Chapter Eighteen.

A FTER B EVERLY C RUSHER and Nerissa Povron completed their evaluations of the Betazoids and Jem'Hadar who had tested the emotion projection theory, Deanna, Lwaxana, Riker, and Dr. Povron transported to the resistance stronghold. Sorana Xerix, Cort Enaren, and the rest of the council were waiting for them in the meeting room.

Lwaxana faced the group. "We don't have much time, so we'll get right to the point. Deanna will explain what we've learned about an alternative to Tevren's killing method."

Deanna sensed the council's quickened interest as well as an unspoken sense of relief. The Betazoids would welcome another option, but the only other choice she could offer had its own horrible consequences. She was glad the decision wasn't hers. She would present the council with the facts and let them make the hard choices.

After explaining what Tevren did to her before he died and the brutal component to his killing method, Deanna told them, "You have another option. Tevren also had the ability to project intense emotions into people's minds."

"What good would that do us?" Sorana asked with impatience. "Do you expect us simply to scare the enemy to death?"

Deanna shook her head. "Thousands of Betazoids died on Sentok Nor, but as a result of the horrible experiments performed on them, we've learned something crucial about the Jem'Hadar. These soldiers have a flaw that telepaths can use to their advantage."

Enaren folded his arms over his chest, his face tight with concentration. Sorana and several other council members leaned forward, intent on Deanna's explanation. Lwaxana observed her daughter with undisguised pride.

"When Crell Moset succeeded in creating telepathic Jem'Hadar," Deanna continued, "his subjects all died from horrific seizures. Their minds were overwhelmed by the tremendous influx of emotions and sensations that a natural telepath learns to control over time. This is what killed them."

"Are you saying the Jem'Hadar on Betazed are telepathic?" Enaren asked in alarm.

"No," Deanna said, "but even without telepathic abilities, they don't process emotions as most humanoids do. When Captain Picard learned about this unique characteristic from Moset, the captain had several Jem'Hadar transported onto the Enterprise. In an experiment, I taught my mother and a group of telepaths we rescued from Sentok Nor how to project emotions into the Jem'Hadar's minds."

"What kind of emotions?" Sorana asked.

Deanna nodded to her mother to continue.

"We tapped into the whole gamut," Lwaxana explained. "Hate, guilt, apprehension, fear, anger, hope, despair, longing, sadness, surprise, resolve, annoyance, confusion, contentment, desire, grief, disapproval, even forgiveness and love. Our group bombarded the Jem'Hadar with these feelings, and Dr. Crusher monitored their responses."

"Did the Jem'Hadar die?" Enaren asked.

Deanna shook her head. "They became catatonic, as if overwhelmed."

"I don't understand," Sorana said with a shake of her head but a glint of hope in her eyes.

"Their minds shut down," Povron explained, "like a computer protecting itself from a power surge."

"They're permanently impaired?" Enaren asked.

"The Jem'Hadar on the Enterprise recovered in less than an hour," Povron said, "but during that hour they were helpless."

"So we don't have to kill them to conquer them?" Enaren said.

"That's the upside of this method," Lwaxana said. "We don't have to reduce ourselves to murderers."

"What's the downside?" Sorana asked.

"There are several disadvantages," Deanna said. She glanced at Will, who nodded in support. He more than anyone, besides her mother, knew how difficult presenting Tevren's information was for Deanna.

"First," Deanna said, "we don't know if the laboratory experiment can be duplicated over an entire planet."

"The Jem'Hadar are spread out," Lwaxana explained. "Reaching every soldier in every enemy encampment to overpower them empathically may prove difficult or even impossible."

Deanna nodded. "And we can't be sure how long the affected Jem'Hadar will remain catatonic. We need them incapacitated long enough to round them up and secure them behind force fields."

"We could imprison most of them in the prisons they built for us," Enaren suggested. "Poetic justice."

Sorana sighed. "So if we choose this method, we're taking a huge chance."

"The greatest stumbling block," Deanna admitted, "is that we don't know how much harm this invasive empathy will do to those who employ it."

Picking up on Deanna's hesitation, Enaren frowned. "What happened to the telepaths on the ship?"

Deanna asked Povron to explain.

"In our limited experiment," the doctor said, "the telepaths became extremely weak. The distance between the partic.i.p.ants and the Jem'Hadar was only a few feet, and there were only three soldiers. I antic.i.p.ate the sustained planetwide effort necessary to overcome fifty thousand troops will exhaust many of our people to the point of death."

There was a sharp intake of breath from Sorana, and several of the council exchanged long looks of horror.

Deanna had to tell them what she and Povron suspected. "Each telepath we lose will make it that much harder for the remaining ones to finish the task."

Will spoke for the first time. "Whichever method of ridding your planet of Jem'Hadar you choose, the Tulwar, Scimitar, and the Enterprise will remain in orbit to help coordinate communications and distribute weapons and portable force field generators. However, since either method requires telepathic skills, your people will be the ones on the front lines."

