XXIX.

"Everything your people ever told me was a lie."

How much time had passed? An hour? A day? She was not sure. She felt groggy and stiff, as if she had slept for some time, but there were other explanations for that. She only knew that at least a few hours had gone by before she had fallen asleep—No. Before she had blacked out. Slowly, she pulled her half numb arm from beneath her and raised it to her face. Pain shot through her and she released a muffled groan.

It was all coming back to her.

Where is their ship?

Are they planning to come back for you?

What do you know about Lore?

Tell us. Tell us.

What do you know about Lore?

Lin whimpered and turned onto her side. She was not sure she had not been unconscious for very long. The blood on her face was still wet, though that could merely mean that the cut over her eye had never stopped bleeding. She was afraid to open her eyes at all now; she didn't want to see. She didn't want to think. She just wanted to go back to sleep.

But it was no use. Her head was pounding now and her bruised ribs fought her every time she drew a breath. She forced herself to sit up and slowly, painfully, opened her eyes. She was in a very small room with smooth, featureless steel walls and a single hatch door. The only light came from a bluish strip that went around the seam of the ceiling. It was dim, and yet she shuddered away from it and closed her eyes once more. Pain. Everywhere. She ran her hand from the wet cut above her puffy eyes and down along her chin until she came to her mouth. In a panic, she pressed her tongue all around her mouth and brushed her fingers over her teeth. They were all still there, even if a few of them felt loose. That was at least something...

In spite of it all, though, she had said nothing.

There had been times during the ordeal—after the first few strikes to her face—when she had contemplated lying, making up something, anything, just to make them stop. But, she had resisted the urge. They would have known soon enough that she had lied, and it would all begin again. She knew because she had witnessed such interrogations herself, though from afar and never as any kind of participant. People either told them what they wanted, or they died. The fact that she preferred the latter struck her, and not for the first time, as amazing.

Yes. She would rather die than help them. She would rather die than say anything that helped them find Data and hurt him, though now she was beginning to wonder if they were truly concerned about finding Data at all. They seemed to only care about the other one, Lore. They had asked repeatedly about him.

What do you know about Lore?

He's an android. He looks just like Data.

What are the armaments of his vessel? Do you know his cloak type?

No. I don't know anything about his ship.

You're lying.

No. I don't know.

You're lying!

I won't tell you!

She could not recall if they had asked her further questions after that. It was one of the few times in her life she had ever seen a Vorta lose calm, and she was not surprised that he had. She had admitted, in those last few words, that she did know specifics about Lore's ship and that she had no intention of telling him. She should have lied, perhaps, but something...something...had pushed her. She wasn't sure what it was, but she only knew that in the brief second between when she had declared her defiance and the blow from the Jem'Hedar First had come down across her cheek, she had felt lighter and freer than she had ever known.

No. That wasn't quite right. She closed her eyes and remembered a few freer, even more careless hours in which she had learned to dance and in which she had imbibed alcohol for the first time, and for the first time had shown another person her precious collection of little items; her scrap of silk fabric, her little crystal babble...

I won't tell them anything, Data. I promise...

Despite the pleasure she had taken from her brief moment of defiance, she was beginning to think it had been a severe tactical error. Now they knew there was something to get. If she had just feigned ignorance they would have concluded after not too long that she was worthless and they would have done away with her accordingly. Now, she was certain she could look forward to more torment.

The throbbing in her head lessened enough for her to risk moving. She scooted across the floor toward the wall and took up a position in the corner. It allowed her to rest against the wall without having to expend much energy to keep herself upright. She closed her eyes again and willed herself to slip once more into unconsciousness. Maybe she would dream. Maybe, just for a little bit, she could relive something that had brought her happiness for a while. Maybe, if she concentrated before she fell asleep, she would see...

"Oh!" She gasped and pressed the cloth of her sleeve against her face. She had not noticed the salty tears streaming from her eyes until they ran into the cut on her cheek, stinging her. She wasn't used to crying. She never cried, and yet it felt surprisingly good. Was this another bizarre form of freedom she had always denied herself? How strange that there could be some relief in an act that was basically miserable. She pressed her cuff under her eyes to catch the tears and allowed them to flow. After not too long, her chest ached from the exertion.

There was no warning before the hatch burst open. The light and the sudden chaos of boots and clanging metal startled her into a scream. Instinctually, she turned her face into the corner and willed them to go away, but of course it was not to be. Strong hands grabbed her under her arms and hauled her to her feet.

