Spirit Walk_ Enemy of My Enemy (Book 2) - Christie Golden [4]
“There, you see?” he said, pointing unnecessarily. “The isoboromine levels have increased substantially.”
“But they’re still not quite up to normal,” Astall said. She gnawed her lower lip. “Jarem, I really don’t know what I’m seeing here. I’m not as familiar with Trill physiology as you are.”
“Believe me, it’s good,” he said. “I don’t need to be relieved of duty.”
“Truthfully,” she said, looking up at him with large eyes, “if this were someone else, would you say the same thing?”
He smiled and nodded. “Truthfully, yes,” he replied, “although I’d want whoever this was monitored.”
She smiled, obviously almost as relieved as he was. Impulsively she hugged him. He tensed in her embrace, then thought, No one else is here, to hell with propriety, and squeezed her back.
“Now, how about that lunch?” he asked.
The being who had worn the faces of the Bajoran Arak Katal and the human Starfleet officer, among dozens, perhaps hundreds, of others during his time in the Alpha Quadrant, herded Moset down the claustrophobic halls until he was certain they could not be overheard.
“Thanks for drawing the symbol,” the Changeling said. “I couldn’t have done it myself. We barely had enough time as it was.”
“Think nothing of it,” demurred Moset. “It was easy enough to do. And you’ve brought me exactly what I need. What we need,” he corrected.
“I had to bring the girl, too,” Katal said.
“Oh, that’s a fortuitous happenstance,” said Moset. “I can certainly use her as well. It’s always helpful to have a genetically similar control subject. No, no, we’re doing fine, just fine.”
Katal turned to the scientist. Trying not to reveal his urgency, he asked, “So how are we doing? Really?”
Moset smiled happily. “The experiments are running exactly as I predicted. No surprises. And now that I’ve got a fresh infusion with Chakotay and Sekaya, we should start to see some real progress very quickly. You’ll soon be your old self again.”
Katal clapped Moset on the back. “I can’t tell you how pleased I am to hear that, my friend. What about our other project?”
Moset hesitated. “Well, it still needs a little bit of time and thought, but it, too, is progressing well. Come. Let’s see what my latest effort will do.”
The scientist turned and made as if to head back to the laboratory. Katal put a hand on his arm, stopping him.
“I’m not sure I want Chakotay to know what’s going on,” he said.
Moset smiled. “And where do you think he might run with the information?”
Katal laughed. “You have a point.”
The two returned to the laboratory. Katal looked back over at Chakotay, who had clearly just seconds before been straining at his bonds. “You’re not going to work yourself loose, Chakotay, so you might as well save your strength.”
Chakotay looked at him with cold eyes. By all the gods that are worshipped in this quadrant, thought Katal, I’ve never seen hatred like this. A smile tugged at his lips.
“Trust me, you’ll want your strength by the time Moset’s done with you. You know a little something about that, don’t you, Sekaya?”
The brother and sister had looked a great deal alike to him when he first saw them side by side on Voyager, and now they both bore identical expressions of loathing. The only difference was that Chakotay’s was cold and restrained and directed at him, whereas Sekaya’s was as hot as a lava flow and focused with laser-sharp intensity on Moset. Any moment now he expected her to start growling like an animal.
While he observed the two siblings with amusement, Moset had been preparing a hypospray and humming something.
“Was that what you sang when you killed Blue Water Dreamer?” spat Sekaya.
Moset turned reproachful eyes on the woman. “No one was supposed to die, I assure you,” he said. “My subjects are always more use to me alive than dead. I’m sorry for your loss.”
“That’s the biggest pile of—”
“Sekaya,” said Chakotay, sharply. She looked at him, her breasts heaving with fury, and he shook his head slowly.
“Your brother’s right,” said Katal. “Moset doesn’t particularly enjoy inflicting