swear by all we hold holy that Jeric is a product of Green bioengineering,” Talanne said.
Basha shook his head slowly. “No, no.” His voice was soft and horror filled. “Our son comes from Green technology?” he whispered it as if it were too evil a thought to be spoken out loud.
‘Yes, Husband, our beautiful son.”
‘Our son is one of them.” He stared at Liv. “Our son is a Green. You let this happen. You let this happen!” He drew a small object from behind his back.
Breck yelled, “Don’t, do it, General! Don’t make us kill you.”
That one action, drawing a weapon on the colonel, decided the guards. There was no more hesitation. All weapons in the room swung to point at Basha.
His breathing was coming in harsh pants. Rage and horror showed on his face. Worf watched the man’s thoughts flow over his face; it was like reading. Was killing his Green-loving wife worth his own death?
The moment seemed to stretch forever, then he threw his weapon on the floor.
The guards rushed forward, pressing him against the wall. Eager hands searched for more hidden weapons. Basha was quickly bound and ringed with guards. His beautiful eyes stared at Talanne, and you didn’t need to be an empath to see the hatred.
She had dealt with Greens. She had stolen his son from him, for Basha now felt that he had no son. As simple as that all his love turned to hate. Worf could not understand it. He knew there was nothing that would end his feelings for Alexander. But the look in Basha’s eyes was pure and uncompromising. The Greens were evil, anyone who dealt with