Sorana held up her hand. "We need more facts before we can make an informed decision. Would the original plan, teaching our people to kill with their minds, risk their lives?"

Lwaxana looked as if she wished to speak, but for once, her forceful mother held her tongue and motioned for her daughter to answer.

"Killing the way Tevren did," Deanna said, "causes no physical harm to the telepath. However, one needs tremendous telepathic strength, much more than I have, to accomplish such a task."

Deanna had inherited strong telepathic genes from her mother, but her father's human genes had diluted her skills. She was thankful that if the council chose to use Tevren's killing method, she would be unable to partic.i.p.ate.

"If murdering others isn't what killed Tevren, how did he die?" Sorana pressed.

"Tevren died from the removal of his psionic inhibitor," Deanna explained. "He had become dependent on it."

"Does the invasive empathy affect Carda.s.sians?" Enaren asked.

Deanna answered his question with certainty. "Projecting intense emotions in this manner won't harm other humanoids, not even Carda.s.sians or Vorta. To overcome the few thousand Carda.s.sian support troops, we'll need to use conventional weapons." She swept the council with her gaze. "Using invasive empathy to defeat the Jem'Hadar will cause the deaths of many Betazoids. But if we can succeed using this method, we won't become the heirs of Tevren's legacy."

Lwaxana joined Deanna at the front of the room. "As I stated earlier, time is of the essence. Unless someone has more questions, it's time for us to vote."

Swayed by Lwaxana's influence, the council, after heated debate, voted to attack the Jem'Hadar by invasive empathy. With the help of Commander Vaughn and the Enterprise senior staff, the planetwide a.s.sault was quickly planned. Deanna had requested and received permission to fight on the surface with the resistance movement.

On a path in the Loneel wilderness, she hefted her phaser rifle, hoping she'd never have to fire it. Relying on her rifle would mean their empathic efforts against the Jem'Hadar had failed. Her government-in-exile's decision not to use Tevren's killing techniques relieved her. That her people were willing to risk death to preserve their way of life filled Deanna with hope for Betazed's future-if their plan succeeded.

After the council vote, Deanna, Lwaxana, and Povron had trained the three dozen telepaths rescued from the Carda.s.sian freighter in the invasive empathy technique. The trained telepaths from that group were then transported to each resistance cell on the surface to teach the members of that group and to set up communications with the Enterprise to coordinate efforts. The planetwide battle strategy was based on information gleaned from reconnaissance missions by resistance cells in every province of Betazed. All over the world, every resistance cell would execute the plan in a simultaneous effort.

Vaughn's strategy entailed encircling each encampment of Jem'Hadar with Betazoids, who traveled to the sites in small groups in order to attract less interest from Jem'Hadar patrols. Breaking up the Betazoid attack force into groups also insured they were less likely to set off Jem'Hadar sensors. If one group was detained, at least the others would make it through.

Every cell on the planet had a Starfleet officer and several security personnel responsible for protecting the telepaths. Each small group had to be in position, ready to project their emotions at the Jem'Hadar by the designated attack time. Other Betazoids, those less telepathically adept, would be responsible for placing the catatonic Jem'Hadar into force fields and prisons and taking out any remaining patrols that escaped the initial empathic a.s.sault. Timing and the element of surprise would be critical to the plan's success.

With Lwaxana beside her, Deanna marched along the wilderness path toward the Jem'Hadar encampment, comfortable with her decision to join the unconventional battle. Captain Picard and the Enterprise would target Carda.s.sian centers of communication from orbit, and keep watch for Dominion reinforcements. Will and Vaughn would have their hands full subduing the Carda.s.sian troops, against whom the invasive empathy wasn't expected to work.

Nerissa Povron and Enaren brought up the rear of Lwaxana's group. Povron seemed lost in her own thoughts, Enaren cloaked in grief for his son.

We're almost there, Lwaxana announced.

I remember all too well. Enaren's mind was heavy with sorrow for the loss of Sark and Okalan, the friend he'd had to kill at this very encampment. He had lost much in this war, and he'd been the first to volunteer for this mission.

Lwaxana, a stronger telepath than Deanna, must have been weighed down by Enaren's anguish. She directed strong encouragement to her fellow council member and old friend. Gather up your emotions. Soon you can put your feelings to good use.

In the burgeoning dawn, Lwaxana stopped the group behind a copse of trees. Line of sight to the Jem'Hadar troops wasn't necessary. The telepaths needed simply to approach close enough, a distance of over a hundred meters for the strongest among them.

Using her phaser rifle, Deanna checked their location. Its targeting scope, capable of detecting and tracking life-forms, indicated short-range biological scans of a concentrated group of Jem'Hadar, too many for a patrol, dead ahead. Her group had reached the encampment. We are in position.

Take cover, Lwaxana ordered.

Concealed by a row of evergreens, Deanna settled on the floor of the forest between Lwaxana and Povron. Enaren crouched behind a nearby thicket. Aiming her rifle in the direction of the encampment, ready for rapid fire if needed, Deanna closed her eyes and felt the presence of other groups in the surrounding woods, just as across her homeworld, other cells encircled other Jem'Hadar encampments and duplicated their efforts.

