The Brave and the Bold Book Two - Keith R. A. DeCandido [88]
Jadzia looked at her and said, “Colonel, you awake?” But she said it in a man’s voice.
Then the bar started to congeal and melt into an amalgam of random colors and lights that, after a second, coalesced into the more familiar sight of the Gorkon medical ward.
The last conscious thought she remembered having was the unpleasant face of Nurse Gaj standing over her. Now, though, there were four different people gazing intently at her. She knew all of them: Klag and Toq from this ship and Data and Geordi La Forge from the Enterprise. In fact, in her dream Jadzia had spoken with La Forge’s voice.
“You all right?” La Forge asked.
What is going on here?”I’m fine—I think.”
Toq asked, “Do you feel the influence of Malkus?”
Kira was about to instinctively answer in the affirmative when she realized that, in fact, she didn’t feel Malkus at all. She hadn’t noticed it until Toq mentioned it, but—”No, he’s—he’s gone.” She broke into a smile. “It’s nice to have my head to myself.”
“It worked!” Toq said.
“What worked?” Kira asked.
Klag smiled. “You, Colonel, are the beneficiary of the genius of the other three men in this room. We have found a way to combat Malkus’s telepathic influence.”
“That’s the good news,” La Forge added.
Frowning, Kira asked, “What’s the bad news?”
“We are presently in the Narendra system’s Oort cloud,” Klag said. “Sensors are detecting seven Defense Force ships and one Federation civilian ship in orbit of Narendra III—and they are in defensive formation. The civilian ship is a part of the formation, which leads us to think—”
“That they’re all under Malkus’s control,” Kira finished. “Dammit.”
Klag nodded. “Three of the ships are birds-of-prey under the command of Captain Huss. I know for a fact that they were at Ty’Gokor only yesterday.”
“It is likely,” Data said, “that they came to Narendra III and were also enthralled by Malkus.”
“So it’s four-to-one odds,” Kira said. “Assuming Malkus doesn’t enslave the rest of us.”
La Forge smirked. “Well, thanks to Toq here, that won’t be an issue for us. The thing is, we can neutralize Malkus altogether with our modified deflector—we’re gonna rig it so that it broadcasts a large-scale version of what we hit you with. I was hoping to modify both ships, but the Gorkon’ s deflector won’t take to the modification, at least not in the time we’ve got. But if we’re under fire…”
“Reinforcements?” Kira asked.
“The seven ships in orbit comprise all the Defense Force ships assigned to this sector,” Klag said bitterly. “Others are en route, as are Starfleet ships—including the Defiant and the Hood—but no help will arrive for at least two more days. And we cannot afford to wait.”
Data said, “Dr. Crusher has replicated the cure for the disease, based on the records from the Constellation and the Enterprise a century ago, but we cannot administer it until Malkus is neutralized.”
La Forge put a hand on Data’s shoulder. “I need to get back and rig up the deflector.”
Nodding, Data said, “Lieutenant Toq and I will inoculate the Gorkon crew against Malkus’s influence. Then I shall return to the Enterprise and do the same for our crew.”
“How long will that take?” Klag asked.
“About an hour,” La Forge said. “And at that, we’ll be pushing it, but Beverly said we can’t afford to wait much longer than that if we’re going to have any chance of curing those people.”
“Get to it, all of you,” Klag said, and the trio departed the medical ward.
Kira got up from the biobed. Klag shot her a look. “What are you doing?”
Standing at attention, she said, “Colonel Kira Nerys, reporting for duty, Captain.”
Klag threw his head back and laughed a loud, hearty laugh. “You are not a member of the Defense Force, Colonel.”
“No, but I’m sure as hell not gonna sit around and let you do all the work,” she said with a smile. “I’m ready, eager, and damn willing. So give me a post, Captain.”
Still smiling, Klag touched his communicator. “Klag to Rodek. Lieutenant, has