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“Yes, really.” Seefa sounded a
Lenaris decided the business about Terok Nor could wait until later. “Let’s go out and meet her, then. Bring her some water. She must have come a long way.”
Seefa appeared to agree without actually speaking, and together the two men fetched a gourd full of clean water before they began to walk along the dusty road to meet with the approaching traveler.
“Ranjen Wi
The monk appeared to be slightly younger than Lenaris himself. She was fair of complexion, probably originally from the north, with ruddy spots flaming high upon her cheeks—the day had been hot. Her pale hair was twisted into complicated designs at the back of her head, her eyes glassy in their colorlessness.
“Aro Seefa. Hello.” She accepted the gourd that he offered her, and after taking a small sip she reached out and took his ear to read his pagh.She closed her eyes, and then opened them again as she released his ear. “You are troubled,” she said.
“Not any more than usual, Ranjen.”
She smiled tightly. “I have come to speak to someone in your village.”
“Oh? May I ask who?”
“Ornathia Taryl. Can you take me to her?”
“Taryl? Of course.” Seefa offered her the gourd again, and she took another sip, eyeing Lenaris with what seemed to be mild suspicion.
The three started to walk toward the village together, Wi
“My name is Lenaris Holem. I’m from Relliketh.”
“I’ve never seen you here before.”
“I’ve been here about two years now.”
“Two years.” Wi
“It was almost four years ago that you were here last, Ranjen,” Seefa said.
“Four years,” she said, her expression unreadable. “And I am still but a lowly ranjen.”
Lenaris was not sure how to respond to her. The revelation was spoken without emotion, yet it seemed to upset the woman. They reached the village without further conversation, and the two men escorted her to Taryl’s hut, though she already seemed to know where to go.
“Ornathia Taryl,” Wi
Taryl was, as usual, working on something. She stood up from her bench and bowed before the monk.
“Now, my child, there’s no need for that. I am hardly the kai—or even a vedek.”
“You honor us with your presence, Ranjen.”
Wi
“Lac?” Taryl’s hand floated to her chest, and Lenaris saw, for a beat, the emotion that she was denying herself. It was gone just as quickly, that veil of restraint back in place.
“One of the prylars in my order just returned from the Pullock system,” Wi
“Lac!” Taryl exclaimed. “He isalive!”
“He’s not at Terok Nor!” This was Seefa. “I knew it, Taryl. I told you it would have been foolish to go there!”
“To Terok Nor!” Wi
“Nothing, Ranjen,” Taryl said, shooting her fiancé a look of urgent fury. “Please, tell us what you know of my brother.”
The ranjen was clearly unsettled, but she continued. “Lac wanted to be sure to send back word to you that he is alive…. He doesn’t believe the Cardassians took possession of his ship—”
“He’s letting us know that we’re still safe!” Lenaris exclaimed. Wi
Taryl turned to Lenaris. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
“What is the meaning of this?” Wi
Lenaris continued to talk as if Wi
“No,” Seefa argued. “Enough with the warp ship, already. Even if your friend couldfix it, you’re guaranteed a death sentence if you leave the atmosphere in that ship.”
“You’re underestimating what kind of a pilot Halpas Palin is,” Lenaris informed him. “He fought the Cardassians in the early stages of the occupation. If anyone can do it, Halpas can. If I leave now, I can get to where he and Tiven live by tomorrow morning.”
He smiled at Taryl, ever so slightly. “I’ll even apologize, if that’s what it takes.”
Ranjen Wi
Taryl turned to the holy woman. “He’s my brother,” she said simply, and went right back speaking to Lenaris. “You would do it, then? You would contact Tiven Cohr—even after what he said?”
“Of course I would!” Lenaris said. “It’s like you said, Taryl—he’s your brother. And my friend. We can do this.”
Wi
“My birthright is that of a pilot,” Lenaris told Wi
Seefa broke in. “No,” he said. “Lac can’t know for sure whether the Cardassians took his raider, and I believe they would have done so. I suggest we all leave immediately, without our ships. We should go back to the peninsula.”
“Seefa,” Taryl said. “Lac obviously sent us this message with the hope that we would come looking for him.”
Seefa looked unmoved, shaking his head.
“Please,” Taryl pleaded. “He would do the same for you.”
“Lac would be the first to point out that it would be foolish to risk several lives to save one. I know how upset you must be, but, Taryl…” He reached for her, but she stepped away, her eyes flashing.
“How can you say that?” she snapped. “If there’s any chance that we can save him, we should take it. Holem is going to find Tiven Cohr—and I’m going with him.”
“By the Prophets,” Wi
“Ranjen,” Taryl said, her tone softer, “we have long disagreed on this matter. We mean no disrespect to you, but we must do this. Imust do this. My mind is made up.” She turned to Lenaris. “How soon can we get there?”
Seefa tried to interrupt again, speaking over Taryl in continued protest, but she paid no attention to him. Neither did Lenaris. He was already formulating what he would say to Tiven. An apology seemed a small price to pay for Lac’s life.
Natima was exhausted and not in a mood to talk when she received the transmission from Cardassia Prime. She and Veja had been on their feet all day long, attending a press conference that addressed some tortuous rearrangement of the civilian government’s leadership role in the Bajoran provinces. It was all she could do to filter a decent report out of her notes. It hadn’t helped that she had been standing right in front of a man with a rattling cough, masking out half of the dialogue. Not that any of it was especially compelling.