"I'm alive?"
"Stellar observation, Alex. Easily one of the most brilliant ever made by any member of your species, ever."
She sat up, blinking hard, and stared at her companion. Kana was the physical one of the two of them at the moment, and Alex was grateful for it; she felt as weak as a newborn kitten. "What happened? I remember…falling…"
"I took over."
"And?"
"And a twenty story plunge is slightly less fatal to me than it is to you. What with the whole immortality thing and all."
"Thanks," said Alex numbly. "Guess I owe you one."
Kana smiled her most affectionate smile. "You'll find it a debt hard to repay. What with the whole immortality thing…"
Alex wanted to hug her other self; but, of course, that was one of the things that she could never do; not hug her and have her feel it, anyway. That didn't stop her from wrapping her ethereal arms around Kana. She could go through the motions, if nothing else. It was the thought that counted.
"Okay," laughed Kana, extracting herself, "a little too touchy-feely for my taste. Not that I don't appreciate it."
Alex straightened herself up, composing herself. "Right. What's happened while I've been out?"
Kana quickly filled Alex in on the deal she had struck with the Klingons, and was pleased when her host didn't gape or demand to know if she was sane. Alex nodded sagely and said, "Good plan. If a little risky."
"I have Rotran's word of honour. Nothing means more to a Klingon."
"That wasn't what I meant. Recapturing Daedalus will be risky."
"Nothing we can't handle."
Alex was slightly less confident. "We still haven't seen whatever weapon the Vyar used to capture the Daedalus, and we haven't fought anything bigger than Vyar fighters."
Kana waved away such concerns. "I have total confidence in you, Alex."
"I'm glad you do. Wait…does that mean you're leaving it to me to come up with that part of the plan?"
"What? You expected me to do it all for you? When did I become a charity?"
"Okay, I'm feeling a little better now. I'll have control back, Kana."
"Sure you can handle it?"
Alex considered the matter very carefully. Her pride made her want to instantly say that yes, of course she could, but her head was swimming. How that could be happening when she didn't actually have a head at the moment was a mystery. If she were physical, she would probably be emptying her stomach right now. "No. Okay, you keep the body for now. Just go get Susan and do exactly as I tell you."
"Why?"
"Because there's a chocolate bar in it for you."
"White?"
"Of course."
Kana grinned. "Deal!"
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General Rotran was in the communication suite, coordinating squad operations, when he was interrupted. Interruptions did not please him. He had to review the officers and men aboard all of the Klingon ships, judge who was worthy of their positions, and replace those who weren't with his own men; and he still had to select his flagship. There was plenty of work to be done, and not much time in which to do it. Long-range sensors had already detected Starfleet ships on approach. He would be fully organised by the time they arrived. To be seen to be unprepared by the Starfleeters would be a grave dishonour.
It was the spiky-haired human woman – whose name he hadn't bothered to learn – and with her a very small human; a child, he surmised. Even for a child, the blond girl looked pathetically weak. A runt of a Klingon kid could squash her.
"What do you want?"
"A civilised word," replied the red-eyed woman. Why was it that when she spoke his ears burned, as though she spoke fire not words?
"Be gone."
The spiky woman smiled. "This won't take a moment. I just wanted to remind you of our deal."
He slammed his fists against the Vyar console and turned on her, his expression very angry and very dangerous. He had made an honourable agreement with her, and now she was questioning his word? There were few greater insults. "Do you take me for a fool, woman?"
"No. But I wanted to give you some idea of what'll happen if you break our deal. Susan, show the nice general your little trick."
The child nodded obediently, like a good little drone. The next thing Rotran knew, long, thick snakes of flame roared into life from behind her. They stretched out along the floor and ceiling, twisting and turning over each other, darting down the walls and circling around Rotran, like predators. He felt the heat baking his skin, boiling the air around him, and in his lungs. Strangely, there was no smoke, but he didn't notice that at the time.
"What?" He struggled to control his fear. "Wh…what is this? What is happening?"
The red-eyed woman made a slashing motion. The girl nodded, and a moment later the flames disappeared, except for the ones that leapt and crackled in the woman's horrible eyes. She didn't give the general a moment to recover from his shock. "Just so you know, she can do anywhere, any time. The first sign of betrayal and my little friend will turn your ships into flying ovens."
"How did she do that? How can she have such power?"
"That's something for you to think about. And something else to consider: was that the full extent of her power that you just saw, or just a taste?"
Out in the corridor, out of the general's earshot, Susan asked, "Why did you want me to scare him?"
"Fear is a powerful motivator. He'll fight harder for us if he fears us."
Susan thought about this for a little while. She decided, "That's mean."
"I'm not the 'Dark Soul' for no reason."