Q & A - Keith R. A. DeCandido [58]
Suddenly half the trees exploded. Grinning wolfishly as he heard the death screams of dozens of Jem’Hadar, Zelik cried, “Weapons free—fire on them, now!”
The troops opened fire into the conflagration, resulting in still more oh-so-satisfying agonized wails of dying Jem’Hadar. Zelik lived for that sound.
Deng looked at him in openmouthed shock. “How—?”
“Programmed the grenades in the trees to stay inactive and cloaked until the grenades in the ground were deactivated.”
“At which point they activate and detonate?” Deng smiled. “You’re amazing, sir.”
“Don’t be stupid. I’m just a soldier doing his duty—do not forget that. And keep firing.”
Zelik settled into the rhythm of firing his phaser rifle, watching the amber beams issue forth and cut into the Jem’Hadar’s scaly flesh. Something at the back of his head whispered to him: Pak-Cho Deng had died on the Andromeda. Ridiculous. Deng was right there next to him, killing Jem’Hadar.
Smiling contentedly as he took down another Jem’Hadar, Zelik Leybenzon thought, This is the way it was meant to be….
Ensign Natasha Stolovitzky moved forward from her position to stand next to Captain Picard. She had been surprised that the captain was leading this landing party. She realized the presence of Q made it obvious that there was more to this entire mission than met the eye. Natasha had studied the reports of his appearances and was not looking forward to how the mission was likely to progress.
Still, she would do her best for Lieutenant Leybenzon. Besides, he always told the best stories….
Suddenly, Stolovitzky felt her stomach turn inside out, and she tried to scream—
—out her brother’s name: “Sebastian! Where are you?”
“Over here!”
Natasha traced the sound of her brother’s voice to the big weeping willow tree behind the house.
“What’re you doing?”
“I found a gecko!”
She rolled her eyes. Sebastian had a fascination with amphibians and lizards that dated back to when they were both children. “It’s time for dinner!”
The one thing that could tear Sebastian away was the promise of food. “Coming!”
They went inside together and sat at the table, where the replicated lamb stew and six-cheese risotto sat waiting for them. Natasha had experimented and programmed the replicator to make the risotto with mozzarella, Wensleydale, Irish cheddar, Gouda, trwoqa cheese from Canopus, and her personal favorite, lemto from Ferenginar.
As they ate, Sebastian asked, “How’s the novel coming?”
Natasha shuddered. “Don’t ask. I wrote myself into another corner with Nyzik. I can’t think of a good reason why he’d go on the mission.”
Sebastian shook his head as he swallowed some stew. “I told you making your protagonist a person with no morals would get you in trouble.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Natasha sighed. “I knew fiction was a mistake. I’m going to talk to Thea about doing another travel book.”
Sebastian scooped up some risotto with his fork and ate it, then almost immediately spit it out. “You put one of the Ferengi cheeses in here, didn’t you?”
“Er, well—”
“You know I can’t stand that stuff. Jeez, Natasha! I’m gonna get something decent from the replicator.”
Even as she laughed at her brother, Natasha had an odd feeling, like the fact that she hadn’t set foot in this house since she enlisted in Starfleet seven years ago. But that was ridiculous—Natasha had never joined Starfleet. Why should she, with her career as a writer doing so well?
Smiling contentedly as she ate, Natasha Stolovitzky thought, This is the way it was meant to be….
As he moved from the rear of the line to stand next to Stolovitzky, Ensign Harley de Lange found himself eagerly wondering what was going to happen next. Three months ago, he’d been convinced that his career was at an end. Thanks to Lieutenant Leybenzon, de Lange was serving on the Enterprise. This had been a dream come true for him, ever since he was a boy living on Earth looking up at the stars.
Suddenly, de Lange felt his stomach churn madly, like that time he made the mistake of drinking some of Leybenzon’s vodka, and he tried