Seven of Nine - Christie Golden [56]
"It would have been easier had you died when I told you," he hissed in her ear. His jaws yawned open, and only by straining her entire body could Seven keep the sharp teeth from crunching down on her throat.
Then suddenly the weight was gone. She gasped, sliding backward and scrambling to her feet. Two others, females, one a mature adult, the other in the adolescent years, held Imraak firmly. Their strength was equal to his and he could not hope to break free from the two of them.
"Shemaak! Priana! Let me go-don't you see, she'll ruin everything-" "I heard your words," snarled the one called Shemaak. "You tried to force her to take her own life.
That is barbaric! Such a flagrant violation of everything we hold dean" "We've done enough to them," sobbed the younger one. "And I thought I had transgressed!" She turned an anguished visage up to Seven of Nine. "I'm sorry.
I'm sorry. Perhaps this wasn't meant to happen after all. You'll find the weapon at the bottom of the pile."
"Priana! Traitor!" cried Imraak, still struggling.
The eyes he turned up to his young captor were filled with raw hatred.
"She'd find it anyway," said Priana.
"Your young one is correct," said Seven. She had recovered herself and now knelt beside the pile. The energy signature was powerful now.
Quickly she went through the sacks until she located a glowing sphere.
She was reminded of the crystal balls of Earth's legends from tales Harry had told her-orbs in which one could see the future or the past, if one had certain gifts.
She had a gift. It was called an implant.
Seven touched her commbadge. "Seven to Captain Janeway."
"Janeway here."
"I have recovered the weapon."
"Excellent. What kind of weapon is it?"
Seven frowned. Before her, held in her hands, the sphere radiated energy and a soft, cool blue light. She had a gift which had allowed her to find it, but the skills of the Skedans were still superior.
They had done something to the orb to prevent her from conducting a deep scan.
"I do not know," she said, and the thought irritated her.
Several hours later, after they had run every scan they could think of and a few others they had come up with on the spur of the moment, they still didn't know. And Seven was still irritated.
"I do not recall that the Skedans fashioned any weapon of this sort," she told Janeway. "This must be new technology."
"Or a twist on some kind of old technology," said the captain, staring at the orb on the console in sickbay. "Tuvok, any thoughts?"
"None," replied Tuvok. "The energy field that surrounds the orb is impenetrable. I hgtve even attempted to mind meld with it, on the theory that perhaps something organic is housed within. But I have detected nothing. However," he added, with a lift of his eyebrow, "that does not mean that there is nothing inside to find."
"Clearly not," said Janeway. "I'm tempted to just beam it out into space, but without knowing exactly how it operates, the transporter could inadvertently trigger it." She tapped her commbadge. "Doctor, how is your security stint progressing.? Any incidents?"
"Negative," growled the Doctor, his annoyance manifest even over the link. Because he and Seven were the only crew members who were certain to not be manipulated by the Skedans, Janeway had temporarily pressed him into a security role. He was presently stationed outside of Cargo Bay One, guarding all the Skedans inside.
"Quiet as a tomb. Captain, are you certain that I couldn't be more effective to you in my normal, intended, carefully designed Capacity as a doctor?"
"Quite certain," and a smile curved her lips despite the tension of the moment. "Only you can ensure that our guests stay put. They're intelligent and inventive.
They'd figure out some way to trick regular security personnel into deactivating the force field. I want you to bring Tamaak Vrs to sickbay. We've got some questions for him."
Janeway gazed a moment longer at the glowing sphere. "It's beautiful, isn't