The Red King - Michael A. Martin [110]
Suran pitched forward onto his face and lay unmoving in front of the desk. His blood spread out in a swiftly expanding pool, dyeing the carpet a rich, beryl-emerald green.
Donatra regained her feet, approached Suran, and rolled him over onto his back. His flinty eyes stared back at her, as lifeless as polished atlai riverstones. Like Donatra, Suran had served under Admiral Braeg, and they had both pledged Braeg their loyalty. Donatra had become Braeg’s lover, and both she and Suran had mourned him deeply after Braeg had fallen to Tal’Aura’s treachery. Now, with Suran dead, her last living link with Braeg had passed from the world. For good or ill, her destiny was fully her own at long last.
There will be no more power struggles between us, Suran, she thought, feeling unexpectedly wistful, but only for a moment. She knelt, picked up his weapon, then pulled her own free from the ghastly wound in his neck. She wiped the gore-spattered blade clean on Suran’s sleeve, then returned it to concealment beneath her tunic as she rose to her feet.
All the while, she wondered why she felt so detached from the grisly reality of her longtime colleague’s death. And from the fact that she had been its cause.
The comm unit on her desk chimed, startling her.
“Centurion Liravek to Commander Donatra. Titan is hailing us.”
Donatra realized that she had been holding her breath. Recovering her composure with no small amount of effort, she touched the reply key.
“Acknowledged, Centurion. I’ll take it here.”
U.S.S. TITAN
From the moment the Romulan commander’s face appeared on the bridge viewscreen, Deanna Troi was certain that Donatra was concealing something. Something terrible.
Will glanced toward Troi, who knew immediately that he had seen the look of alarm that had crossed her face. He had managed to keep his own “emotional tells” under control, however, like the master poker player he was.
“Commander Donatra, Titan and her crew are ready to go to warp. Our sensor networks are now fully tested and prepared to continue relaying real-time navigational hazard data to your fleet’s computer network, at our highest warp speeds.”
Donatra nodded, her face a mask of impassivity. But just below the surface, her emotions were in violent convection. Why? Troi wondered.
“Excellent, Captain. My crews stand ready to move at your signal. However, there is something I must tell you before we begin. Is this channel secure on your end?”
Troi watched as Will nodded toward Cadet Dakal, who entered a few swift commands, then nodded back at the captain.
“It is now, Commander,” Will said.
Donatra bowed her head briefly, and Troi sensed a wave of gratitude rising from her. “Captain Riker, what I’m about to tell you must be kept in the strictest confidence, at least until I am ready to announce it to my own people.”
“Of course.”
“Commander Suran is dead.”
Will’s feelings of surprise briefly overwhelmed anything Troi was able to sense from Donatra, whose gaze was moving back and forth between Will and Troi. She’s considering how hard it will be for her to dissemble in front of me, Troi thought as Will worked to tamp down his emotions.
“What happened?” Will said, breaking the lengthy, stunned silence that had followed Donatra’s revelation.
“He attempted to abort our fleet’s participation in this rescue operation. And because he did this by brandishing a weapon at me, I had no choice other than to respond in kind.”
Troi looked toward Will, who was casting a gently interrogative glance in her direction. She nodded, wordlessly informing him that Donatra was essentially telling the truth. Essentially, she thought. But not necessarily completely.
Rising and facing Donatra again, Will said, “You say your crew hasn’t been informed yet?”
“Correct. And there’s no reason to trouble them with the news just yet. At least not until after we conclude the current operation. The distraction and morale difficulties