Chapter 12

"Reg is everything okay with you?" Beverly asked in Main Engineering.

"I'm fine." he replied as he looked up from his console.

"It's been brought to my attention that you've been spending a lot of time on the holodeck. I know you've had a rough time since we lost Taryn but…"

"I'm not having a relapse doctor. It's a simulation to do with the weird problem we had with that warp coil. I need to keep an eye on it."

"It sounds like you're in denial and you haven't been seeing Counsellor Kayla…"

"Because I'm dealing with her death in my own way." he replied.

"I know you miss Deanna since she left, but don't feel you can't ask for help if you need someone to talk to. If not Kayla then me."

"I've been talking with Geordi about it. He knows about the holodeck time too." Reg assured her. "Ask him if you don't believe me."

"Just, you aren't alone. Remember that." She touched his arm and he grasped her hand. "We all got very fond of her in Sickbay even though she was only here a short time."

"She was fond of all of you too." Reg told her softly and sighed as she walked away. He hated lying to her but he knew it was with good reason.

…

"How was your day?" he asked Taryn as they ate dinner in a holographic replica of the bar.

"Boring, there don't seem to be any challenges anymore."

"How do you mean?" he asked with concern.

"I haven't had anything mysterious to deal with in ages. Every case is textbook and everybody is responding as expected."

"Isn't that a good thing?" he asked as he took a sip of his drink.

"Well yes, but it's unusual. If I didn't know better I'd think I was running holographic simulations…Are you alright?" she asked as Reg choked on his drink.

"Yes I'm fine." he coughed and made a mental note to tweak the program.

"Oh God, it's the dynamic duo." Taryn muttered and instinctively covered her face with her hand as Barrymore and Hargrove entered the room. She seemed surprised that they smiled cordially as they walked past then took a table nearby.

Reg winced, another factor he'd forgotten. "I think Guinan had a word after your run in last week." he suggested. "Another week and a half and we'll be out of here anyway."

"I can't wait." she smiled and held his hand. "I'm really excited about you meeting my family. I know they'll love you, don't be nervous." she said as she saw his worried expression.

How exactly was he going to negotiate that problem? Her family would have already been informed of her death and he couldn't take her off the hologrid. He was going to have to broach the subject of her true nature sooner rather than later and hope she took it better than last time.

…

She woke with a start beside him and sat bolt upright causing Zimmerman to jump off the bed. "What is it? What's wrong?" Reg asked desperately.

"The necklace, Vedek Onara gave me…it was like a locket. I was going to give it back to her. I must have lost it somewhere."

"Don't worry. I expect someone found it and already returned it." he told her as he stroked her hair. "Why don't you go back to sleep?"

"I'm not tired." she replied. "I haven't been tired for days. I haven't been hungry, I haven't wanted to pee." she looked at him. "I was wearing the necklace in the Sensor Control Room when…" her eyes widened. "Reg,did I die?" A look of realisation spread across her face. "Oh my God what did you do?" She jumped out of bed and backed herself into the corner with distrust and horror in her eyes. "You built another me? How could you do that?"

"It wasn't me. I swear to you. It just happened somehow. Yes, I love you and I missed you so much but I could never love a…a simulation of you." He swallowed hard. "We found an energy spike that ran from the sensor relays to this Holodeck when…it happened. We've, Data, Geordi and I have been through Noonien Soong's notes and we think there was some kind of synaptic transfer and your consciousness merged with the matrix we were playing with."

"Did you see me die?" she asked plaintively.

"I was the other side of the door. It was quick, very quick. We don't think you suffered at all." he replied.

"So I died alone." she whispered sadly. "Do my family know I'm dead?" Tears rolled down her cheeks.

"They will by now. We hoped this simulation would help you realise the truth more gradually. We had an argument whether you were the real thing in front of you and…you got hysterical. You begged us to delete you so we purged your memory."

