Spirit Walk_ Enemy of My Enemy (Book 2) - Christie Golden [38]
Chakotay looked at the small primate-like being who was busily nibbling the fruit. “The Sky Spirits weren’t apes,” he said. “The genetic bonding didn’t turn me or my ancestors into creatures like this.”
“Yes,” said Moset, and frowned. “That’s one thing I haven’t figured out yet. I used other sources than Sky Spirit DNA; the interaction could be what’s causing this side effect. I’ll need to do more work before I can say definitively.”
“You said this—this creature was human,” Sekaya said. “Who was he?”
Moset looked affectionately at the creature. “He was born Paul Fortier, son of Guillaume Fortier. But I call him Kaymar, after my father.”
Fortier—this must once have been Marius’s nephew. “The colonists,” Chakotay said. “You’ve been experimenting on the colonists. That’s why we lost contact.”
“Of course.”
“And somehow we weren’t able to detect them with our sensors,” Chakotay continued. His mind went back to when he had landed on the Sky Spirit’s planet. There had been no trace of humanoid life-forms. Not until the aliens had decided they were ready to make contact. He and the rest of the Voyager crew had assumed it was technology at work—of course they had. He remembered Kim talking about unusually large EM readings, and they’d simply, logically assumed it was some sort of cloaking device. But brain waves produced measurable activity, too, didn’t they?
“You can measure it,” Chakotay said. “Their brain activity. To someone who doesn’t know exactly what they’re looking for, it’ll register as standard equipment readings.”
Moset was looking at him admiringly now. “Yes,” he said. “You catch on quickly. Maybe it’s that special boost you got.”
“You made them into animals, not gods,” said Sekaya bitterly. “Look at him. He used to be a little boy and now look at him!”
“Kaymar and the others are works in progress,” Moset admitted. “All I had was the diluted DNA to work with. I’m certain I’ll make tremendous strides soon, once I can isolate the genetic markers that are more developed than the common ones.”
“How the hell did you get our DNA anyway?” Sekaya continued.
Chakotay wished she would stay quiet. His goal was to befriend Moset, as much as he could, anyway. He feared she would antagonize him and he’d clam up. But she raised a good question.
“You’re supposed to be dead.”
“My dear, there was nothing easier,” said Moset, completely unruffled by her hostility. “When Cardassia Prime fell, there was utter chaos. Our friend the Changeling was able to hire a more unsavory type to break into a certain laboratory, where I had stored the DNA. It was hardly anything of import to anyone else, and Starfleet didn’t know the significance of what was stolen.”
“But he’s a Changeling,” said Chakotay, feigning incomprehension of the situation. “Surely he could have impersonated anyone he wished. There would have been no need to hire a third party to get the DNA samples.”
“He hasn’t been himself for some time,” said Moset. “About seven years, in fact. He rescued me from imprisonment and provided me with everything I needed to continue my research into the Sky Spirit DNA. And I’ve been able to use what I’ve learned to great effect.”
“What do you mean, not himself?” asked Chakotay, keeping his voice conversational, mildly curious. He didn’t want to let on how desperately he wanted to know this piece of the puzzle.
“He wasn’t able to shape-shift,” Moset said blithely. “He was stuck as Andrew Ellis for years. Absolutely hated it, apparently.