The Romulan War_ Beneath the Raptor's Wing (Book 1) - Michael A. Martin [211]
“A double-team mind-meld,” Trip said. “That’s not something you see every day.”
“What is wrong with Tevik?” T’Pol asked, addressing Denak, Ych’a, or both. Neither Vulcan responded.
But a few moments later, motion began to return to Denak as he slowly disengaged from Terix/Tevik, leaving the Romulan and Ych’a frozen in a meld that had clearly gone terribly awry.
“I do not know for certain,” Denak said after T’Pol had repeated her question. “A complication... has arisen.”
And water is wet, too, Trip thought. Aloud, he said, “What kind of complication?”
Denak seemed at last to rouse himself fully into ordinary consciousness. Turning to face Trip, he said, “As Ych’a explained it to me, Tevik requires therapeutic mind-melds periodically. She was in the midst of administering one, as is her habit when they work together in the field.”
“I was not aware that Ych’a had become a credentialed mind-meld therapist,” T’Pol said, a not-very-subtle tone of judgment underlying her words.
Denak raised an eyebrow, apparently displeased by T’Pol’s implication. “As long-practicing Syrrannites, both Ych’a and myself are qualified.”
“Granted,” T’Pol said. “But why did both of you participate in this particular meld?”
“Ych’a initiated the procedure, per Tevik’s treatment schedule. Tevik’s condition apparently worsened in the midst of the meld, however. She required my assistance.”
“What exactly is... Tevik supposed to be suffering from?” Trip asked. Though he was well aware of the real reasons behind the ongoing mind-meld treatment regime, he wondered how much of the plain truth Ych’a had opted to share with her husband.
“Ych’a explained that he suffers from the chronic aftereffects of an old bout of Pa’nar Syndrome. He contracted it decades ago during a botched V’Shar mind-meld intended to introduce false memories in support of an undercover identity.”
Good cover story, Trip thought, though he wondered how she expected to continue to keep the truth concealed from a husband who appeared to be just as skilled a telepath as she was—and who had apparently just emerged from a meld with both Ych’a and Terix.
And more importantly, why did she think she needed to conceal such a thing from Denak? He was, after all, not only her husband, but also a veteran V’Shar operative who was ostensibly on the same side she was.
“May I ask which identity?” T’Pol asked.
Denak apparently saw no reason to try to conceal anything from his old colleague. “That of Centurion Terix, of course.”
So Ych’a’s been feeding Denak the same line of cowpucky we’ve been serving up to Terix, Trip thought. Terix thinks his real life as a Romulan is a lie, and now so does Denak. Though he bore no love for the Romulans in general—or for Centurion Terix in particular—Trip felt soiled by the role he had played, and continued to play. Why couldn’t Ych’a have told Denak the truth? He couldn’t help but speculate about how many other lies and half-truths she might have sold Denak, not to mention T’Pol, concerning her V’Shar assignments over the years.
And I also have to wonder what sort of crap she’s been feeding me to get my help when all I’ve wanted to do for the past year is just go home and put all this spy stuff behind me.
But the only way to answer those questions was to confront Ych’a directly. Addressing Denak, Trip said, “When do you expect her to come out of this?”
Now it was Denak’s turn to look distressed, at least for a Vulcan. “She should have broken from the meld when I did. Something has gone wrong.”
T’Pol wasn’t entirely certain what she should do. But she knew she had to do something.
Seeing no alternative, she began to place the fingers of both hands on the qui’lari—the natural bioelectrical focal points for Vulcan touchtelepathy—located at Ych’a’s temples.
“My mind to your mind,” she said.