“TUVOK!”

The lights were gone, only the emergency illumination remaining, but it was enough to let Deanna see that the Vulcan was sprawled motionless on the floor beneath the office table, his head coated in something dark and glistening. She couldn’t see color, but she knew it was green. “Oh, God.” She struck her combadge. “Medical emergency, Counselor Troi’s office!” Maybe emergencies,she thought as she felt her insides heave and she vomited up her last meal onto the carpet. She couldn’t tell through the inner turbulence if the baby was still kicking. “Sickbay, acknowledge!”

Nothing. “Computer!” She began dragging herself toward Tuvok. “Where are you, you stupid computer?” But that voice, the one that reminded her so maddeningly of her mother, remained silent. “Somebody!” she yelled. “We need help in here!”

Finally she reached Tuvok and began pulling him toward the door. Her muscles, overtaxed from months of service as a walking baby carriage, strained from the exertion. It felt like that wasn’t all she was straining. “Dammit, Tuvok, wake up! Help me out here! I’ll leave you here if I have to!”

Now her own voice was starting to remind her of her mother’s, in attitude if not in timbre. So be it,she thought. Lwaxana Troi’s sheer cussedness got her through the occupation of Betazed in one piece. And kept her baby boy alive.She’d never been more glad to be that woman’s daughter.

Finally she reached the door, which shuddered halfway open—better than nothing. Forcing it the rest of the way, she channeled her mother’s sheer vocal volume and began screaming for help.

Other Star TrekNovels by Christopher L. Bennett

Star Trek: Ex Machina

Star Trek Titan: Orion’s Hounds

Star Trek: The Next Generation—The Buried Age

Places of Exile

(from Star Trek Myriad Universes: Infinity’s Prism)

Star Trek: The Next Generation—Greater Than the Sum

Short Fiction

“Aftermath”

(from Star Trek Corps of Engineers: Aftermath)

“…Loved I Not Honor More?”

(from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine—Prophecy and Change)

“Brief Candle”

(from Star Trek: Voyager—Distant Shores)

“As Others See Us”

(from Star Trek: Constellations)

“The Darkness Drops Again”

(from Star Trek: Mere Anarchy)

“Friends Among the Sparrows”

(from Star Trek: The Next Generation—The Sky’s the Limit)

More Novels

X-Men: Watchers on the Walls

Spider-Man: Drowned in Thunder

A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

1230 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY 10020

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

All Rights Reserved.

™, ® and © 2009 by CBS Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved. STAR TREK and related marks are trademarks of CBS Studios Inc.

CBS, the CBS EYE logo, and related marks are trademarks of CBS Broadcasting Inc. ™ & © CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

This book is published by Pocket Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., under exclusive license from CBS Studios Inc.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Pocket Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

POCKET and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

ISBN-13: 978-1-4165-9821-3