DISCLAIMER: The Star Trek characters are the property of Paramount Studios, Inc and Viacom. The story contents are the creation and property of Djinn and are copyright (c) 2002 by Djinn. This story is Rated PG-13.

Blood Debt

by Djinn

"Sir, I beg of you. We must go."

Spock waited till the wracking cough subsided, then looked up at Talmek and shook his head. "Those who need me must be able to find me."

"Others will be able to find you as well if we stay here." Talmek looked toward the tunnels. "Even this far down we are too exposed. We need to go deeper. Go somewhere you can rest, get well."

"We will stay here." Spock sighed.

An echo of his sigh came from the veiled women who knelt at the fire, silently cooking their meal. Talmek eyed her suspiciously.

Spock followed his gaze. "Leave her, she is a threat to no one," he said softly.

"You don't know who she is."

"I don't need to. She comes to me with no words, with only the thirst for knowledge, the hunger for logic."

"But you have never seen her face."

Spock coughed again, racking heaves that left him dizzy and weak when they subsided. "She comes to us anonymously for a reason. She only seeks to learn. And she has served us faithfully for some time." Spock knew that Talmek was right to suspect the woman. It was illogical to not make her show her true identity. But Spock was tired of the running, tired of all the precautions. He coughed again. What difference did it make anymore?

"That might be just an act. She could be anyone." Talmek shook his head. "We have been attacked too many times lately. Your followers decimated. She could be the one betraying us. You are weak, sick. How do you know she hasn't poisoned you? How can we be sure that she isn't Tal Shiar?"

"How indeed?" A new voice sounded from behind him. "If it's any help, she isn't."

Talmek whirled, his hand reaching for his disruptor. A woman stood at the cave entrance. She pointed a crystalline wand and energy streamed out with a loud wail, knocking Talmek across the room. Spock stood; ready to rush to his acolyte's side.

"Do not move." She moved closer. "He isn't dead, just stunned."

The veiled woman moved slowly around the fire, as if trying to hide behind the small flames from the stranger.

Spock studied the woman that threatened him. She appeared to be Romulan, but her tawny hair and vaguely feline features made her look more exotic, more dangerous. "Do I know you, Madame?"

She grinned. The expression was in no way friendly. "You might say that."

"Have I injured you in some way?" He saw the veiled woman reach for one of the stones that ringed the fire pit.

"Put it down," the intruder ordered. "You may not be Tal Shiar, but you are certainly as dangerous."

"How do you know who or what she is?"

"Because I happen to be on very good terms with the Tal Shiar and they've been tracking her since she arrived on Romulus." She smiled when Spock glanced quickly at the woman. "That's right. This one's no native. You really should be more careful, Spock. Anyone could infiltrate your little group."

The woman rose slowly from the fire. She had not dropped the rock.

The tawny one smiled again. "I don't want to hurt you, but I will."

The woman did not stop moving toward her.

"Take off your veil then, if it's to be war between us. Let me see your face."

Spock watched as the woman ripped off the cloth that had hidden her face. He felt a shock as she glanced at him. "Saavik?"

"Hello, Spock." She pulled a dagger out from somewhere in her uniform. "It's time to give this up and come home. But we can discuss that later. Once I deal with...whoever she is."

"Have you forgotten that I hold the energy weapon?" the woman asked.

"No. Actually I haven't." Saavik flung the knife, the blade whipping through the air, perfectly aimed.

The other woman dodged, moving fast enough that the dagger missed her chest but not quickly enough to get away entirely. The knife sank into her arm; she did not cry out. "A fine blade," she said paying absolutely no attention to the emerald blood that streamed down her arm.

Saavik took a step back.

The woman raised her weapon. "I shall treasure it always." The wand screamed and the beam knocked Saavik even farther into the caverns than it had Talmek. She fell, her body hidden by the tunnel wall.

Spock was already moving to her when a shock wave knocked him to the ground. He looked over to see the woman also fall.

She was cursing in a strangely human manner. "Damn them. What part of 'Give me half an hour' didn't they understand?" She rose to her knees, shaking her head as if to clear it.

Spock hoped that she no longer held the wand. Trying to see through the smoke, he began to crawl to Saavik. He heard footsteps coming, felt strong arms pulling him to his feet.

"No. You're coming with me."

He looked up at a hazy figure. Why did her voice suddenly seem familiar? "Who are you?"

"Don't you recognize me, Father?"

"Valeris?" he said, barely getting the words out as another spasm of coughing took him. He tried to make out her face, but it was becoming hazy.

"Time to get out of here, Spock," she said, her voice fading as another shock wave pummeled them. She looked over at Saavik and frowned. Releasing Spock, she walked over to the fallen woman and pushed her into the tunnel. She raised the wand and made a small adjustment, firing at the rock arch. It fell in a shower of smaller stones, sealing the entrance to the tunnel.

