Spirit Walk_ Enemy of My Enemy (Book 2) - Christie Golden [69]
“To quote one of Earth’s more famous writers, ‘Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated,’ ” Moset replied mildly. The jauntiness of his attitude infuriated Kaz. He made an angry noise deep in his throat and tensed.
“Kaz. Jarem.” Chakotay’s calm voice cut through the red haze. “Whatever’s going on with your memories and Moset, you’ve got to put them aside. Right now I need you to focus.” A gentle squeeze on Kaz’s shoulder. Not knowing how he managed to do so, Kaz dragged his gaze away from the loathed visage of the Butcher of Bajor to the compassionate face of his friend. He took a deep, shuddering breath.
“I’m listening.”
“Many years ago the Changeling who was impersonating me had his shape-shifting ability taken from him by the Founders as a punishment for going against orders. He rescued Moset, and since then, Moset’s been trying to figure out how to help Ellis get his powers back.”
Kaz was puzzled. “Ellis?”
“He was impersonating Andrew Ellis when the Founders took away his powers,” Moset put in, trying to be helpful. He drew back slightly at the look Kaz shot him.
“It might be best if he hears everything from me, Moset,” Chakotay said quietly. The Cardassian nodded.
“So we never actually met the real Ellis?” Kaz was trying to follow the complicated story.
“That’s right. The Changeling had kidnapped the real Ellis and kept his body in stasis.”
It was all starting to make sense. Kaz recalled the autopsy and the mysteries it had yielded. “Go on.”
“Over the years Moset had some success. Because of experiments with—with my people, he learned about our Sky Spirit DNA.”
Kaz’s blue eyes flicked to Sekaya’s. She had her arms folded tightly across her chest and held her body in a defensive posture. Obviously Chakotay’s sister, too, loathed the Cardassian.
“He was able to get some of the Changeling’s abilities back. He can now shift into any humanoid male form, but that’s it. Moset also crafted a way for him to lock into human form at will.”
“So he could pass medical exams,” said Kaz, looking over at Moset. Despite his loathing of the man, one couldn’t help but admire his brilliance. “Very smart.”
“Moset’s also been experimenting on the colonists, crossing Sky Spirit DNA with human. The creatures who attacked the away team are the result. They’ve got incredible mental abilities, Jarem. They can control the weather, move things with their thoughts—all kinds of things.”
“He told me they were my reward,” Moset said, apparently unable to keep silent despite Chakotay’s gentle warning. “But he lied. He plans to keep them for himself, to create a powerful race of devoted slaves. He’s greedy and ambitious, and he wants to create his own personal Dominion. I won’t let that happen. That’s why I’ve decided to help you.”
“As the old saying goes,” said Chakotay, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend. And Moset is certainly Ellis’s enemy now.”
“Chakotay,” said Kaz in a thick voice, “I don’t know if I can work with him.”
“Then you’d better know this,” Chakotay said somberly. Kaz turned pained eyes upon his friend and saw Chakotay was deadly serious. “One of the people the Changeling pretended to be was someone we both knew.” He paused, then said bluntly, “He was Arak Katal.”
Kaz’s mouth went dry. His throat worked, but no sound came out. Sekaya sat down on the bed beside him and slipped an arm around him. At any other time he’d enjoy the attention from the lovely human female, but now he was so stunned the gesture barely registered.
“Arak Katal?” he repeated. “We had Arak Katal on our ship?”
Chakotay nodded. “We’ve got to stop him.”
“They’re firing at us!” Ramma, only fourteen, his voice shrill with fear.
“Of course they’re firing at us, they’re trying to kill us,” said Laskan to his twin, the harshness of his voice not quite hiding his own terror. They were so alike, but now reacted in completely different ways; Ramma terrified, Laskan, the elder by two minutes, trying so hard to look brave he only succeeded in looking angry….
“Quiet, you two,” snapped their mother. Tall, with piercing green eyes and a strong