Vectors by Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Kathryn Rusch Read Free Book Online Page B

would.
    She had one other asset that he couldn't discount. The most important one. She was one of the most creative physicians in the quadrant. She had discovered and neutralized all sorts of alien viruses, and she had a knack for discovering the right solution at the right time. If Katherine were here, she would look at that virus and the way it affected Cardassians versus the way it affected Bajorans, and she would know the detail he was missing. She would know, or she would do everything she could to find out. Just as he was doing.
    He sighed. Even if Narat wouldn't meet his terms, he would go to the Cardassian medical section. He had to. Discovering how to neutralize this virus was the only chance they had.
    And maybe the only chance his people had.
    Chapter Seven DUKAT CONSTANTLY LOOKED at his skin. It was still gray. But he was rubbing it all the time. It had been crawling since the last time he had been in the medical area. He wasn't sick yet, but he had a hunch he was infected. He had a hunch they all were.
    He didn't want to return to the medical area, but he had to. Narat hadn't reported since Kellec Ton had made his demands. Lower production. Eight-hour sleep schedules for Bajorans. Kellec's people were strong. They didn't need such precautions. Kellec Ton was taking advantage of Dukat, and Dukat was letting him.
    It wouldn't last long. When this disease was cured he would make the Bajorans work double and triple shifts to make up for the lost production. He had to. He had quotas to fill. If he fell behind, he would lose his position here on Terok Nor. And that was the last thing he wanted.
    The second-to-last thing. The last thing he wanted was to be the gul who watched an entire space station succumb to an incurable plague.
    He stepped inside the medical area. It was jammed with patients. All the biobeds were full. Cardassians and Bajorans lay side by side, apparently not noticing each other. Bajoran and Cardassian medical workers examined the sick, carrying pads, studying readouts, administering pain medication.
    The stench in the area was worse than before. Dukat put a hand over his mouth and nose. He couldn't help himself. The smell was so powerful, he doubted it would ever leave him. He would have to destroy his clothes.
    If the odor was that strong, did that mean the quarantine fields weren't working? The crawling sensation in his skin grew worse.
    He was a soldier. He had seen death countless times. He could handle this as well.
    But he knew, deep down, that this was different. This was the kind of death every soldier feared. Impossible to resolve. Death by weakness, by illness, not in the course of battle, not for some important cause, but because something microscopic managed to defeat the body because the body wasn't strong enough to handle it.
    Dukat made his way through the rows of moaning people to the office. He stopped at the door. Narat sat at one terminal, Kellec Ton at another. Above them, holographic images of the virus spun in slow circles. Computer readouts scrolled on each side, one readout in Cardassian, the other in Bajoran. The office was dark except for the light near the terminals themselves and whatever light was given off by the holographic image.
    Dukat stared at it for a moment. Enlarged, the virus looked like an alien species, vibrant and alive. He didn't know much about biology-he didn't know the terminology for the prongs, or the fat center of the thing, or the ladder-like connectors on the sides. All he knew was that he would see the thing in his dreams. If he ever had time to sleep again. "Are you finding anything?" he asked.
    Both men jumped. Neither had heard him arrive. At least they were working hard. Narat turned to him. Kellec took another sample vial and placed it in the scope. He didn't bother to turn at all. "Not enough," Narat said. "We have found several things," Kellec said.
    "We're just not finding out what we need quick enough," Narat said.
    Kellec still hadn't