The Battle of Betazed - Charlotte Douglas [70]
Climbing at a steady pace, Deanna had covered almost fifty meters when she sensed Tevren’s presence ahead. His predominant emotion, anxiety, took her by surprise. Insecurity was the last impression she had expected.
She followed the path out of the forest and onto a broad escarpment. From the corner of her eye, she saw a slight movement on the far end of the ridge. Instantly she brought her rifle up, and through its sights she saw Data facing her across the darkness, with Tevren directly behind him, holding Data’s rifle to the android’s head.
“Don’t come any closer,” Tevren warned. “If you fire, I’ll kill him.”
Data made no sound or movement.
“Data,” Deanna called, “are you all right?”
“He can’t answer you,” Tevren called, his voice almost snatched away by the wind.
Never once moving her rifle, Deanna inched her way forward, sensing Tevren’s uncharacteristic anxiety with every step. “What have you done to him?”
“Another little trick I developed,” Tevren boasted. “Only this one I managed to keep secret. Telekinesis. It wasn’t easy, but I was able to force him to help me up here, and now I’m suppressing the central processor of his positronic net.”
“Why?” Deanna asked. “You stopped the Jem’Hadar. I thought you were on our side.”
Maybe if she kept Tevren talking, she could ascertain the source of his anxiety. If she could alleviate whatever was panicking the man, she would try to talk him into surrendering and returning Data’s self-control.
“I heard you mention his transponder,” Tevren said, breathing heavily. “Without him, your ship can’t take me off this planet. I don’t want to go to Betazed. They’ll just use me, and then lock me up again.”
Deanna said nothing. She couldn’t bring herself to deny that his reincarceration was exactly what she intended to argue with the resistance. “Maybe if you cooperate, voluntarily, and help the resistance, they’ll reconsider your disposition. You could become a hero.”
Tevren laughed with a coldness even sharper than the night wind, but it was ragged. Something’s definitely wrong with him. “And what use would I have for that, Deanna? Stay back!”
Deanna stopped. She’d come within ten meters of them, her weapon still raised, still searching for a shot. But Tevren was barely visible in the darkness, hiding behind Data. She could see the silhouette of his head, but even at the stun setting a head shot could kill, and she wasn’t prepared to go that far with him yet. Not unless she really had no other choice. She would take him to Betazed, tell the resistance what she’d witnessed of his killing spree, and leave the ultimate decision with them. But she was determined first to get every member of her away team off Darona alive.
“What do you hope to accomplish?” she demanded. “Even if you could elude the Jem’Hadar in this wilderness indefinitely—something I strongly doubt—how will you survive up here alone? What kind of life do you expect to have that would be better than returning home?”
“I’m not going back,” he shouted. “If you try to force me, I’ll kill Data, and you. Or you’ll be forced to kill me, and what would that mean for the homeworld?”
Strange. Why would Tevren need to threaten her? Why hadn’t he simply killed her as he’d killed the Jem’Hadar? Maybe he can’t, she thought. Maybe holding Data is taking all his concentration, and he can’t employ more than one psionic technique at a time. And if he releases Data to kill me, Data will knock him out before he can pull the trigger.
Deanna’s patience was wearing thin. Vaughn was dying, the Jem’Hadar had certainly already sent out fresh troops to capture them, and she was freezing to death in the frigid wind that blew endlessly across the ridge. So what’s the solution? I can’t afford to wait him out.
“At least let Data go.”
“And allow him to overpower me with his superior strength? Give it up, Deanna.