"Am I the real thing? Am I still me?" she asked plaintively as she walked back to the bed

"Yes, I've lived with you for over a week and you are definitely the same person." He smiled. "Believe me you're real, but you're photonic now and we've been keeping you a secret." he admitted. "The plan is we stick to the plan. We leave the ship, take Data and Geordi with us and set up on a planet somewhere. Ashby asked to come too, but he doesn't know about you yet. We don't want Starfleet to find out about you."

She nodded and sighed. "I'm sorry, I wanted to give you children."

"I know," he replied and pulled her into his arms, "but I could adopt even if you can't legally. We'll find a way. We could even make artificial babies with a heuristic algorithm. I want to create life with you and raise children. They don't have to be biologically ours or even biological."

"Trust the Prophets. It will make the transition that is to come easier for you to bear." Taryn sniffed, "That's what Onara said when she gave me the locket. She said the Prophets wanted me to have it, she insisted. She put it around my neck and inside my uniform."

"Do you think she knew what was going to happen?" Reg asked.

"I don't know, she says some far out stuff. Miffy would call her touched." Taryn whispered. "Are you the only real person here?"

"Zimmerman is real, Data and Geordi have been real too." he stated.

"I thought people were being a little too nice. I was beginning to think I was on the USS Stepford."

"What?"

"Look up The Stepford Wives later." she told him with a smile.

"I never wanted to deceive you, but you were so unhappy before. We thought you might damage your program. You begged me to let you step off the grid. I…I couldn't let you once I knew it was really you."

"I understand. But can we change the simulation? I'd rather do some research in a lab than treat computer generated patients."

"Whatever your heart desires." he told her and kissed her. "I love you so much."

"I love you too." she replied and the room changed to a larger, more lavish room with opulent drapery and cushions everywhere. She was reclining next to him dressed as an Orion slave girl in a metallic bikini. "What do you think?" she whispered and pulled a chiffon veil over her face.

"How did you do that?" he asked with a worried frown.

"Don't you like it?" she pouted. "I can change it back..."

"I never said I didn't like it. I'm just shocked at how fast you learned to do it."

"I'm a fast learner." she said and pulled him down by the collar of his pyjamas to kiss him.

"You do realise this could cause a relapse of my holo-addiction?" he whispered between kisses.

"This is my fantasy, not yours Master." she replied as he caressed her bare skin with his hand.

"Good point." He kissed her neck softly. "I won't worry then."

…

"Do I feel different to you now?" Taryn asked softly as they lay on their sides facing each other in the huge bed.

"No, not at all." Reg replied with a smile and kissed her palm tenderly.

"But I don't have pheromones anymore. It must be different." she insisted.

"I get just as lost in the moment without the pheromones. It's not your pheromones that enchant me. It's you." he assured her. She snuggled close to him and he cradled her in his arms.

"I'm not a real girl anymore." she sobbed.

"You're real to me." he whispered. "Everything will be alright." he promised her.

…

Vedek Onara was sitting alone singing softly to herself when the Data approached her.

"Number One." she smiled when she saw him. "Did your friend arrive safely?"

"My friend?" Data asked.

"I hope she didn't find her transfiguration too difficult? The Prophets were with her, she was safe in their hands but it can't have been easy." Onara said sympathetically. "It was inevitable you see, her death. Nothing could prevent it but the Prophets have made her an instrument of their will. She will realise that as she changes."

"Vedek, the locket you gave her?"

"That was my duty. I was charged by the Prophets to give her that locket. Everything is wrong, so wrong. So many of my people dead and those left are scattered across the sector. Bajor reduced to a barren wasteland unable to support life by the Dominion and the Prophet's Tears shattered by the Jem'Hadar. They called them icons of false Gods. The truth is the Dominion feared that we would use them to undo the harm they have done and that is exactly what she will do. She will be our avenging angel."

"How?"

"The locket contained shards of the Tears of the Prophets. She will become the living embodiment of them. The Oracle of the Prophets will emerge soon." Onara stated.

…

"So you're telling me the wormhole aliens turned her into some kind of weapon?" Reg asked incredulously as they sat in Data's quarters.