It was, perhaps, natural for a person to beg or in some other way search for mercy, but it was not natural to Lin. She had never had much experience with mercy or even pity, and what little experience she did have had not come from the Jem'Hadar or the Vorta. Seeking mercy from them would be no different than begging a cloud to drop its rain somewhere else. She said nothing, but only tried to move her feet as quickly as she could to keep the Jem'Hadar soldier from jabbing her in the side with his rifle.

They moved down several dark and narrow corridors, twisting and turning in ways that seemed to make no sense, and even caused them to double back on their path. A kind of morbid humor infused her and she almost laughed. They were trying to confuse her, make certain that she could not gain her bearings and come to understand the layout of the place. She wondered if the Vorta had directed the Jem'Hadar to do such a thing or if was merely their usual procedure. In either case, it was a wasted effort. Had not the Vorta themselves engineered her with advanced memory and positional awareness? Had they not made certain that she was skilled enough, intelligent enough, analytical enough to be perfect self-managed Tasker?

No. Perhaps they had not. The thought struck Lin suddenly, as it had not entered her mind since she left Lore's ship. The Vorta had not made her at all, had they? That word kept running through her mind, over and over again, and she muttered it to herself now.

"Romulan..." She moved her lips soundlessly, but her thoughts had slowed her, and the solder jabbed his rifle into her side to spur her on.

Romulan... Was she special at all? Were there millions, perhaps billions of others just like her? She knew that she was superior to others in many ways; sight, hearing, reflexes, intelligence. She had seen evidence of that all her life, but were there countless others just like her? In a kind of twisted, conflicted way, she hoped it was true and hoped it was not. She did not want to owe the Vorta anything, and yet she did not want to think that she wasn't special.

Special...Yes, look where 'special' has gotten you, Lin. You're a slave.

She recognized the little room they came too as the same one she had left a unknown number of hours ago. She was shoved inside, almost tripping over the lip of the hatch door, but caught herself quickly. She headed for the chair without instruction or coercion.

"Ah, quite impressive." Weyoun said approvingly, "Did you see how she caught her balance there? I certainly would have fallen myself. But, then again, we Vorta were not engineered with physical advances in mind."

Lin looked around, for she doubted Weyoun had been speaking to her or the Jem'Hadar. Standing in the corner was a female Vorta, rather young, whom Lin did not recognize. What she did recognize, however, was the control bracelet on the woman's left arm. How could she ever forget that bracelet or those who wore them? How many times had she seen of the metal ever time they raised it and pressed a few buttons, bringing their young charges into painful submission?

The woman was a Director.

"Yes, many mistakes were made with this one." The woman said flatly. She held up a data pad and consulted it, "Increased spatial recognition, memory, life span... Entirely unnecessary for the tasks she was assigned to carry out."

"Yes, yes." Weyoun said, "I have read the entire report. It's a shame more of them didn't work out. Much of this data looked very promising." Weyoun sighed as if the failure—whatever it was—sincerely disappointed him. Finally, he turned to Lin as if noticing her for the first time. "Here we are again, number nineteen. Are you, perhaps, in a better frame of mind now to answer our questions."

"No."

"Ah." Weyoun rocked on his heels, "Perhaps you are thirsty or hungry. We could see to either before you answer our questions."

"I'm not going to answer your questions."

Every muscle in her body went ridged, causing her to open her mouth in a silent scream and thrash in the chair. It lasted only a few seconds, then she was released as if dropped from a great height. Her stomach flopped inside her and she had to clamp her mouth against vomiting.

"There, now." Weyoun said, "That is much more civilized than the methods we were forced to use earlier. It took some hours to arrange for a Director with the appropriate equipment to arrive and, ah, help us with this interview."

Lin just barely saw the woman lower her hand from the bracelet she wore. Memories of dozens, perhaps more, instances in which she had been subjected to the exact same horror came rushing back to her. When she was six years old and had failed to get in line fast enough. When she was ten and had helped a smaller boy get up when he fell. When she was twelve and had stolen the food of the little girl who slept next to her, because the child had already been dead for hours.

"I hate you."

Weyoun's eyes widened for a moment, and even the woman tilted her head as if she did not comprehend the words.

"Speak more clearly, number nineteen." Weyoun said.

"I hate you! I hate you!" She screamed, pulling viciously against her restraints. It was as if something inside of her had broken, something that she had not even known was there. She looked at both of them, with their beautiful violet eyes and placid demeanors, and saw...nothing. No remorse, no worry, no care. She had never known those things were missing because she had never known they existed anyway. But she had seen them. She saw them every time Data had looked her, every time he had asked her if she was alright, and when he had gone out of his way to find food for her. For her! She had seen it in the faces of his friends, even that unpleasant, sarcastic Lore had not been able to hide his concern.

