And about Shakaar’s visit to the Gryphon: “He spent most of his time with Captain Mello.”
Mello.
Captain Elaine Mello, who had herself suggested pursuing the alleged energy reading to Trill after reporting its discovery to Akaar. Mello, who had made such a passionate effort to lower Kira’s guard when she came aboard. But those suspicions, Kira knew, weren’t enough to go on. She needed more proof, and she suspected she knew where to find it. But she was going to need help.
Kira dumped Akaar’s message and the file onto an isolinear chip and quickly dressed. Then she spoke. “Computer, locate Commander Montenegro.”
16
When the door chimed, Prynn was ready for it. “Come,” she said, knowing who it would be.
The door opened and Vaughn walked in, his expression grim. “You okay?”
She glared at him from her bunk. “You care?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I do,” he said, his voice shaking.
Woah,Prynn thought. His voice never shakes.
Prynn sat up. “Dad, why are you doing this?” she asked. “Was that really Mom? It was her, wasn’t it?”
Vaughn just stood there, watching her.
“Dad…?”
“You can stop now, Prynn.”
“Stop what? Why won’t you—”
“Enough!” Vaughn snapped, then continued in a softer tone, “Enough. I just want to know one thing: How long have you been searching for her?”
“Searching?” Prynn said, her brow knotting. “Dad, I don’t understand.”
“How long,Prynn?”
She stared back at him blankly. “You can’t think that I planned this? My God, I don’t even believe we’re having this conversation. Mom’s alive and you’re chasing conspiracies? From me?Why are you doing this? Why won’t you let me see her?”
Vaughn’s eyes narrowed. He shook his head, smiling as if at some private joke being replayed in his mind. “Oh, you’re good,” he said quietly. “You’re very good. If it wasn’t for the present situation, I could almost believe you’re as innocent as you pretend.”
Prynn felt her jaw trembling. “If you don’t think I’m innocent, that must mean you’re convinced I’m guilty of something.”
“Not of anything that’ll land you in the brig,” Vaughn said. “But I thought—I hoped—we were beyond lying to each other.”
That’s when Prynn’s anger rose up, overcoming her measured expression of hurt before she could get it back under control. It all happened in less than a second, but the smug, satisfied look of victory in her father’s eyes confirmed that it didn’t escape his notice. The pretense was over. She let the anger through, let her eyes become hard as she met his gaze. “Who the hell do you think you are?” she whispered.
“I have a better question, Prynn,” Vaughn said. “Who are you?”
Prynn laughed. “Oh, you don’t want the answer to that.”
“Try me,” Vaughn suggested.
She spread her hands. “I’m the daughter of Elias Vaughn,” she said, as if it explained everything. “You want the truth? All right, fine. Yes, I’ve been searching for Mom since the day you came to the Academy and told me she was lost on a mission. You don’t grow up as the only child of two Starfleet spooks without learning a thing or two. And for four years, ever since I graduated, I’ve found ways at every posting I accepted to search for Mom. That was my‘secret mission.’What did I have to lose? Every ship I was on, every sensor array I came in contact with, I modified it to search for her unique transponder signal. You aren’t the only one who memorized it, Dad. I know yours, too. I admit it, I never really expected it to work. The odds were too remote. But I had to do something.She was my mother. Finding her in the Gamma Quadrant was beyond my wildest hopes, but I won’t apologize for never giving up on her, even though you did.”
Vaughn let the accusation slide. “You didn’t do it alone, you know.”
“What?”
“Finding your mother,” Vaughn said. “You’re right to think that the odds were remote. They were beyond remote. There was no way anyone could know what really happened to her, whether or not she survived, or where she’d end up if she did.”
Prynn shrugged. “So I got lucky. I don’t need to question it.”
Vaughn sat down next to her on the bunk and looked at her intently. “Maybe you should. Think about it, Prynn. Your search for your mother succeeded only because of Defiant’s mission to explore the Gamma Quadrant. That mission happened only because I proposed it when I decided to transfer to Deep Space 9. And I made that decision only because of my encounter with that Bajoran Orb.”
She stared at him. “You’re trying to tell me that this all happened because of the wormhole aliens?”
“I really don’t know,” Vaughn told her honestly. “But I think something beyond my understanding, or yours, put me on this path I’m following. It’s the path that made me change my life. The same path that led me back to you. The same path that led us, together, to this place, at this time. I know it sounds crazy. You know me, Prynn. I’ve never been a believer in much of anything. But look at everything that’s happened. Against all probability and all reason, I have a chance to save your mother, to make up for what I did to her.”
“It wasn’t your fault, Dad,” Prynn whispered. “When are you going to stop blaming yourself?”
He tilted his head. “You’ve been blaming me for seven years.”
“I was wrong. I realized that when we encountered the Inamuri,” Prynn said. “Dad, why are you doing this? What does it matter why this happened? You said it yourself, we can save Mom.”
“It matters because my decision to try to save your mother is based on my belief that I’m meant to. I’ve been letting that belief override my duty to this ship, its crew, and the Federation. It makes me a bad captain, and that should scare the hell out of you.”
“Well, it doesn’t,” Prynn said. “Look, I can’t pretend I understand what happened to you in the Badlands, or that I can take seriously this idea that we’re caught up in some ‘destiny’ you seem to think you’re fulfilling. But if the last three months have taught me anything, it’s that you’re not a bad captain. You’re not even a bad father, really.”
“How can you say that?” Vaughn asked. “I was never there.”
“But, Dad, that’s just it—you were always there,” Prynn said. She felt no anger now, no resentment. Just the need for her father to understand what he meant to her. “Whether we could be together or not, I never once doubted how much you loved us.”
Hesitantly Vaughn reached out and put his arms around his daughter, pulling her close. “Oh, God,” he whispered, unable to keep the laughter out of his voice. “You are so screwed up.”
Holding her father tightly, Prynn echoed the laugh. “Chip off the old block, that’s me.”
They held each other in silence for several minutes and then Vaughn said, “Would you like to see her?”
She pulled away and looked up at him. “You’ll let me?”
“If you really want to. But I have to warn you, she’s in bad shape. Bashir thinks she’s in a coma, and he still isn’t sure he can bring her out of it, or even if there’s anything left of her to revive.”
“I don’t care,” Prynn said, rising to her feet. “I want to be with her, Dad.” She took his hand. “I want us both to be with her.”
With some help from Bashir’s artifical stimulation of her brain activity, Ruriko’s human physiology had begun to reassert itself. Respiration, circulation, immune system, cell growth—all were beginning to respond favorably. Even her color had improved. She still hadn’t awakened, but for the first time since this whole thing started, Bashir looked optimistic, albeit guardedly so.