"She told me the locket contained Orb fragments and that would explain the unusual energy readings she produces." Data stated. "Theoretically they could have become fused with her when her organic body was destroyed."

"If Onara says she's changing, what's she changing into?" Geordi asked. "Some kind of new Orb?"

"Onara described her as an avenging angel, a living embodiment of the Tears of the Prophets." Data explained. "She called her The Oracle of the Prophets."

"We aren't talking about an experiment we can just shut down." Reg stated angrily and rose to his feet. "We're talking about Taryn. My Taryn not the Prophets tool. She's not a weapon, she's a living being and I won't allow her to be used or abused."

"Reg, maybe we need to trust that the Prophets know what they're doing. They aren't malevolent." Geordi reasoned.

"They took Ben Sisko away from his family and never gave him back." Reg stated. "I won't let them take her from me."

…

"Okay. I just need to store you in this memory module. I don't know if you'll be aware, but it won't be for any longer than absolutely necessary." Reg assured her.

"Reg it was me." Taryn stated.

"What was you?" he asked.

"I moved the warp coil." she stated.

"How can you..?"

"I see it all, other timelines, what was, what will be. It's all the same."

"Taryn…"

"I went back in time and moved the coil to save the ship. I was the intelligence at work. I had to do it because it was already done. I had to save the many at the expense of the few. I'm so sorry you had to see the people I couldn't save." she cupped his cheek in her hand.

"Taryn, we have to leave." He took her hand in his. "We have to get you and Data away from Starfleet and then we'll talk. Everything is arranged." He cupped the back of her head in his hand. She reached out and touched his chest softly, he was enveloped in a green light. He saw himself walking into sickbay. Doctor crusher was busy and directed him to a junior doctor with her back to him. His eyes widened as she turned and smiled then asked him how she could help. The green light flashed over him again and he was back on the holodeck with her.

"Now do you believe me?" she pleaded.

"I never doubted you." he assured her. "Although it was nice to relive the day we met." he whispered. "But it's really time to go." She nodded and he began the sequence on the terminal to save her program to the storage device.

He strode along the corridor with the cylinder safe in the bag on his shoulder and headed for the Shuttlebay. Data, Geordi and Dan were waiting as were the Captain and Dr Crusher.

"Take care and be sure to write." Beverly said as she hugged each of them in turn. "I know you're coming back but you get a hug too Data." she squeezed him tight.

"Good luck gentlemen." Picard smiled and shook their hands. "You will be sorely missed but I wish you well in all your future enterprises." he shook Data's hand as well. "Hurry back to us Commander." he said grasping his hand in both of his.

"I will sir." Data replied.

"Do they know?" Reg asked after the hatch was closed and Data took the pilots seat.

"They know I am not just your pilot." Data stated. "They know we plan to fake my death. It was the only way to ensure an investigation doesn't uncover our plan."

"They don't know about Taryn." Geordi stated.

"What about Taryn?" Dan asked.

"She's a hologram." Reg stated.

"You made a simulation of her?" Dan asked incredulously. "Reg that's sick, she died. You have to grieve for her and let her go."

"It's a little more complicated than that Dan." Geordi stated.

"We have a long flight to Starbase 192." Data stated. "Perhaps we should start at the beginning."

…

"This ship's not bad." Geordi told Nareev as he looked around the engine compartment. "She's no spring chicken but you can see she's loved."

"Are you sure this planet we're going to is safe?" Reg asked.

"I've been living and working out of Delnos V since I was a child. It's quiet, but a good place to live anonymously. Straveen hasn't found me yet, it's far from the Federation border and too insignificant for the Syndicate to bother with. Once you are set up I will be able to bring you supplies and no one will notice as I come and go frequently on trade runs. You will be safe."

"We appreciate your assistance." Data stated.

"Anything for my cousin, whatever form she takes." Nareev stated. "My brother and I owe her our lives."

"Nareev, we have clearance to leave." Barsha's voice came over the com.