"What type of cloaking device does their ship use?" Weyoun asked, ignoring her outburst.

"No!" Lin spat.

"You will answer our questions." He said simply.

"How is that?" She said, almost laughing. The shock on both their faces was worth it, and almost made her smile more, "If chemical inducers and truth serums works on me, you would have used them already. Yes?"

Weyoun frowned, finally, and glanced at the woman. She pressed her bracelet again.

This time, when Lin recovered, she was sure she must die from it. She could hardly force her lungs to take in air.

"Tell me, was a tendency toward viciousness or uncontrolled emotions a flaw in this group?" Weyoun asked, "We seemed to do such a exemplary job engineering it out of the others."

"You engineered nothing!" Lin cried, stomping her feet, "You're a liar!"

"It was, in fact." The woman replied, "She, as you know, was the only one of the twenty-three that made it to stage three training, before the project was terminated."

"Stop! Stop lying! It's all been a lie. You didn't make me." Lin lifted her eyes and glared at Weyoun with every bit of her repressed fury, "Everything your people every told me was a lie. You didn't make me at all. You...you took me, or...bought me! Something!"

The woman's face hardened, "I see she had been irreversibly compromised. Not that it matters at this point anyway."

"I'm a Romulan." Lin laughed, and it was a harsh, bitter sound, "Just say it. I'm a Romulan, like countless other Romulans somewhere on the other side of the wormhole."

The woman raised her hand to her bracelet again, but Weyoun stayed her with a glance. He tilted his head, "I take it you were told this by the android and his companions. It doesn't matter now in any case, but do know this. You are not like countless Romulans on the other side of the wormhole. You were a beginning, and we improved on it. Though...clearly not enough."

Lin's lips curled in loathing. Had she been free, she had no doubt she would have lunged for him, bracelet or no. "I see. Faster, more intelligent, longer life... Those are superlative words, but compared to what? Faster than what? A regular Romulan. I should have known all my life. I should have known because you barely tried to hide it the way you all spoke around me, the way I was constantly be subjected to more experiments and more exams than the others."

Weyoun was shaking his head, his eyes half closed, "Such a disappointment. But, then again, there were concerns at the outset that this experiment would be a failure, and so they were proven right. Romulans are too...passionate, too unbendable. We should have known this would never work."

"I won't tell you anything, and even if I did..." She swallowed hard, "It wouldn't help you. They're gone. They aren't coming back for me and you won't get Data again."

Her own words made her shudder and wish she was alone to wallow. They weren't coming back, were they? But she could not feel bad about that. In fact, she could only feel elated. She had saved Data, and his coming back would only put him in danger again. She was satisfied. Life, as she knew, was not perfect, but the last week of her life had been more than she had ever thought possible.

She had always assumed that her life would end in only a few ways, and none of them pleasant. Some unforeseen circumstance would keep her from reaching her next check-in point on time and she would be remotely executed by way of her implant, or perhaps some desperate criminal on one of the planets she frequented would attack and kill her only to find that she carried no money and no food. Those had always been her assumptions, and even though she was going to die very soon she found that she could at least be pleased with the circumstances. She was dying for someone else, to help someone she cared about. What madness! She should be upset. She should be cursing herself for being so weak and stupid, and yet she could not and would not.

She smiled.

I know you can't forget me, Data, but I hope you do think of me. Sometimes. Just a little. That would be enough.

Without warning, a dull concussive thud shook the walls and the very deck plates beneath them shifted. Lin gasped and looked all around. It was an explosion. Far off, and very large, but definitely an explosion of some kind.

The sirens sounded.

Weyoun glanced at the woman and one of the Jem'Hadar soldiers. They both stayed behind as he and the other two made for the exit without another word. Lin watched the woman as she picked up the pad which Weyoun had been holding, and came to stand in front of her. She did not seem concerned with whatever else was happening.

"Now, nineteen, let's see if we cannot make some progress with these questions."

(*)

ONE HOUR EARLIER

"You are certain that you saw the shield emitters located here?" Data asked, pointing to an area on the outpost map which Lin had provided them.

Lore gave Data an incredulous look, "No, Data. I was mistaken. You know how fuzzy my memory is."

"Your sarcasm is not helpful." Data replied.

"Neither are your stupid questions. Yes, I am certain they are located here. I saw them on the scans in her shuttle as we were docking."

