XVII.
Picard retreated to the room assigned to him by Brother Ishtay. It was plain and tailored to the Freres' lifestyle. A simple bed stood on the far side of the room. In a niche near the window a small plant with yellow leaves was resting. Two chairs and a table completed the decor. The captain sat down on the bed, yawning heartily. He wondered what had become of his officers, for neither Beverly nor LaForge had reported since the late afternoon, when they returned to town with Kenara. He hoped that the reason was actually just the planet's atmosphere that prevented communication.
Night had fallen and the stifling heat of the day had given way to a cooler breeze that penetrated the half-opened window. Picard took a deep breath and heaved his legs onto the bed when he heard a knock on the door. Before he could summon his visitor in, Roger Larusso stuck his head into the room.
"Are you still awake?" he asked unnecessarily. Half amused, half annoyed, Picard sat up and sighed. He had realized that sooner or later Larusso would demand an explanation. Without waiting for an invitation, Roger came closer and sat down on the edge of the bed.
"Can you tell me what's going on here?" He fixed Picard from his pale blue eyes, but the captain avoided his gaze. "Jean-Luc," he said in an unusual soft voice, "something has happened since you were held by Les Allias. You've joined in the dig full of verve and now it looks as if the chalice doesn't matter to you at all. What's up?"
Jean-Luc knew that his friend would not be put off with an excuse, but could he trust him with the whole truth? Roger was impulsive, and Picard had a hard time guessing how he would perceive the news and what he would do with the information, but on the other hand, Larusso's distrust was already aroused.
"Roger," Picard began, folding his hands. "What I'm telling you now is not allowed to leave this room." He moved closer and lowered his voice to a whisper.
When he finished, he felt drained. Larusso sat immobile, just staring at him. "No value at all?" he asked flatly after recovering his voice.
"At least not to the Freres," Picard replied. "But we should let the people believe in it, for the sake of peace."
"That's not like you, Jean-Luc," Larusso said. "To support a population in their superstition."
"It's the lesser evil in the current situation," Picard answered. "Apart from that, outsiders are not allowed to judge. It is solely up to the Freres how they deal with the situation and what happens to the chalice. In my opinion, the best solution is to use the chalice to achieve peace."
Larusso stood up and stretched his fingers until the bones cracked. A habit Picard couldn't stand. He grimaced. Roger looked guilty for a moment.
"Sorry," he said. "I have to let this sink in for a minute."
Wordlessly he paced around the small room for a couple of minutes before settling back next to Picard. Only then, he noticed the unnatural pallor of his friend and that he had put his hand on the spot where he had been shot a few days ago. 'What have his kidnappers done to him?' Roger wondered. They knew each other well enough that he could easily ask him, but something made him hesitate. Instead, he changed the subject.
"What's going on between you and Dr. Crusher anyway?"
#
Tinaj briefly left the room to prepare the papers for Wesley's release. By now, it was well past midnight and Wesley was dead tired. He had hardly slept the night before, which was not only due to the hard bunk, but also of course the entire situation. He longed for a decent meal and a bed, in that order.
"Actually, you promised me a more relaxing holiday," he complained to his mother.
"Did I?" she asked lightly. "Didn't I say 'eventful'? And you really can't complain about that." She shot Wesley an encouraging smile, but he grimaced.
"Data said we are going on vacation to Risa soon," he replied. "Do you know anything about it?"
Beverly raised her eyebrows in surprise. "I don't have the slightest idea."
They sat in silence for a while until the door opened and Tinaj returned. In his hands, he held a data padd, which he slid over to Beverly.
"That's the testimony by you and your son. Please read it thoroughly and then confirm by pressing this key." He demonstrated it, leaning very closely over her shoulder. She could smell a perfume on him that she could swear he had not worn before. She blinked at him, puzzled, but he pretended not to notice. He sat down opposite her and crossed his arms.
The smell was too intense for Beverly's taste and it took a lot of effort to read the report. She stole a glance at Wesley, but he seemed oblivious. Between two paragraphs, she raised her eyes and looked at Tinaj, who watched her with a mysterious smile. Beverly didn't know what to make of it. Was Tinaj flirting with her? Somewhat confused, she read the last paragraph and then pressed the key that Tinaj had shown her. It was only then that she realized that she was agreeing to pay a certain amount for Wesley's release. She cursed silently, but Kenara had said that was common practice. However, Beverly had thought it was done with what Kenara had given the police officer at the reception.
As nonchalantly as she could she shoved the data padd back to Tinaj and tried to ignore his gaze. He entered something and then passed the padd on to Wesley while touching his hand a moment longer than necessary. Eventually Wesley became aware of the intense smell that Tinaj emitted and looked uncertainly at him. He had noticed the look that Tinaj had thrown to his mother, but now it seemed applied to him. It was with great difficulty that he followed Tinaj's instructions, telling him how to confirm the report as well.
Beverly had not missed the strange interaction, wondering what Tinaj was up to.
After Wesley had managed to read the statement and verify it, he carelessly threw the padd back in Tinaj's direction. Tinaj typed in some data and got up. He winked, grinning at them before he left the room.
"What was that supposed to mean?" Wesley asked, confused. "Did he flirt with you?"
Beverly shrugged her shoulders helplessly. "I think he was flirting with both of us." Mother and son stared at each other, aghast.