"If you're ready gentlemen you had better take seats in the cabin. This ship isn't as comfortable as you are accustomed to. Our inertial dampeners are a little…loved." Nareev warned.

"The shuttle got away okay Data?" Geordi asked Data as they buckled into their seats.

"Yes, I programmed it to fly an intercept course to the Enterprise then breach the core while sensors are clear. When Captain Picard goes looking for the wreckage he will find trace elements to match those in my construction and close the investigation."

"In other words you stole Kivas Fajo's idea." Geordi grinned. "You realise Andrews is going to kill us for going off script?"

"Andrews can go to hell." Data stated.

It was an uneventful if bumpy flight on Nareev's ship that took just under a week. Eventually they arrived at Delnos V.

"If this building does not suit you there are others available." Barsha explained. "I thought the basement would be perfect for a laboratory and the previous owner had holo-emitters fitted. The furniture is included."

"It seems ideal don't you think?" Reg asked the others who nodded.

"Structurally it is sound." Data confirmed, still looking and feeling a little strange in civilian clothing. Reg went to speak to the land agent who was waiting quietly in the next room with Nareev who negotiated a better price and the deal was struck. Once Reg had checked the home computer was in good condition he uploaded Taryn and activated her.

"It's okay." Reg grabbed her as she gasped and panicked.

"That was horrible." she mumbled into his chest. She looked up and smiled at the sight of her cousin.

"It's been too long Taryn." Nareev smiled as she hugged him.

"It has. I haven't seen you since Bylar smuggled you and Lural out of Barin Prime."

"This is my friend Barsha, she's my engineer and co-pilot." Nareev explained and Taryn shook her hand with a smile, then she looked at Data and Geordi earnestly. Her head tilted slightly.

"You should not be here." Taryn stated in a voice that was hers, yet unlike her own. "You both have a greater destiny to fulfil." She began to glow with rainbow coloured shimmering light.

"Woah, what's happening?" Dan asked and Data raised his hand to quiet him.

"Andrews is blinkered," she continued. "He thinks only of what he calls the greater good and thinks nothing of the lives that are lost, and they are lost. What he sees as redundant timelines are in fact divergent realities and the lives there are as precious as any other. He sees the loss of Bajor as merely collateral damage. We do not. Save Bajor and you will save the Federation but you will have to do it at the root, not by altering the course of a branch. Andrews can help you, but do not be afraid to follow your instincts."

"Can you help us return to 1891, to Waterloo Station?" Data asked.

She paused. "That way is barred. It is locked by means I cannot breach, but there may be a way. This one can help you," she pointed at Reg, then touched her own chest "and this one but I know not how or in which reality."

"Is there any way you can help us at all?" Geordi asked.

"I can send you back. Other lives were lost that day. Save them and the knot will begin to unravel." she explained.

"What will happen in this timeline when we depart?" Data asked.

"My role in this is complete." she stated.

"No, no it's…" Reg protested and stepped towards her.

"Be calm, this construct will remain. She is yours." she took Reg's hand gently. "It was never our intention to deprive you of your happiness." She turned back to Data. "This reality will continue. The beings you were before Andrews brought you here will return and live their lives as they are destined to but you will continue on your path. Persevere, you are gifted men and you will find the way."

"Does the reality we came from still exist?" Data asked.

"This construct would explain it using something called the First Law of Thermodynamics. Reality cannot be created or destroyed but it can be transformed." She smiled warmly at them. "It is time for you to begin your journey." She opened her arms and was enveloped in a green light that spread to cover Data and Geordi.

"Where are we?" Geordi asked, realising he was dressed in his 23rd century clothing but appeared to be in 19th century London.

"This is Whitechapel Lane," Data replied and drew a small phaser from his pocket. "Are you armed?"

"Oh yeah." Geordi replied and armed himself as he looked around. "There they are." he pointed to a distortion near a wall. "Three of them. They look like they're waiting for someone to come out of that pub."