"That's perfect." Anna said. She leaned close to the screen and compared what she saw to the pad in her hand, "That's only about six yards from where you left Lin's shuttle craft. If this works, it will definitely knock out those emitters."

Picard, who was standing back and listening to all of this quietly, nodded, "They will try to compensate for a loss of shielding by extending their mid-section emitters, but it will weaken them considerably in this section. That is, unless, they have redundancies that we can't anticipate."

Anna smiled, "We have that covered, Sir. We can use the tractor beam to interrupt their shields. If we cover this area after the shields go down, they won't be able to extend them through the tractor beam interference."

This was the part of the plan, thus far, that Lore liked least. He crossed his arms over his chest, "Of course, that means the cloak will be pointless. The tractor beam will make it obvious where we are, and there is no telling how much time we will have before their reinforcements arrive. Minutes."

The other elements of the plan were known and so everyone turned back to their tasks without further discussion. Finding Lin was entirely reliant on tracking the signal from her neck implant. Their luck was almost astonishing. Had Crusher not done those scans while Lin was passed out intoxicated—Lore rolled his eyes again—they would not now have the ability to locate her. It would be no more difficult than following a signal on a tricorder. Well, that and not getting killed in the process. Another avenue of their fortuitous luck was all the information Lin had given—or rather, which Lore had demanded—about her little vessel. They knew absolutely everything about her ship, and it was that knowledge that was going to prove vital.

Data and Blake came around the corner from the Starboard corridor and ascended the steps. Lore tilted his head slightly and wondered if the others noticed just how on edge Data was. It wasn't obvious, or not so to human eyes, but he could see it. His jaw was tense, and his eyes fell to the floor now and then as if his thoughts were distracting him.

"We are ready." Data announced, "I am certain that we will be able to access the remote operating system aboard Lin's vessel through the outpost's shielding. The bandwidth is in the same range as Dominion communications."

"They'll detect it though." Blake said with a sigh, "We won't have much time after. Practically none."

"We won't need it." Anna said, somewhat bitterly. She shook her head, "Lin's vessel has virtually no fail-safes, few if any safety systems at all. Once we get remote access to her vessel's computer we should be able to trigger an overload of the power system in...fifteen, twenty seconds."

"The explosion will definitely be large enough to knock out those shield immitters and probably much of the power in that section, but it shouldn't rupture the hull." Blake added.

"Understood." Picard said, "The last thing we need is to cause a sudden decompression in the only area where we can transport. Mr. Data," Picard kept his expression empty as he faced his long time friend, "once we are inside, we will know almost immediately if Lin's implant is still active, yes?"

Lore watched Data with unblinking eyes. Everyone knew what Picard was saying even it did not have to be spoken aloud. It was unlikely that the Vorta would have taken Lin elsewhere after they had left the outpost, and her implant would emit no signal if she was already dead; if they arrived and detected nothing, it was too late.

"Yes, Sir." Data said after a brief hesitation. He said nothing more and returned his gaze to the console, though there was nothing there he did not already know.

Lore too looked away, suddenly uncomfortable. He was not accustomed to having feeling of pity or sympathy where Data was concerned. His natural inclination was to mock, but even he with all his artless social skills could see that he would treading into dangerous territory. His brother was afraid, and he could understand why. He could defintely understand why.

"If she's there, we'll know. "Anna assured them, "I've increased the signal strength on this tricorder by a factor of four. Even with any power disruptions from the explosion, I'll be able to locate her right away."

Lore opened his mouth to say something about the weapons systems, but snapped his head in Anna's direction instead, "You will? You mean we will." He indicated the space between him and the other men.

Anna raised her eyebrows, "No. I mean me. I'm going too."

"Wha—? No." He shook his head like a rattle, "That's ridiculous."

Picard cleared his throat, "Lieutenant Hall will be on this mission, Lore. We need someone to monitor Lin's implant signal and give direction. Also, if we encounter any force-fields, we will need—"

"Blake is an engineer!" Lore growled. He turned on Blake suddenly, as if this were all his fault, "What? You can't multi-task?"

Blake raised his hands and frowned, "Hey, don't drag me into this. I volunteered to go just like everyone. But I—"

"But he," Anna began, stepping in front Lore, "is an ensign with no combat training, and I have superior knowledge with signal manipulation."

Lore starred at her. Later, or very soon, he would regret not seeing and acknowledging the subtle look of pleading in Anna's expression. He was far too focused on the prospect of her joining them on this dangerous, hair-brained mission that had every chance of getting them killed.

