Free Star Trek by Robert T. Jeschonek Page B

the floor of the Dominion chamber. Somehow, Or-Lin had become more real, manifesting for the first time since her death so that Em-Lin could perceive her with multiple senses at once. Em-Lin could hear her, see her, and feel her touch all at the same time, as if she were still alive right there in the room with her.
    This, to Em-Lin, was not a welcome change. Her resurrected sister had the same twisted edge that she had been flaunting since the explosion that had killed her.
    Death isn’t what it used to be, apparently. Especially down here. Or-Lin smiled as she looked around the chamber, her gaze lingering on the giant tank at its heart. Ironic, isn’t it? If that bomb hadn’t blown me up, no one would have found this place and come down here. You wouldn’t have brought me here, and I wouldn’t have gotten such a big post-life recharge.
    â€œEm-Lin?” Another voice broke through then, a voice that Em-Lin recognized as Vance’s. “Can you hear me?” She tried to focus on that voice and block out Or-Lin’s, but she felt sluggish and had trouble tuning out her sister.
    â€œGo away!” said Em-Lin, but Or-Lin continued to smile down at her. For his part, Vance looked uncertain as to whether or not he was the one Em-Lin was telling to leave.
    Slowly, Or-Lin shook her head. I’m not going anywhere, big sister. Thanks to the Vorta’s device and the little Bynar, I’ll be with you all the time now.
    â€œWhat?” Em-Lin’s heart raced at the thought of the dugo tenya becoming a permanent part of her life. She had loved her sister when she was alive—except at the end, when Or-Lin had threatened her with Division—and she did not wish her ill now that she was dead, but she knew that going through life with a dugo tenya would be enough to drive her out of her mind.
    The little Bynar hasn’t mastered changeling programming yet, said Or-Lin. He accidentally ramped up the system’s output far ahead of schedule. The good news is, the power boost made me more real than ever. The bad news is, the system is out of control and will pretty much wipe out the Miradorn species.
    â€œEm-Lin?” said Vance, his voice sounding very far away. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
    I want us to get off on the right foot for our new arrangement, said Or-Lin. That’s why I’m going to help you fix the Founder’s device and save the day.
    â€œI don’t want to fix it,” said Em-Lin.
    Why not? After all, you helped build it in the first place.

    â€œI’ve given them a mild sedative,” said Lense, withdrawing the hypo from Boz-Nu’s arm. “It’s limiting the expression of the seizures but not stopping them.”
    â€œWhat’s causing them?” said Gomez, staring down at Boz-Nu and Yet-Nu on the floor. The two men squirmed and groaned fitfully, grimacing in agony as they clawed at their skulls.
    â€œI’m still working it out,” said Lense. “The seizures originate in the overlobe, the part of the Miradorn cerebral cortex that governs the extrasensory linkage between twins. In both men, neural activity in the overlobe has exceeded all normal levels and become highly erratic. Em-Lin’s different, though.”
    Gomez looked across the chamber to where Em-Lin sat back against a wall, talking to thin air while Vance tried to press a bottle of water into her hand.
    â€œIn what way?” said Gomez.
    â€œA different region of her brain has been hyper-stimulated,” said Lense. “A lobe associated primarily with functions related to REM sleep and dreaming.”
    â€œWhat’s the prognosis?” said Gomez.
    â€œWith Em-Lin, I have no idea,” said Lense. “The men, I believe, will eventually suffer permanent damage from the seizures. Perhaps fatal damage.” Lense let out a long breath.
    â€œAre you okay, Elizabeth?” Gomez asked. The doctor looked a bit ashen and very