"Set phasers to kill." Data stated.

Geordi nodded. "Usual method to get them to unshroud?" Data nodded his assent and they strode purposefully towards the aliens. "Hey you, lizard features. Yeah I'm talking to you, you ugly sons of...whatever the hell you hatched from." Geordi shouted and the Jem'Hadar turned to attack, their movement causing them to unshroud. It was a short fire fight. Data quickly despatched two of them and Geordi the third. "Now what?" Geordi stated and Andrews appeared behind them, his face stern.

"You idiots are the bane of my life." he stated angrily and stabbed at a button on his wrist with his finger.

"Okay, what's going on?" Geordi whispered to Data through cell bars. They were in a dark room with only a small light at roof level that cast little light. Geordi's eyes shifted and he saw it the room was filled with cages and looked more like a kennel than a prison. The stale air was filled with the stench of rotting food, faecal matter and the ammonia tang of urine.

"I do not know. I assume this is another possible future we created when we changed the past." Data replied as he looked around. The cells were small, too small for a man to lie down or stand up straight if he was over four feet tall.

Maniacal laughter came from a cell opposite. "Do you think it's day or night outside?" the voice giggled in the darkness. "Night or day? Hot or cold?"

"Barclay?" Geordi whispered.

The man laughed heartily. "I can't remember when I last heard that name. Could be years, aeons, a lifetime ago."

"How long have you been here?" Geordi asked.

"Longer than you." he replied and snorted with laughter. "A smaller box, a smaller box, whenever they sell me a smaller box." he sang and his hand emerged from the shadows and he ran his finger along the edge of the cage. "They're selling me again, the guard said… They have a special buyer…"

"Who is selling you?" Data asked with concern.

"I don't know, Green or Red, I've lost track. They're selling you too. The Starfleet Officer and the two heroes who came to liberate him. We're a job lot now." he laughed again.

The door latch shifted and a heavy door swung open. She was carrying a light as she entered.

"Taryn, thank God." Geordi stated.

"How long have they been kept like this?" she hissed in perfect Orion.

"What does it matter?" the man with her replied.

"They stink. They're filthy. They cannot stand upright in these cages. This one fears the light." she waved the lantern at Reg and he recoiled in his tiny cage. "I'm not paying full price for damaged goods."

"The Tahedri agreed…"

"The Tahedri will have you beheaded in front of your screaming children when I show him what you're giving him for his money. It's you I'm thinking of."

"Ten percent off the sale price." the man suggested.

"Twenty-five." she whispered, standing close to him.

"Fifteen."

"You want to give me twenty-five." she suggested, running a lazy finger down the slaver's chest.

"That's less than I paid for him and the cost of capturing these two. Not to mention feeding them." he argued.

"You call this rancid boar swill food?" She tilted her head to look at him appraisingly. "Perhaps I'll just take them for free."

"No female is that convincing." the Green Orion laughed.

"He's laughing at you sister." It was Emlyn, Data was surprised to hear him speak. "How foolish of him."

"Is it done brother?" she asked, her eyes not leaving those of the slaver.

"All but this one." he replied. She smiled sweetly as the man was lifted from the ground by invisible hands, a choking sound emerging from his lips. "Break his neck, I love to hear the sound." the Vulcan looking hybrid whispered in her ear.

"This is my kill. I get to choose." she replied with a smile as she watched the enormous man wriggle as if hanged. "I want to see him dance for me."

"That is not Taryn." Data whispered.

"What? But?" Geordi replied.

"Not the Taryn we know. She is telekinetic."

"Who is this Taryn you speak of?" the woman asked as she dropped her hanged man on the floor once he ceased to twitch.

"He thinks she's you sister." the man told her indicating Geordi. "He thinks you've come to save them. Although he is beginning to have doubts." He smiled at her.

