Zetha suppressed a giggle behind her usual deadpan (“You’d out-Vulcan a Vulcan,” Aemetha always said, but Aemetha had never been offworld, and Zetha doubted she’d ever seen a Vulcan, even in a vid). How stupid do I think you are? Don’t let me speak; you’d cut my tongue out!

“They must have said something. You were right there in the room.”

“Yes, Lord. With that damned background music, which is supposed to make them think there are no listening devices—if you don’t count the breathing ones—and my head still ringing from the blow you gave me yesterday. And the jeweler dancing attendance on them like a small yappy dog. Why don’t you ask him what he heard?”

Koval’s narrowed his eyes at her. By now she knew all his facial expressions and the threats implied by them. This one had absolutely no effect.

“What did they speak of?” he demanded. “I must know!”

“They spoke. What about I could not tell you; I didn’t hear a word. They spent more than an hour examining everything in the shop before the elder bought a pendant and the younger a pair of earbobs. Gaudy ones; I can’t say much for his taste. He said they were a naming-day gift. That much I did hear. Before he left, the older one clasped the younger one’s shoulder, and they left.” She took a deep breath before adding: “I didn’t even learn their names.”

I’ve guessed right!she thought, watching the satisfaction spread like rancid oil over his features. At best he wanted me to report on what they talked about; at least he wanted me completely ignorant of who or what they were. It seems he won’t kill me…today.

Yes, joke,she thought, for as long as you can, but the truth is the tension’s killing you, however slowly. Your hair’s starting to fall out, have you noticed? Your gums bleed, and it’s not the food, because plain as it is, you’re better fed now than you’ve ever been, even under Aemetha’s care. It’s the deciding. You have to decide, and soon, which way you’re going to jump. It’s only a matter of whether he kills you before you can. And then where do you go? And what becomes of Aemetha? And Tahir, because he was seen with you, and the others in the villa, and—?

Wait and see,she chided herself, as much because she wanted to live, regardless of the circumstances. Wait and see what the mission is, and then decide. If there’s a fragment of a possibility of a chance that you can act on your own behalf, without harming anyone else…

Well? What more can anyone hope for?

“You’re useless,” Koval announced. “I don’t know why I feed you. Back to the barracks; I’ll summon you when I need you.”

Only later did it occur to her that perhaps the two had deliberately spoken as they did within her hearing. Had they known she was there to spy on them? Had they wanted her to report on what they said? She didn’t know. She would never know. She wasn’t as good at this as she’d thought.

And I’m still not!she thought, lining up retorts, setting out pipettes, checking the containers of acids and reagents, removing sterile instruments from the autoclave, checking and double-checking the sterifields, the pH meter, the spectrophotometer. But each day I live is a triumph, and that will have to be enough.

Her sharp ears no longer heard Uhura’s voice, but a sudden commotion in the control cabin told her Sisko was not alone.

Chapter 14

“Your Citizen Leval has been less than honest with us.” Citizen Jarquin’s voice preceded his appearance on the viewscreen. “He led us to believe he had visited other prefectures before ours. But out of curiosity, one of my aides messaged several of the regional offices and found out otherwise. Naturally I am interested in knowing why Leval deceived us. I’m sure he has a very good reason, but I want to hear it from him personally. Kindly put him onscreen.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that right now, Citizen Jarquin,” Sisko said, hoping he sounded calm, also remembering to play the role of the hired ship’s pilot taking orders from his Romulan employer. Below the screen’s visual level, his hands were busy working the comm, trying to raise Tuvok, to at least let him hear the exchange and perhaps give Sisko some guidance. “He, um, gave me orders he was not to be disturbed, and I’ve learned from past experience never to disobey Leval’s orders. But I’ll give him your message and as soon as he’s available—”

Citizen Jarquin cut him off. “That is not sufficient, Captain Jacobs. I wish to speak with him now. If you do not put him onscreen immediately, my guards and I will be required to board your vessel and seek him out personally.”

Dammit, Tuvok, I know you can hear this!Sisko thought, trying to locate his reading amid a moil of small life-forms within the Sawar quarantine zone. He’d last tracked Selar moving among a small huddle of Quirinians, but now couldn’t pinpoint her at all. Tuvok, wherever you are, get your butt back up here, now!

A voice behind him, out of range of the viewscreen, said quietly, “The lab. I’ll do it.”

Zetha, Sisko realized, thinking on her feet. At least closing the lab was one less thing he needed to worry about. Now, where the hell was Tuvok? Sisko put on his best smile, and stalled.

“Citizen Jarquin,” he said sincerely, pouring on what Jennifer had always called the Sisko Charm (“Makes you think you can get away with anything,” she’d say, “and you usually do!”). “I’d like nothing more than to help you out, really I would. But I’m just the skipper here; all I do is steer the boat. And I’ve learned from hard experience that when Leval tells me to do something, I’d better do it. That’s what he pays me for.”

Onscreen, Citizen Jarquin was now flanked by two very large Quirinians, armed and in full combat garb. His personal guard, ready to board the ship and search it from stem to stern. A telltale on Sisko’s console told him someone in Jarquin’s vicinity was attempting to override Albatross’s transporter lock. While he did his best to charm, Sisko was also changing the transport codes. He wondered how long he could get away with that before the Quirinians caught on.

He had no doubt that if he refused Jarquin permission to board, there would be a Quirinian warship up his tailpipe within minutes, and Albatross,he reminded himself, was unarmed.

I’ll never see Jake or Jennifer again,he thought.

“Your loyalty is commendable, Captain Jacobs,” Citizen Jarquin was saying. “But in Quirinian space, my orders supersede Leval’s. Put him onscreen. Now.”

Zetha watched the lab modules slip silently into place. Would Sisko be angry that she’d pilfered the control mechanism from his pocket while he argued with Citizen Jarquin? She’d deal with that later. For now, she contented herself with checking to make sure nothing had been left lying around the cargo bay that might reveal its true nature. Then it occurred to her to police the sleeping quarters as well. All the while she kept one ear on the conversation in the control cabin.

How much longer could he keep this going? Sisko wondered, wiping his sweating hands on his trousers, then realizing that the familiar shape of the module control mechanism was no longer in his pocket. He hadn’t even felt Zetha take it. Never mind that now!he told himself. Think of something, anything, that’ll make Jarquin go away, at least until you can get a lock on Tuvok!