The Battle of Betazed - Charlotte Douglas [72]
“Why did the Dominion torture them?” Riker asked.
Povron hesitated. “I don’t think they were tortured so much as experimented on. I’ve discovered signs of genetic manipulation. The surgeries they endured were performed on the area of the central cortex where telepathic activity resides.”
“A Cardassian exobiologist named Crell Moset was in charge of the experiments,” Picard told her. “His earlier work was in virology. Are you certain his current interest is telepathy?”
“It’s obvious,” Povron said, “because all experimental surgeries were done on the telepathic cortex. And the last of us who came up on the freighter, myself included, were specifically chosen for our telepathic strength.”
Picard tried not to stare at the hideous scars on the forehead of the closest Betazoid. “Do you think Moset was searching for a method to destroy telepathic abilities?”
Povron shook her head. “I am told there were thousands of dead Jem’Hadar on Sentok Nor who suffered similar cranial surgeries. I think what we are facing is the probability that Moset was harvesting Betazoid brain matter in an attempt to genetically engineer telepaths.”
Telepathic Jem’Hadar. Picard repressed a shudder and exchanged a worried glance with his first officer. Already as formidable a foe as any the Federation had faced, Jem’Hadar with telepathic powers would be practically invincible. No wonder the Dominion had spared no expense and worked so rapidly to build Sentok Nor.
But the key question was the one that had yet to be voiced.
“Could Moset have succeeded?” Picard asked.
Chapter Sixteen
O N THE WINDSWEPT RIDGE of the Jarkana Mountains, Deanna struggled against the biting wind to reach Tevren. The killer lay flat on his back, a small, charred dot in his clothing just below his right clavicle. He was still breathing. Deanna felt no emanations from his mind. Unconscious.
Only when she felt certain Tevren wasn’t about to reawaken did she turn to her friend. Data lay stiff and inoperative, and the front of his uniform smoked where her phaser had burned through the fabric and scorched the bioplast sheeting of his chest. She hurriedly reached behind his neck, released a flap on his scalp to expose the tripolymer skull within, and found the contact that would reboot his positronic systems.
Data’s eyes blinked open, and he bolted to a sitting position. “What happened?”
“I shot you,” Deanna explained. “Sorry.”
“No apologies are needed, Counselor. I am certain you had a very good reason.”
Deanna pointed behind him, and Data looked at Tevren, sprawled unconscious across the rocks. Deanna explained how and why Tevren had manipulated him.
“I will run a self-diagnostic to check for damage.” Data’s eyes shifted back and forth laterally as the android checked his systems. “Aside from a hole point-four centimeters in diameter in three of my upper pectoral struts, and a sear along one of my backup subprocessing units, all systems are in working order. Shall I reactivate the subspace transponder?”
Deanna nodded. “We need to get Tevren down to Beverly and sedated before he comes to. Otherwise, we’re back where we started.”
“Do not worry, Counselor. Some years ago, I mastered the Vulcan nerve pinch. If I feel him stir, I will render him unconscious myself.”
Data shifted the stunned Betazoid over his shoulders with ease, and Deanna started down the mountain with Data and his ominous load close behind. If Tevren awoke before they could get him to Beverly, there was no telling what he might do to them. That threat caused Deanna to increase her speed, and she stumbled and slid several times in her haste. Data remained sure-footed and fast. At one point he reached out and grabbed her elbow to prevent her from tumbling head over heels down the steep path.
Data carried Tevren into the shallow cave and laid him next to Commander Vaughn, whose face had grown more pale in the short time Deanna had been gone. Data stepped back outside to stand guard and broadcast his signal.
“You need to sedate Tevren, quickly,” Deanna said to Beverly, “and keep him under until we