"Save them?" she replied with a puzzled frown. Their cages opened suddenly. "Help him." she said with a tilt of her head in Barclay's direction. "Our ship is outside." She unclipped a scarf from her robes and held it out with both hands as Data and Geordi helped Reg to his feet between them. "Let me cover your eyes Commander, the sun is high in the sky." she placed the silky fabric over his head like a veil. "This way." she stated and swept from the room.

They walked along a dark corridor and out into a bright courtyard filled with bodies. Men dressed similarly to the slaver, each of them still clutching the pommel of a blade that was plunged into their chests to the hilt as though they all suddenly chose to commit ritual suicide.

"You always make such a mess Aedax." the woman chided as she lifted her robe and stepped around a puddle of green blood on the way to the gangway.

"Forgive me Stirba." her brother smirked as he walked alongside the three officers. In the light they could see he was finely but plainly dressed. His sister was dressed in what appeared to be a collection of diaphanous scarves that were held in place by the ornate silver choker at her neck and the matching bracelets that circled her upper arms. Her raven hair was held back from her face in a silver clasp and cascaded down her back in curls that fell to her waist.

"Bathe them, shave them if they wish and find them clean clothing." Stirba ordered her handmaidens as they entered the ship and the hatch closed. "The Tahedri will be furious if we bring this stench into her palace." she looked at Barclay appraisingly as she poured a chalice of wine. "Your friend has been confined too long. Hopefully a soak in our bath will soothe his muscles. You are all of value to us and you will be cared for. Please don't make yourselves more trouble than you are worth." she advised them. "You've seen what my twin and I are capable of and we're currently the least of your worries."

…

"No!" Barclay protested as a Green serving girl tried to remove his clothing. "Stay away from me!" He held up a hand as he backed away and crouched in the corner whimpering. He was a mess, his hair and beard was long and matted and his clothing in rags. The girl looked at Data and Geordi and her fellow handmaidens in turn with concern on her face.

"Barclay?" Geordi approached him slowly. "Reg? It's me Geordi."

"Geordi?" he turned his dark eyes to him, his lower lip quivering.

"Yeah and Data." Geordi took hold of his arm. "These girls don't want to hurt you. They just want to help you clean up." He pointed. "Look, there's a bath over there."

"That's not a bath, it's a pool." Reg stated. "They trick you, they want to drown us." he whispered.

"We won't let anyone drown you." Geordi smiled. "They can't drown Data can they?"

Reg slowly emerged from the corner. "I can undress myself, wash myself." he told the young woman proudly.

"As you wish." she replied subserviently with a bow of her head. "I would like to tend to your hair, your beard?" she offered.

"I'll think about it." he replied distrustfully.

Geordi nudged Data as Reg removed his shirt, his back was covered in scars. Lash marks. Some old and faded, some fresh. He looked thin, almost emaciated, his ribs, spine and shoulder blades standing out under his skin. He eased himself into the water adjacent to them, coyly still wearing the remains of his underpants, removing them only when he was under the water. He panicked momentarily when a naked Green Woman approached Geordi with a blade in her hand.

"Do you wish me to shave you?" she asked him softly.

"Uh, okay." Geordi agreed.

"Your skin is so smooth." another told Data as she began to wash him with a soft sponge. "What lotions or unguents do you apply?"

Reg jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "May I bathe your back?" his handmaiden asked softly. He nodded but still looked fearful. "I have salves and ointments for your wounds. You are fortunate, they do not appear to be infected." she told him as she gently sponged his back. "We are here to care for you. Not harm you. You are no longer in the hands of slavers."

"W…what are you planning to do with us?" Reg asked nervously.

"That is for the Tahedri to decide." she replied. "Are you a typical Human male?" she asked.

"W…what?" he asked, his eyes wide as he moved his hands over his groin.

"I have never seen a Human before. Aside from Prince Aedax, but he is only part Human. I wondered if his hair was a Vulcan trait?"

"His hair?" Reg asked.

"On his chest and…lower. Orion men are smooth, like him." she flicked her eyes at Data. "Many do not have hair on their heads."

"I don't know, I can't say I pay a lot of attention to other men's chests and…lower." he replied.

