What's the word I'm looking for? Um...almost got it...it's on the tip of my tongue, come on, come on...
...right! Got it!
OK!
***
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
April 20, 2401
“At last!”
“Yes, Captain. Hopefully, the warp drive should not pose any more problems.”
“Keep me appraised, Chief Engineer.”
Teroth was not happy. The time for the rendez-vous had now come and gone. They would be late. She turned to her Science Officer.
“How long should it take now, T’Shiya?”
The young Vulcan promptly checked her PADD.
“At best a week, Captain. If the warp drive now functions flawlessly. But I do not share the optimism of our Chief Engineer.”
“So how long, Lieutenant?”
“More like three weeks, Captain.”
“Not good enough. T’Shiya, I do not care if you have to get out and push, I want the Mogai to be there before the Admiral arrives. Is that clear?”
“Yes, Captain.”
***
For hours Dukat had slashed, beaten, humiliated Sabrina. The night had fallen and the sun had risen — right in Sabrina’s eyes.
“Is that what you had to go through, Sabrina?”
That wasn’t Dukat’s voice. That wasn’t Sisko’s voice either. It was …
There she was in the padded cell again. Only this time she was naked, and her arms were free. And sitting with her on the floor was Taleria, naked too, smiling and offering her a glass of water.
“Is this better?”
“What?”
“Is this appearance more enjoyable? You dreamed of that girl a moment ago. You were both naked and delicately touching each other. Did you enjoy that?”
“I don’t like this place.”
“Very well. Do you like this one better?”
They now were in a vast field, caressed by a light breeze, a small brook singing at them close by. A small white rabbit was looking at them. It came close to Sabrina, who caressed it before it ran away.
“Who are you?” she asked her companion.
“The Sisko told us once that as corporeal entities, humans find physical touch to cause pleasure. Good feelings, happiness, as he explained to us. Does touching this body, and being touched back, give you pleasure?”
Sabrina looked at the girl in front of her.
“Are you a Prophet?”
“Answer my question. Do you enjoy being naked with this girl, and touching each other? What exactly pleases you in that?”
“It’s hard to explain.”
“Show me then. Touch me the way you touch her.”
“We haven’t touched each other yet.”
“But you were dreaming of her.”
“It’s because I sometimes think of her that way.”
“Ah. Then it is not reality, just a dream. Tell me, Sabrina, is this a dream or is it reality?”
“I’m … I’m not too sure.”
“Are you sure that the vision you received prior to this one was genuine?”
“What do you mean?”
“Did the Pah-Wraiths tell you the story of a superior race imprisoning us with them in the Temple?”
Sabrina looked at “Taleria”. She had a terrible feeling in her stomach.
“It made sense.”
“Of course it did. The Pah-Wraiths are evil, not stupid. Still, their indoctrination methods are quite violent, don’t you think so?”
“Yes, indeed.”
“Have we ever tortured the Sisko like they tortured you?”
“I guess not. But you too are acting in a way quite different from what the Captain has reported to Starfleet Command. For instance, the Prophet’s ways of communicating with him were quite different.”
“Taleria” looked at her.
“But of course. The Sisko taught us to communicate more efficiently with you. It seems that you have difficulty to grasp the … symbolism, as he called it, of our messages.”
“Still, they must have been the Prophets. After all, they gave me back the sense of touch.”
“And they used it to torture you. Then they let you keep it so they could use it again if they needed to. Also, it would convince you that you had dealt with us.”
“Why did they give me a Bajoran body then?”
“To convince the others that you had dealt with us.”
“But why?”
“You will find out.”
There was a white flash.
“Cretak here, Sir. The gel packs are now at 130% of their rated output. If we go any further, they’ll start exploding.”
What? Sabrina thought. She checked quickly: she was in uniform, back on the Bridge.
“Captain?” Kirk asked her.
“Hmm? Yes, maximum warp now!”
***
“How many?”
Wilkins’ tone was clearly getting more nervous as time went by.
“Maybe thirty-five hundreds, Sir. It’s impossible to get an accurate count.”
“Their weapons?”
“Still not activated, Sir.”
“What are they waiting for? Hail them again!”
“No answer, Sir.”
Damn, Wilkins thought, what the hell is happening here? Last time they attacked, they took out almost all of our ships and installations, they were much less powerful than they are now … What the hell is wrong with this picture?
He had just noticed it. There was something strange. He had no idea what.
“Tomalak, isn’t there something awkward in this fleet?”
The old Romulan looked at him, with an expression that said essentially “Well, duh!”
“You mean besides the fact that we are still alive? No, Admiral. Unless you consider that a fleet of this size should never venture in a star system of Khitomer’s size unless it does not care bumping into a few planets.”
Wilkins looked at him and sighed.
“No, that’s not it.”
