Open Secrets

“If he’s not,” Neera said, rolling onto her side to face him, “then he should be.” She laughed at her own joke. Ganz always liked the sound of her laugh.

After a moment, he said, “I think we need to rethink Nogura’s offer.”

Neera frowned. “You’re assuming he’s willing to let you return to the station at all. Simply agreeing to his offer now won’t be enough, not after the way you turned him down the first time.” Her arm moved until it rested on Ganz’s thigh. “You need to present him with something he does not have, ca

Now it was Ganz’s turn to smile. “Always the shrewd one, but there’s something else to consider. We have to be careful how we approach this. If anyone finds out, they’ll think we’re selling out to Starfleet.” Such a perception, unfounded or not, would be a death knell for his various lines of business.

“Then we’ll just have to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Neera replied, ru

“There’s really only one thing he’ll view as having any worth,” Ganz said, “and we both know what it is.” Something that—if the information given to him at the time he took possession of the item was correct—would prove invaluable to continuing Starfleet interests in this region of space.

Releasing a tired sigh, he said, “Contact Tujeta Larn on Arcturus. Tell him to pull it from whatever hole he’s buried it and get it here as soon as possible.”

“Very well,” Neera replied, nodding in approval, “but it can wait a while, can it not?” Her fingers delved beneath the folds of his robe.

Ganz smiled as he lay back on the bed and allowed Neera’s hand to continue its unfettered wandering, overcome as always by the raw magnetism she exuded with every fiber of her being. “I suppose it can.”

55

Eyeing the selection of fruits and nuts arrayed on the plate, T’Nel nodded in approval. They would satisfy nutritional requirements for the morning meal, she decided.

She placed the plate on a serving tray, which contained eating utensils, a woven cloth that would serve as a napkin, and a tall glass of spring water, and carried it out of the kitchen. As she did while performing this task each morning, she offered greetings to members of Sobon’s staff she passed while making her way to T’Pry

For a moment, T’Nel considered the possibility that T’Pry

As she navigated the narrow corridor leading to the house’s bedchambers, T’Nel’s eye caught the open doors leading to rooms formerly occupied by the outworlders, Pe

She knocked at the door to T’Pry

“T’Pry

T’Pry

“Good morning, my child,” said the elder Vulcan. “May I presume that the meal is for me?”

Curious about this odd development, T’Nel entered the room. “Forgive me, Healer Sobon, but I do not understand. Why did you not answer when I knocked on the door?”

“You asked for T’Pry

Setting the tray on the edge of the bed near Sobon’s feet, T’Nel examined the room. T’Pry

“Where is T’Pry

Sobon rose to a sitting position, swung his feet over the tray, and lowered them to the floor, a maneuver of surprising agility for a Vulcan of his advanced years. “I do not know,” he said as he inspected the breakfast tray and decided on one of the fruit slices. Taking a bite, he nodded in approval. “The liral’s flavor is most robust this morning.”

“Healer Sobon,” T’Nel said, sensing the first hints of concern. “Is T’Pry

“Again, I do not know, my child,” Sobon said, taking another bite of the liralslice. “Though, were I to engage in speculation, I would say that she has left.”

T’Nel looked through the window toward the village’s front gate and saw a Starfleet shuttlecraft, fifty meters beyond the perimeter wall and sitting on a patch of flat ground. Outside the shuttle, three humans in Starfleet uniforms milled about. “Are the Starfleet officers aware of this?”

“I suspect not,” Sobon said, reaching for another piece of fruit. “While their sensor equipment can monitor biological readings and determine the current location of each of the village’s residents, they are not so sensitive as to be able to distinguish between individuals. I imagine T’Pry

For the first time, T’Nel felt genuine emotion stirring within her. Training suppressed it, of course, but it was there. “Healer Sobon, do you mean to say that you assisted T’Pry