Tomalak sat near a table in a conference room, still exhausted from what had happened. The data crystal with the information he had downloaded from Terix was tucked in his pocket, and his left arm was in a sling. His sight had been restored to his left eye, and with him were two of the senior staff of Enterprise.
"A mind meld," Tomalak slowly repeated, "with Lavok?"
"We have a Vulcan onboard willing to perform it," Riker repeated to Tomalak. "In fact, she's the one who suggested it."
"A Vulcan perform a mind meld with a Romulan?" Tomalak leaned back in his seat. "Never mind how ridiculous that sounds that is an unacceptable security risk. The Vulcan will retain some of Lavok's memories, and he is my chief engineer."
Or was that the Federation's plan all along? Tomalak wondered suddenly. Had they sabotaged his ship and overdosed Lavok to put themselves in this sort of situation? It was an intricate plan, but plausible. This way the Federation might end up with classified information, and there was no way to tell what information they would get.
"He is close to dying," Dr. Crusher informed them over the communicator from sickbay. "It's clear he knows who the saboteur was, but there's no chance he'll wake up and be able to tell us. If we don't use the mind meld soon, Lavok's mind will degrade too much and we won't be able to get any information."
"Information," Tomalak repeated.
"Romulans," Kaylee muttered off-screen in Dr. Crusher's office. "Here, let me try and talk some sense into him."
Tomalak's expression darkened at the insolence in the feminine voice, and Dr. Crusher stood. A human with dark red hair took her place in the seat, at least, Tomalak's first impression was that she was human. He realized from her pointed ears and swept eyebrows that she was Vulcan soon enough, but she looked annoyed, and the emotion surprised him even more then her appearance. She also looked familiar enough that Tomalak would have dropped something had he been holding anything.
"Whoever destroyed your ship is still alive and on Enterprise," Kaylee told him in a scolding voice. "Picard's already contacted the Star Empire, and a Romulan warbird is en route to retrieve you and the other survivors from Enterprise. If we don't figure out who the traitor is before that ship gets here, they'll fade into the crew of the coming ships or otherwise vanish. This is the best chance you have. I thought you'd want to know who destroyed your ship, Commander."
"I do," Tomalak promised her. "Who exactly are you?"
Kaylee remembered how Tomalak had called her by her mother's name, and how he had said "Emmi" instead of Emmeline. She wanted to ask him about that, but Lavok took priority.
"Kaylee Dare," Kaylee introduced herself. "I don't have a rank."
"A civilian," Tomalak said softly, "And human?"
"My mother, Emmeline, was," Kaylee informed him, putting a slight emphasize on her mother's name. "I am half-Vulcan though."
Had she just said Emmeline? She couldn't have just said Emmeline. Excepting the Vulcan characteristics, this Kaylee looked just like the Emmeline Tomalak knew. With a little trouble, he set aside the curiosity of this as he had no idea Emmeline had a daughter. Finding the traitor took priority, but once he was caught he made a note to ask Kaylee about her mother.
"And you are the one who will be performing the mind meld with one of my crew?" Tomalak asked her dryly.
Kaylee nodded agreement although she looked a little wary, another emotion, at doing a mind meld on a Romulan.
"I can do mind melds," Kaylee vocally agreed, "but I will not do one without consent form the target. Lavok is unable to give me permission, but it is clear that he wants us to know who the traitor is. If you, as his Commander, agree, then I would perform it."
Was a mind meld truly Tomalak's only option at this point? There was a Romulan D'deridex, possibly more than one, on its way and according to the report they would arrive in less than a day. If the traitor wasn't caught now, then they likely wouldn't be. That was a fact.
Allowing a Federation member to perform a mind meld on his Chief Engineer was dangerous though. Tomalak could lose his rank as Commander, or worse, even if the traitor was caught. What if this really was a trap set by the Federation? Wouldn't it be better to let one crewmate die then to comprise the Star Empire by leaking classified information?
"I do have an ulterior motive for performing this mind meld," Kaylee added, surprising Tomalak.
Was she really going to admit her treachery now? That made no sense to Tomalak.
"Enterprise was in a convenient location to rescue your crew when your ship was destroyed, and now conveniently, they need to perform a mind meld with one of your more knowledgeable crew members to get the name of a traitor who may or may not exist." Kaylee summed up Tomalak's theory quite well. "It seems likely this is a Federation trap to gain classified information."
Tomalak straightened, amazed that Kaylee had seen his worries so clearly. Was she admitting he was right then? The Enterprise senior staff present did look surprised, but also baffled as if that thought had never crossed their mind before.
"What?" Riker said in confusion and looked at Picard.
Picard was gauging Tomalak's reaction, and realized that Kaylee had hit Tomalak's worries perfectly. "Commander Tomalak, we had nothing to do with what happened to Terix."
