Three - Michael Jan Friedman [55]
Vigo didn’t say so, but he felt much the same way.
Chapter Thirteen
PICARD LOOKED DOWN at Gerda Idun. She was lying on one of Greyhorse’s biobeds, her face a mask of soot streaked with threads of perspiration.
He turned to his chief medical officer, who was standing beside him. “Will she be all right?”
“She’ll be fine,” Greyhorse told him. He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “And so will Joseph, thanks to her pulling him out of that corridor in time.”
“Yes,” said Picard. “I heard.”
Not so long ago, he had looked at Gerda Idun with a healthy amount of suspicion. It was a lot more difficult to do so now, after she had saved the life of the man who was supposed to be watching her.
Had she been up to no good, she had certainly had her chance to demonstrate it. With the ship in a state of battle alert and her escort unconscious, she could have [164] accessed any of several systems and done all kinds of damage.
Instead, she had rescued Picard’s security chief. And judging from the reports he had received, she had done it at great risk to her own life.
If Gerda Idun had been one of his officers, he would have placed a commendation in her file. As it was, all he could do was thank her.
“Would it be à problem to wake her up?” the captain asked Greyhorse.
The doctor produced a hypospray. “Actually, I was about to do that anyway.” Pressing the device against Gerda Idun’s arm, he released its contents into her system.
A moment later, her eyelids fluttered open and she looked around. “Pug—?” she groaned.
“He’s all right,” said Picard.
“Thanks to you,” Greyhorse added.
The captain noted the look on the doctor’s face as he regarded Gerda Idun. Clearly, Greyhorse admired what the woman had done—and he was a hard man to impress.
Their guest took a deep breath and let it out again. Her brow wrinkled. “No pain.”
“Your lungs took a beating,” the doctor told her, “but I was able to prevent any serious damage. You may have some discomfort when the painkillers wear off, but nothing you won’t be able to handle.”
“Thanks,” she said.
Picard knew two things.
One was that Gerda Idun had earned a good deal more freedom. He would no longer insist on having her [165] escorted about the ship. A combadge that would let him keep track of her whereabouts would suffice.
The other thing was that he would get her back to her own universe, Balduk or no Balduk.
Nikolas breathed a long, heartfelt sigh of relief as he stood at Vigo’s weapons console.
When he heard that Gerda Idun had been hurt, that she had been taken to sickbay, he had gone numb all over. It was almost as if he were the one who had been stricken by potentially lethal EPS explosions.
In fact, it had taken all of his willpower to keep from bolting for the turbolift and going down to sickbay to see her for himself.
Then, just a moment ago, he had heard the good news—that both Gerda Idun and Joseph would be all right. That, in fact, Gerda Idun had gotten the security officer out of the danger zone all by herself.
Hence, the sigh of relief.
Obal couldn’t have been more wrong, Nikolas told himself. This wasn’t just a physical attraction. The ensign had never felt this way about anyone before.
And just his luck, the object of his affection was determined to leave him. In fact, she was determined to leave his whole damned universe.
Nikolas didn’t know if he could handle that. If there were only another way ...
Suddenly, it came to him. There was another way. And when he saw Gerda Idun, he would tell her about it.
* * *
[166] Wutor was still basking in the glow of his victory over the Federation starship when Delakan called to him from her data-collection panel.
“We’re being prodded by another ship,” she said, studying her monitor. “The Asajanarin.” She looked up, an expression of disgust on her face. “A High Order vessel. With a full seven subordinates in tow.”
The commander nodded. “I’ll talk with them.”
A moment later, his viewscreen filled with the image of another Balduk, his tongue sliding confidently