We have two minutes, Lwaxana announced. Relax. Meditate. Focus every emotion and prepare to release it as Deanna taught us.

I'm ready. Grief, hostility, and sadness emanated from Enaren.

I, too. Povron's hatred for the enemy, clear and polished, had a razor-sharp edge.

One minute to go. Lwaxana warned. She thought of Ian, of Kestra, of Deanna and Barin. Breathe deeply. Relax. Focus on the Jem'Hadar.

Deanna watched as the three telepaths breathed in through their noses, out through their mouths, and drew energy from deep inside themselves.

Ten seconds, Lwaxana counted.

Five.

Now!

Deanna could feel the emotions being hurled into the nearest Jem'Hadar. In her mind, she pictured them grasping their heads in shock, confusion, and fear. She felt wave after wave of anger and despair. It almost sent her reeling, and she was just getting the backwash. She peered through the phaser rifle sight and saw that some of the Jem'Hadar stumbled. Others stopped in their tracks. Seconds lengthened into minutes, and minutes seemed to last forever. All around her, the air grew thick with bitterness and hope, hatred of the enemy and love of hearth and home, and the sensation of a growing weariness among the telepaths.

Keep at them, Lwaxana urged her companions. Our friends to the left of us ... are gone.

All around Deanna, Betazoids were falling, some dying. Like a weakened swimmer tugged under by a riptide, she fought to keep from succ.u.mbing to the wave of lethargy that threatened to engulf her. She grieved for the lost group. Resisting the weakness that threatened to drown her, she remembered her people, the many who had already died and those who would perish this day. Fighting to keep from tumbling down into blackness, she stubbornly fired off her anger at the possibility of losing this war- Imzadi ...

-until the blackness won and sucked her under.

Chapter Nineteen.

W HEN G UL L EMEC ESCAPED the doomed Sentok Nor, he had sent a subs.p.a.ce message, requesting reinforcements for Betazed. The reply was not to his liking. Carda.s.sian and Dominion reinforcements had been intercepted by a Federation fleet. No help was coming.

Within hours of his arrival on Betazed, Luaran had appeared at Lemec's headquarters. She'd tracked him down immediately to inform him of her escape from Sentok Nor. She could not, however, confirm or deny Moset's survival. If the doctor hadn't perished in the destruction of the station, he had possibly fallen captive.

Confronting the Vorta in his office, the gul didn't bother to conceal his delight at the doctor's plight. If not for Moset, the s.p.a.ce station would never have been compromised.

"We face bigger problems than the loss of Sentok Nor," Lemec told her.

Luaran's face remained serene, in spite of the displeasure in her voice. "The Founders will not be pleased if Federation forces have captured Moset. The loss of his research is bad enough, without losing the man as well."

"Moset's research was worthless." Lemec's blood boiled at the memory of the doctor's lowering the shields and making the station vulnerable to attack. "Instead of enhancing Jem'Hadar, he succeeded only in killing them."

"True," Luaran agreed, "but in time, he might have made a breakthrough."

"Time is something we don't have. Sensors have picked up Starfleet transporter signals all over the planet. We must a.s.sume the Enterprise has contacted the resistance cells."

The Vorta shrugged. "Our latest reports indicate the remaining resistance members are hungry, without medical resources or weapons, and-"

"They could be mounting a united campaign in an effort to drive us off their planet."

Luaran smiled. "Good."

"Good?" Lemec couldn't believe he'd heard correctly. "Our enemies could be ready to attack, and you think that's good?"

"To fight, they must come out of hiding," the Vorta said. "These unmilitaristic people are no match for Jem'Hadar, and once they attack, we'll defeat them and maintain our complete control of this world."

"The Betazoids are desperate and have nothing left to lose but their lives." Lemec, recalling the Bajoran resistance, feared the fanaticism such circ.u.mstances evoked. And the Bajorans weren't telepathic. "Now Starfleet is helping them, probably supplying weapons and tactical and communications support. It would be a mistake to underestimate them. An a.s.sault could be far more intense-"

"If we lose Jem'Hadar," Luaran said in the same placid tone, "we'll breed more. I don't see a problem."

Lemec shook his head. "I hope you're right. This is one time I'll be happy to be proved wrong."

A glinn barged into Lemec's office, so obviously rattled he forgot to salute. "Sir, you asked me to notify you if ..."

The glinn hesitated, and Lemec snapped, "Yes? What's happened?"

"It's the Jem'Hadar, sir. They have gathered for their supply of white and ... they're acting ... odd."

Lemec frowned. "Odd?"

"Jem'Hadar can't act odd," Luaran stated matter-of-factly.

"You'd better see for yourselves."

Lemec and Luaran followed the glinn from Lemec's office into the headquarter's operations center. Carda.s.sians manned their stations, but their attention was clearly concentrated on a viewscreen showing the adjacent Jem'Hadar barracks and grounds.