#
The mood was less relaxed in the room next door. Gravelt also confirmed LaForge's testimony, but estimated more than double as much for Riker's and Data's release as Tinaj had done for Wesley's. He jerked the padd to Riker and Data to have it countersigned.
"Excuse me, sir," Data said politely. "But your report contains some mistakes. For one, we did not steal the vehicle with malicious intent. We just wanted to borrow it. In addition, your report contains several spelling mistakes. If I might point them out to you ..."
Riker nudged Data with his leg and silenced him when he realized that Gravelt was about to explode. "I think we can live with the report," Riker assured quickly, pressing a key and encouraged Data to do the same.
"Under protest," Data replied, raising both hands in a human gesture.
Gravelt muttered something incomprehensible, but definitely unfriendly. He literally ripped the padd out of Data's hands after he had given his confirmation and trudged off with it.
At the door, he met Tinaj. "Are you done?" he asked curtly. "Let me see."
He took Tinaj's padd and grunted angrily when he noticed the amount that was much too low in his opinion. It was at the discretion of each police officer how much he felt was worth the confession, but as a senior officer, he could have instructed Tinaj to increase the sum. For now that the process was complete, he couldn't undo it. He snorted in disgust. Tinaj had been suspicious to him right from the start, as he was far too trustful. Gravelt decided to look for another partner as soon as possible.
#
Someone had entered the room behind Cheralia and Ktorn breathed a sigh of relief. His relief, however, lasted only a few moments, when he realized that Andor had no intention of dissuading Cheralia from her plan.
"You?" Ktorn asked, stunned, as Andor stood motionless beside Cheralia, watching as she poked the disruptor in his neck. "But why?"
"Clemdor was my father, too," the bodyguard replied flatly. Ktorn suddenly recognized the similarity between Cheralia and Andor, but in hindsight also to Clemdor, and he wondered why he'd never noticed it before. It was too late now. Andor was his bodyguard for the night, and Ktorn doubted anyone else was awake to come to his aid. Nevertheless, he decided not to give up yet.
"I am very sorry for what happened back then," he began. "If I could, I would undo so many things. It was not right of me putting screws on your father, but I swear that I never intended him to commit suicide. You have to believe me."
Cheralia snorted derogatory and glanced at her half-brother. "Do you believe him?" she asked.
"Not a word," Andor replied, casting nervous looks at the door. "Come on," he urged. "Let's get it over with."
Cheralia hesitated. If she pulled the trigger now, it was over, but in her opinion, Ktorn would not have suffered enough. He should feel her pain, he should understand what he had done to her, but there was no time.
Suddenly, the door flew open with a loud bang. Kyran and Martok stood on the threshold, pointing their disruptors at Andor and Cheralia.
"Put the gun away and hands up!" Kyran shouted in a commanding voice. Surprised, Andor took a step back and raised his hands. He had not expected Kyran after she had retired into her room hours ago. Moreover, Martok was usually a paper pusher. He'd never seen him with a gun before.
Cheralia, however, remained unimpressed. She squeezed behind Ktorn and pointed the disruptor to his temple.
"No!" she cried. "You'll take down your guns or he'll die." To emphasize her words, she fired to the ceiling, hitting a lamp that fell to the ground with a bang.
Kyran and Martok exchanged a glance. The security chief dropped his disruptor to the ground and seemed to respond to her request. With his foot, he kicked the disruptor to the other side of the room, far away from the place where Andor was standing. He had lowered his hands again and jumped across the room to collect the weapon, distracting Cheralia for a second. Martok took advantage of the moment to position himself alongside Cheralia, producing a second disruptor out of his sleeve at the same time. Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger and hit Cheralia in the head. Like with the ax, she went down. At the same time, Kyran shot her former partner in the hand as he tried to reach for Martok's weapon. Andor screamed in pain, angry. When he realized his half-sister on the ground, he hurried to her, but it was too late. Her frozen eyes told him there was no salvation for her. He took her hand and pressed it against his chest, tears welling up in his eyes.
Martok watched the scene unperturbed, but Kyran, who had been working with Andor for several years, felt a lump in her throat. She bent down to him and put a hand on his shoulder, but he shook her off. After a few taciturn minutes, he allowed himself being taken away by Kyran without resistance and Martok approached Ktorn.
The president was leaning against his desk, shocked by what had just happened.
"Are you okay?" Martok asked worriedly.
Ktorn shook his head violently, trying to catch his breath. "No. Not at all." He looked at Cheralia's lifeless figure at his feet, and now clearly saw the resemblance to Clemdor. "How did you and Kyran know...," he began but his voice trailed off.
"Kyran recently suspected that there might be an infiltrator," Martok replied. "So I reviewed the background of all the employees and with Andor I noticed irregularities in his past. When I spoke to Kyran about it, my suspicions were aroused since she had also noticed things about him, which were explainable in individual cases, but not fitting the big picture. Kyran had noticed that he disappeared tonight for several minutes without explanation, so we assumed he would strike today. However, we didn't know that this woman was his half-sister and wanted to carry out the attack herself."
Ktorn nodded and stepped aside. He could no longer stand the sight of the dead. From a distance, he heard the sirens of a police vehicle. Kyran obviously had since notified the authorities. Ktorn wondered what he should report. Andor would probably divulge the background story that had led to the tragedy. The question was to what extent the public would support him. After all, his father had violated an unwritten law. However, this didn't guarantee that the people would approve of Ktorn's actions at the time either, as he was no longer the popular leader he used to be.
He made a lonely decision.