Prynn stood close to Ruriko and wept silently as she stared into her mother’s mutilated face. Still hairless and marred by scars and Borg implants, Ruriko continued to stand motionless in her alcove, one entirely cybernetic arm and shoulder already gone, along with several segments of body armor that had covered her earlier.
Then, very softly, Prynn started to hum. Gradually the humming became words, until she was singing a lullaby to her mother. Vaughn recognized the tune immediately: Calaiah vel D’naiby Rowatu, Ruriko’s favorite, a song she listened to whenever she was sad. And as Prynn sang, Vaughn realized he’d never heard his daughter sing before, never known how beautiful her voice was, never realized how much it sounded like Ruriko’s.
Suddenly the singing stopped, replaced by Prynn’s sharp intake of breath. Vaughn was jolted out of his stupor and looked at her mother, scarcely daring to believe what he saw.
Ruriko’s eyes had opened.
She was staring at Prynn. And more than that, her mouth was moving—fishlike motions that seemed meaningless. Vaughn called to Bashir, who came running. He looked stunned when he saw Ruriko, then turned to study medical monitors set up beside the alcove and nodded excitedly. “Keep it up, Prynn. Don’t stop.”
Tears streaming from her eyes, Prynn resumed her song. Ruriko continued staring at her, lips opening and closing, until, finally, she found her voice. It was barely a whisper, but it was unmistakable.
“Puh…puh…prrreeeeeeeeeeen…”
17
Ten hours away from Trill, Dr. Xiang looked up and said, “I can’t believe what you’re suggesting.”
The three of them—Kira, Montenegro, and Xiang—were gathered in the dining area of Montenegro’s quarters. The doctor and the first officer were seated at the table, arguing back and forth. Kira paced the floor restlessly.
“I can’t believe it, either,” Montenegro agreed. “But it’s true, Mei. It all fits. Admiral Akaar’s message to Colonel Kira, the file she obtained from Gryphon’s own computers—what else do you need to convince you?”
“Proof!” Xiang said. “So far all I’ve heard is a lot of guesswork based on circumstantial evidence. What proof do you have that it’s the captain?”
This is taking too damn long.Kira turned and slammed an isolinear chip down on the table.
Startled, the doctor’s eyes darted to the chip, then back to Kira. “And what exactly is that?”
“The program that the parasite used to fake the cloaking-device reading. It was uploaded from the captain’s quarters. Commander Montenegro found it after I told him about my suspicions.”
The doctor looked at Montenengro.
“It’s true,” he said. “She created a fake datastream, uploaded it to the sensor arrays, and waited for the bridge crew to detect it. I took the report to her myself, and she contacted Admiral Akaar to suggest that Gryphonpursue it. She needed an excuse to head for Trill at high warp without revealing herself.”
“But why? What’s on Trill?”
“Revenge,” Kira said. “These parasites, whatever they are, have some connection to Trill. It was a Trill who killed First Minister Shakaar, and Shakaar was the host to one of these life-forms. Akaar thinks the thing inside Mello could be using Gryphonto launch a retaliatory strike.”
“This crew would never carry out an order to attack a Federation planet,” Xiang insisted.
“They won’t have to,” Montenegro said. “Using the right codes, Mello can voice-authorize the main computer to fire phasers, empty the torpedo tubes, even eject the warp core toward the planet. She could kill millions of people.”
The doctor looked trapped. “So what do you propose? A mutiny? How can you even think—”
“She’s not your captain!” Kira hissed. “Not anymore! Didn’t you listen to the admiral, or read Captain Picard’s report? These parasites subsume the identities of their hosts and use them to achieve their ends.”
“But I can’t—”
Kira came around the table, grabbed Xiang’s chair, and turned it roughly so that Kira was speaking directly into Xiang’s face. “Look, Doctor. No one is suggesting we kill her. If she submits to arrest quietly so Commander Montenegro can assume command of Gryphonand return us to Deep Space 9, all this could end without bloodshed. But we need to be prepared to fight for control of the ship if we have to. One way or the other, though, I promise you, I’m not going to allow this ship to reach Trill.”
Xiang stared into Kira’s eyes for a long moment, then seemed to sag within herself. “What do you need from me?”
Montenegro breathed a sigh of relief. “We’ll need you to try to save her, to separate the captain from the creature. It’s not clear how long a parasite needs to be joined before separation becomes fatal to the host, but if there’s a chance to cure Captain Mello, you’re the one to do it. There’s a physical symptom of the creature’s presence in the host: a pale blue gill like a barb protruding from the back of the neck, just below the base of the skull. Once we confirm the presence of the creature, you’ll need to keep her sedated. That file we gave you contains all the medical information Starfleet has on these creatures and their effect on humanoid bodies. While you’re attempting to separate them, we’ll inform the crew of what’s happened.”
Xiang took the chip out of the companel next to her and stared at it, shaking her head before she looked back at the ship’s first officer. “I hope to God you’re right about this, Alex.”
“Then here,” Kira said, tossing Xiang one of three phasers on the table. The doctor fumbled to catch it. Kira handed another to Montenegro and kept one for herself. “Let’s get this over with.”
“What should we expect?” Xiang whispered as they marched down to the captain’s quarters. A quietly issued order from Montenegro had managed to clear the corridors nearest Mello’s cabin, at least temporarily.
“Like it said in Dr. Crusher’s report,” Kira said. “Enhanced physical strength, along with extreme resistance to pain and injury. Phasers on stun won’t work. If you have to fire, you need to set your weapon to kill.”
Xiang halted. “You said we wouldn’t need to—”
“I said we had to be prepared to fight for control of the ship,” Kira said hotly. “That’s what we’re going to do.”
“Colonel, please,” Montenegro said gently. “Doctor, the evidence we have is that a phaser at that high intensity will only incapacitate a parasite host, not kill her.”
“But you can’t be certain.”
“No,” Montenegro conceded. “But we do know that a lower setting won’t even slow it down.”
Xiang gritted her teeth and upped the setting on her weapon.
They reached Mello’s quarters. By consensus, Kira took point. She hit the door chime.
“Come,” came the reply.
The doors parted. Mello was seated on her couch, reading. “Colonel, this is unexp—”
Kira stepped inside and raised her phaser. “Get up,” she ordered. “Slowly.”
Mello’s mouth dropped fractionally. Then she frowned. “If this is a joke, it’s in the poorest possible taste.”
“I said get up!” Kira snapped. “We know what you are, and what you’re trying to do. But it’s over. We can do this the easy way or the hard way, but I’m warning you, after what your kind did to Shakaar, I’m looking for an excuse to end your miserable existence.”
Mello set down her book and rose slowly. “You’re making a mistake.”
“Hands over your head,” said Kira. “Step to the middle of the room.”