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He tried not to sigh as he was reminded all over again how difficult diplomacy was. Give me the conn any day, he thought, and gathered his wits as Kol turned to him.

“Lieutenant Commander, what do you think?”

I think I need another glass of champagne was what he really thought, but he said aloud, “I think that the Federation would be distressed to lose Kerovi. Clearly, her people are attractive, insightful, and intelligent, and such individuals can only be an asset to the whole.”

Montgomery looked startled at the eloquent response. Janeway looked pleased and not a little surprised. Even Tuvok raised an eyebrow. Paris felt better. Maybe this diplomacy thing wasn’t so hard after all.

Kol seemed amused. “Admiral,” she said to Janeway, “would I be right in suspecting that our Mr. Paris is quite popular with the ladies?”

Before Janeway could answer, Tom replied, “I am a happily married man, Amar, with a lovely daughter. They are presently the only ladies in my life, and I adore them both.”

Her eyes twinkled. “But you haven’t forgotten how to flirt.”

Slightly panicked, Tom looked from Kol to Janeway. Neither was giving him any hints as to how to proceed. He gave up and asked frankly, “Is that a bad thing?”

Kol laughed and everyone visibly relaxed. “Not at all, Mr. Paris! I only wish that we were gathered this evening for no other purpose than to enjoy dancing, feasting, and harmless flirtation.” Sorrow showed in her eyes. “Since my husband’s death, when I became Amar to complete his term in office, I haven’t had much time for dancing and flirting.”

“My condolences,” Paris said sincerely.

Surprising him, she slipped her arm through his. Her smile was bright, though there was still sadness in her eyes. “The real negotiations begin tomorrow,” she said. “Tonight is simply a social occasion, and I shall embrace it as such. Tomorrow, we may all find our voices raised in argument and even perhaps anger. But tonight, I think I’ll consider it a success if I have a handsome human leading me through a dance or two. May I borrow him, Admiral?”

“As long as you return him, Amar,” said Janeway. “I’m going to need him in the future.”

Hope surged through Tom at the words. He gave her a grateful look as he led the leader of Kerovi to the dance floor, and saw Janeway nod approvingly.

So far, so good, Kaz thought as he sat alone in sickbay perusing the data Patel had collected. Gradak seemed to intrude only when there was a lull, when there was nothing pressing to capture Jarem’s attention. That had been his worst fear—that he would be rendered useless as a physician by this other person sharing his consciousness. But tending to Patel had been no problem, and even this, studying Patel’s data, was enough to hold the Maquis at bay.

For now.

It was much as he had expected. The creatures that had attacked the away team were this planet’s version of a primate, evocative of both the Earth species known as an orangutan and also with characteristics associated with the more dangerous mugato, although it had no trace of that creature’s poison.

Kaz frowned as he delved deeper. Surely this couldn’t be right—this thing had more in common with Earth-based primates than ought to be the case with a species that had evolved on an entirely different world. Maybe Patel had somehow contaminated the data—although with her reputation, it seemed highly unlikely. Devi Patel wouldn’t be that careless, not even when a huge, clawed creature was charging her.

He adjusted the parameters and ran the information through again. This time, when the computer returned the results, Kaz sat down heavily in his chair and wiped his forehead, staring at the data displayed on the screen.

Humanoid DNA.

Kaz swallowed, running a hand through his thick dark hair as he tried to make sense of what he saw. How could these primates have humanoid DNA? Granted, it was the thinnest of lines that stood between humanoids and primates—for instance, there was a 98.5 percent genetic