"You like girls?" she asked.

"Er…yes. I like girls." He shifted uncomfortably and crossed his legs, trying to look relaxed and failing.

"What is your name?" she asked.

"Um Barclay, Reginald Barclay." he replied.

"Reg-in-ald. Barclee." she tilted her head and smiled. "Your names are strange."

"What's yours?" he asked.

"Shitti." she replied.

"Shi…er right. Okay." he stifled a laugh.

"What?" she asked innocently.

"It's just in our language…it's a pretty name." he told her with a smirk. "How old are you?" he asked realizing she looked rather young.

"In Earth years I am fourteen."

"WHAT?!" Reg shrieked. "You shouldn't be naked in a bath with naked men at fourteen!" he protested.

"I am fully trained. I began my service at ten, I am quite experienced." the girl said brightly.

"You mean you…when you were ten? You…you're…"

"I am a handmaiden, trained to serve and care for others. It is my sworn duty."

"Your duty?" Reg was looking increasingly alarmed. "You took some kind of oath to have sex with people at ten years old?"

"No I don't do that. I am not a courtesan. I was not pretty enough. Only the most beautiful girls are selected to train as courtesans and their training is much longer and more intensive." she replied matter of factly as she inspected his hair. "This will require treatment. You have Lora Fleas."

"Fleas?! I have fleas?"

"They are rife in the slave camps. Nasty little things but we have a medicated…you wash your hair with it?"

"Shampoo?" he suggested.

"Shampoo." She smiled. "Shampoo." she repeated and giggled, amused at how the word sounded. She worked on him for nearly an hour. Washing, scrubbing and cutting his hair. "You are sitting straighter already. I took you for an old man when you came aboard." she said as she carefully finished shaving him.

"Uh okay." he replied.

"Under all that matted fur you are quite handsome." she told him with a smile.

…

The table was filled with a variety of food, some rich morsels, some more bland. It was clear their hosts were endeavouring to both pique their appetites and provide them with simple, easy to digest nutrition to assist their recovery rather than provide a lavish feast. They were dressed in loose fitting pants and shirts that wrapped across their bodies and tied at the side. The clothing was much like nightwear that was commonly worn by those from the Federation. Comfortable and loose with a v-neck and long sleeves and simple slippers for their feet.

"Our girls wished me to share their appreciation at your gentlemanly behaviour. You'd be surprised how many off-worlders assume all Green Women are whores to be molested at will and how few know the difference between a whore and a courtesan trained in the arts of love, besides the fee." Stirba told them as they sat eating. "If you are hungry, eat Commander. There is no trick. No one will feed you rotting meat and laugh at you because you are so starving you eat it." she told Reg earnestly and drained her cup.

"You…you know about that?" he asked softly.

"You are not the first people I have liberated from a slaver. What I know about their practices would surprise you." she replied sympathetically and poured herself some more wine. "Try the broth. It is boar meat, root vegetables and pulses, nothing sinister I assure you."

"Liberated?" Geordi looked at her, "Is that what you call what you did to that man?"

"If you have pity to waste on men who trade in sentient beings as though they were farm animals bred for food and treat them with less dignity then feel free Commander La Forge. I don't. That man or someone like him whipped your colleague until he bled, starved him and kept him sitting in his own filth in a box too small for a hound. Your friend is lucky not to be mutilated. Had the slavers the intelligence to realize where his value lies they would have deprived him of everything else to make him more compliant. Genitals, hands, feet. I'm sure you witnessed many such disfigurements?" Reg nodded to confirm this as he ladled some broth into a bowl and sniffed it. "That man deserved everything he got and more, they all did." She sipped from her cup.

"Maybe you didn't have to enjoy it so much." Geordi reasoned.

"A girl has to get her thrills where she can." She flashed a wolfish grin.

"Princess…" Reg began as he tried some broth. "How long was I held captive?"

She drummed her fingers on the tabletop, as though considering whether or not to answer. "A little over eight Earth months." she admitted.