"I'm afraid that given the situation Captain Picard, your words won't mean much." Kaylee spoke up apologetically. "The D'deridex's coming will likely believe the same thing. The fighting that was avoided at Galorndon Core could happen very shortly."
Riker sighed and looked at the table, amazed by how skittish the Romulans were once again.
"If I help you find the traitor who destroyed Terix then Enterprise will be cleared of any suspicion, correct?" Kaylee asked Tomalak. "I assure you I don't propose to do a mind meld with a dying Romulan lightly, but I'm not just doing it for your sake Commander Tomalak. This will benefit both parties."
"And the classified information you would gain from the meld?" Tomalak asked her curiously.
Riker looked back up, and exchanged a startled look with Picard. Tomalak was actually giving a hypothetical situation that might occur if he approved the mind meld, and it sounded like he was thinking of agreeing with Enterprise's plan. He hadn't wanted to go along with the Federation crew before Kaylee had spoken up.
"I can't control what I see when I am in a meld," Kaylee agreed, "but I also can't control what I remember. How much does Lavok know that is highly classified, and how much of it is knowledge the Federation either already knows or not important enough to matter? I suppose this situation could be summed up like a game of Russian roulette. Do you know what that is?"
Tomalak shook his head no.
"It's a lethal game of chance created on Earth, supposedly started in Russia," Kaylee made her right hand into a gun and pointed it at the screen. "You put a bullet into one chamber of a revolver, spin the cylinder, and then lock it into the gun. You no longer know which of the chambers the bullet is in. Then you raise it to your head and pull the trigger."
Tomalak had never heard of this before, but understood. The odds were in the player's favor that the chamber the gun shot from was empty, but it was also possible that it was the chamber the bullet was loaded in. This situation was like that. Considering how much Lavok knew, and how little of it was highly classified, it was unlikely Kaylee would remember something of a crippling nature. There was no guarantee however.
Picard and Riker both wondered what she was talking about now because her words were more likely to make Tomalak defensive.
"There are no guarantees that you'll survive a game of Russian roulette," Kaylee lowered her hand shaped like a gun, "just as there are no guarantees I won't learn anything of a compromising nature. As Commander it is up to you to decide if the risks are worth it. If I don't do the meld then it is assured I won't learn anything, and equally assured that the traitor will escape. Once free, they might very well attack you or another Romulan ship all over again."
"And if I do allow this then the information is at risk, but at a minor risk because it is only a single meld like the single bullet in the chamber," Tomalak sighed. "But if I take the risk then I might also get the reward of capturing the traitor."
Kaylee nodded confidently. "Yep. You know Lavok better then I, so answer me this Commander. Does Lavok know enough classified intelligence to tip the odds that you lose the game? Or are the odds in your favor? Is it worth the risk to capture the traitor that blew up your ship?"
Tomalak looked down instead of answering instantly and his silence surprised the Enterprise crew. He was actually weighing the pros and cons, the risk against the reward, of playing along with this game of "Russian roulette" with Kaylee.
Then Commander Tomalak did something that surprised everyone listening or present to the conversation. He started laughing, and he shook his head as he chuckled. Riker gave Kaylee a stern look, but Kaylee shrugged that she didn't know what was going on.
"You have to be her daughter," Tomalak sighed as he stopped laughing finally, thinking back to Emmeline. "For you are just as brazen as she is… And just as correct. Considering the circumstances, I will risk my luck to capture the traitor. You may perform the mind meld with Lavok. I will take responsibility for it, and for anything you might learn should the gun shoot the loaded chamber."
Worf was not present since he did not get along with Romulans, but Riker, Picard, Dr. Crusher, and Kaylee were all surprised by his agreement. Kaylee's comparison of the mind meld to a game of Russian roulette was accurate, and it seemed to have dulled Tomalak's suspicion in light of the true threat – the traitor.
"This is a calculated risk," Kaylee admitted, "but from your agreement, I assume odds of my learning anything dangerous are in your favor."
"I will agree to this only if you get me the identity of the traitor ho destroyed my ship," Tomalak warned her on a different subject. "So you had better get his name."
"Agreed," Kaylee promised.
The communicator to sickbay turned off, and Riker and Picard both looked at Tomalak in amazement. Balancing the vast reward of finding the identity of the traitor against the minimal risk that Kaylee would remember something classified, Tomalak had decided to test his luck. He had agreed to play the Vulcan-style Russian roulette.
*Disclaimer: don't actually be stupid enough to play a game of Russian roulette with a live gun and real ammo just because i mention it here.
Now that the disclaimer has been said, one of my reviewers pointed out that since this mind meld was going to affect Tomalak so much that he should have some story time to, something from his POV. They are right. Some of my plot holes are intentional to make you wonder about secrets to be revealed later, but this one was just something i missed. Oops. This is why i like having people leave reviews.
Does everyone understand the comparison between the meld and Russian roulette, and why the only reason Tomalak's willing to risk it is to catch the traitor?