Lesser Evil

“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.”

Pry

Vaughn sat down next to her on the bunk and looked at her intently. “Maybe you should. Think about it, Pry

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, Pry

“It wasn’t your fault, Dad,” Pry

He tilted his head. “You’ve been blaming me for seven years.”

“I was wrong. I realized that when we encountered the Inamuri,” Pry

“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,” Pry

“How can you say that?” Vaughn asked. “I was never there.”

“But, Dad, that’s just it—you were always there,” Pry

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, Pry

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,” Pry

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 begi

Pry

Then, very softly, Pry

Suddenly the singing stopped, replaced by Pry

Ruriko’s eyes had opened.

She was staring at Pry

Tears streaming from her eyes, Pry

“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 co

“This crew would never carry out an order to attack a Federation planet,” Xiang insisted.