"It felt longer." he whispered.

"You should be proud. Few off-worlders survive that long in the slave camps. The privations, wounds getting infected, disease…" she stated.

"So why did you wait until now to…is this a rescue?" Geordi asked.

"Let's just say it's in our interests to keep you alive and well. As for how long we waited to make our move, it's simply because you were about to be in the hands of a Caj that we are currently engaged in a blood feud with and before that you were not." she explained. "A matter of killing two birds with one stone so to speak."

"So you are not the buyer the slavers were expecting." Data stated.

She gave him a wry smile. "No, they will be arriving anytime now to find you gone and our second ship will have removed the remaining slaves from the encampment."

"So you stole them to slave for you instead?" Geordi stated.

"You have a low opinion of us Commander La Forge." Prince Aedax stated as he entered the room with a female far more scantily clad than the handmaidens clutched to his side. "While the three of you are a valued commodity, they will be washed and their wounds treated, admittedly not with the tender loving care you received from our staff. They will be fed, clothed, billeted and rehabilitated. If they desire it we will arrange transport to anywhere they wish to go." He sat and pulled the giggling female onto his lap and fed her a small berry by hand.

"The Caj Barin do not keep slaves. We pay those who work for us a fair wage." Stirba stated.

"Yet we are a commodity." Data reminded her.

"If Starfleet give us what we want you will be returned to them safe and sound." Aedax stated.

"So we're hostages?" Geordi stated.

"That is a little strong. You are safer with us than with any of the other Caju and we are certain the forthcoming negotiations will prove mutually beneficial." Aedax stated.

The Green princess raised her hand almost imperceptibly and a handmaiden appeared at her side. "Perhaps one of you could show Mr Barclay to his quarters? He seems both overwhelmed and exhausted. See to it he has food available should he need it."

"Perhaps I should go along?" Geordi suggested as Reg looked at him with a panicked expression.

"Perhaps we should all retire." Data added.

"As you wish." Stirba smiled. "Secure areas of the ship will be locked to you but feel free to roam and enjoy our amenities. Consider yourselves our guests."

Their quarters took the form of a suite with a spacious living area and three connecting bedrooms. "Everything you'd expect from an Orion party barge." Geordi stated as he strolled around. "But no showers." he noted as he peered into the bathroom and found only a toilet and hand basin. "They're clearly into communal bathing around here. She's right Reg, you look beat. Why don't you take that room?" He nodded and shambled away, still finding standing upright a strain.

"Data, what the hell went wrong this time and how come Taryn is called Stirba and is telekinetic and evil?" Geordi whispered. "And Emlyn is Aedax and can talk?"

"I do not know. Obviously whatever caused the neurological damage to the Prior twins never occurred."

"For someone unaffected by alcohol she certainly knocks it back. What's all that about?" Geordi asked.

"She always drank from the same carafe and it was never shared. I am uncertain that she was drinking wine." Data intoned.

"If not wine then what?" Geordi asked.

"She began to perspire far more than would be normal for the ambient temperature of the room prior to each time she drank."

"She has a fever. She's sick?" Geordi asked.

…

Aedax placed his hand on his sister's forehead tenderly. "The treatment is not working my love. Let me assist you."

"No!" She pulled away from him. "Death would be better than that." she clutched the back of a chair, shivering with fever.

"Such a proud Little Flower." he ran a lazy finger over her collarbone suggestively.

"Such a vile little pervert." she hissed. He back-handed her across the face and knocked her to the floor.

"Don't forget you are also just a commodity to our mother. One with obligations to fulfil." he shouted.

"If you ever strike me again you had better hope I don't get back up or the neck you hear snap will be your own Aedax." she warned coldly, bleeding from her lip. "If the Tahedri of the Caj Norai were female you would be the one traded like a slave and I would remain Tira's heir."

"If you defy our mother she will punish you. You will marry and produce an heir for the Caj Norai. Now, not in seven years time."

Author's note:

I don't own The Stepford Wives