"You have no combat training either." He countered, "At least Blake has some physical strength to help him in a confrontation."

Anna glanced furtively at Picard, then back to Lore. The pleading look on her face intensified, "Lore, I am a Starfleet officer. This really isn't up for discussion—."

"No!" He was practically blind with frustration and fear; he hardly noticed the silent and uncomfortable audience standing around them. There had to be another option. Of course there were other options! Blake could go, or no one else need go at all. Surely he and Data and the others could manage to confront the Jem'Hadar and see to the technical matters at the same time. Of course they could!

Anna's cheeks had colored noticeably. Without a word, she grabbed the lapel of Lore's jacket and yanked him in the direction of the stairs. He followed without hesitation, fully intending to make his argument again and with more insistence. She couldn't. She simply couldn't! What if she got hurt? What if she was killed? What...what would he do?

The lab door hissed closed behind his back and he raised his hands, "Anna, you're not thinking this through. There is no reason why Blake can't—"

"You humiliated me."

Lore's words caught in his throat. She was standing just a few feet in front of him. Her expression looked almost pained.

"Wh...what?" He muttered stupidly.

"How could you do that?" She ran her hands over her face, which he finally noticed was an uncomfortably shade of pink, "This...this is my job, Lore. This is what I am, this is what I do. I've been a Starfleet officer for more than twelve years. I'm not a child."

Lore's confusion left him momentarily silent. Only now was be beginning to come down from his initial outrage over her inclusion in the away team, but had he humiliated her? Why would she feel embarrassed? What had he said that was so—?

This is ridiculous.

No!

At least Blake has some physical strength...

No!

Lore cringed.

"I don't think you're a child." He grumbled.

"You told me no, Lore. No. As if it was your decision to make, and in front of the Captain..." She trailed off.

Shit.

He closed his eyes and wished, for all the good it did, that they were simply not in this situation. What was he to do? Lie? Tell her he was wrong and that, certainly, it was perfectly reasonable for her to join the away team? She would never believe it, and it wasn't true. Still...

"I don't want you to get hurt." Lore sighed.

"And you're indestructible, are you?" She countered. The corners of her mouth twitched up, taking some of the bite out of her words, "I don't want you to get hurt either. Ever. But I'm not going to keep you in a padded room to make sure you're safe."

"I'm hardly doing that."

"Close enough." She made a rueful smile as she closed the space between them and took his hand, "We're going to have our hands full with the Jem'Hadar, and Captain Picard said we might have to split up at some point. If that happens, the last thing you need is to engage in a fire fight and handle tracking Lin. Plus...I'm not any more interested in seeing you do something dangerous alone than you are in seeing me do it."

Lore raised his eyebrows, all too happy to latch on to some kind of amusement, "You plan to protect me, is that it?"

Anna raised her brow in a similar fashion, and added a haughtily raised nose into the bargain, "Well, someone has to. I don't have my sister's antique revolver with me, but I'm sure I'll manage something."

"Touché." He muttered. He did not want to admit it-hated to admit it-but Anna had proven in the past that she could take care of herself in a bind. Lore was alive because of one of those occasions.

Finally, Anna threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. She laughed. "I hope you don't think I'm asking you to stop being protective or anything. I get a guilty pleasure out of it that is probably unhealthy, but I don't give a damn."

Leave it to Anna to present him with something laugh-worthy at such an inappropriate time. He did just that, and took the opportunity to kiss the side of her neck in a way that he knew always tickled her. Literally.

"Argh!" She laughed and tried to squirm away. "Why did I ever let you know I'm ticklish!"

He laughed again, "Too late. There's nothing you can do about it now."

She groaned, "Great. I'm going to be paying for that little slip for the rest of my life."

Rest of your life... Lore held his breath and dropped one of his hands to his jacket pocket. He could feel the ring box through the fabric. He could. Right now. There was no reason not to.

Anna chuckled once more before sobering noticeably. She sighed, "We had better get back out there now, before Data gets any more anxious than he already is."

Lore nodded ruefully, "You noticed that to, did you?"

"Yes."

"And you know the cause, don't you?"

"I have a pretty good idea."

He nodded as they turned and headed toward the door, both making a silent agreement not to mention the rather obvious revelation. Data would hardly appreciate it. Lore brushed the outline of the ring box through his coat one last time. Not now, certainly. But later? Definitely. There was no longer any doubt in his mind, and he was shocked that he had ever allowed there to be any at all. But first, they had a mission to conduct. After all, why engage in one dangerous, ill-advised, and foolhardy rescue mission in one day when you could have two?