"Saavik," he rasped.

"There's a way out, it'll just take her a while to find it. Safer than being found by the Tal Shiar, in any case." She kneeled down next to Spock. "Let's go," she said, as she touched a badge on her shirt and a transporter carried them away.

They rematerialized in sunshine. Spock's eyes, accustomed for so long now only to the dim glow of the caverns, burned in the bright light until the membrane that served as an extra eyelid slammed down in self-defense, leaving him blind. He struggled to get up as another coughing fit came over him, then sank back to the grass when the last of his strength gave out. Just before he lost consciousness, he thought he heard the cry of a hawk.

----------------------

Rise stood in the doorway, watching Jorase tend to Spock. Her servant wiped the grime from Spock's face as he tossed in what Rise could only suppose were fever-ridden dreams. Hope they sting, she thought, feeling her heart harden as she stared at the man who had sired her.

Jorase looked over at her. "He is very sick."

"I know." Rise went to the humidifier, added a few drops of the aromatic oil that already scented the air in the small bedroom. "It is his own fault. He stayed too long in the caverns. Only he'd think that he would be immune to the metals and chemicals trapped there."

Jorase grimaced, the act crumpling her already mangled face even more. "A tincture of hennesbore might help him."

Rise nodded absently. "Do what you think best. The Tal Shiar want him alive."

Jorase hurried out of the room to get the medicine. Rise took her place, sitting next to Spock and sponging his face. As she moved, her arm twinged in pain in the place where Saavik's dagger had hit. She tried to ignore the pain as she worked. Jorase came back in with the bottle and Rise stood, backing away even as her servant dribbled some of the tincture into Spock's mouth.

"Let me know if he wakes."

"Yes, mistress."

Rise turned and walked out into the hall. She went into her own bedroom and stared at herself in the mirror. She looked nothing like the woman Spock had known. Nor like the human woman she had tried to become when Cameron had helped her escape from the Federation prison after the Khittomer assassination attempt had failed. She reached up and touched the tawny hair that grew so wild and untamed then walked over to her bedside table to pick up the holo of Cameron and her. It had been taken just after they had finished the genetic tinkering that had changed him slightly and utterly transformed her. Rise touched her smiling image, all blue eyes, pale blonde hair, and ivory skin. And lovely rounded ears. Even her blood...she sighed. Even her blood had been altered. For such a short time, she had bled crimson.

She put the holo down. Tried not to remember the day she had cut herself and seen the green blood pool on her skin. She had screamed and Cameron had come running. They had tried to find the doctors that had worked on them but genetic experimentation was strictly prohibited and these particular practitioners had moved on. All of Rise's money couldn't find them.

Probably killed by another unhappy client, she thought bitterly as she ran her finger over the points of her ears. She had found the last location the doctors had practiced and had read some of their records. Learned that they had used more than just human DNA in their experiments. They had employed whatever genetic material they had thought would prove useful. Like modern Circes they had combined Rise's human genes with felinoid ones. Rise supposed she should be grateful that it had been that animal and not another. For if she was now a monster, she was a lovely one. Exotic. Striking. Romulans often stopped on the street to stare at her. Some had even walked up to her, touching the wild mane that had been such lovely blonde hair and black hair before that. Her skin color was a shade tanner than most Romulans or Vulcans and her eyes had shifted to a tawny amber. She truly did look like a cat. Beautiful.

And felines were popular on Romulus. Well with most of the populace, she reminded herself, thinking of her Tal Shiar contact and her dislike of the graceful creatures although she didn't seem to have any such problems with Rise. Or Sureya as she was known now.

"Mistress?" Jorase called out from the doorway. "He is awake."

Rise put down the picture.

"I'll just get some food for him," Jorase said, turning away. "He looks starved."

"It is a look he no doubt embraces," Rise countered but she didn't try to stop Jorase. She took a deep breath and walked back into Spock's bedroom.

His eyes were surprisingly alert for someone in his condition. He stared at her. "Valeris?"

"I go by Sureya here."

"Not Rise."

"Nobody calls me that anymore," she said, trying to stop the pain that came from the thought of all of those that had called her that...all lost now.

"I will not call you Sureya."

She shrugged.

"So either I call you Valeris or Rise."

"Why don't you just call me 'Captor,' Spock?" She sat down in the chair next to the bed.

He had to shift to see her face. "I am your prisoner?"

"What did you think? That you were my honored guest?" She laughed, the sound calculatedly bitter.

"I have not had time to analyze the situation."

"Ah." She leaned back in the chair. "Well, analyze away, Spock. We have nothing but time now."

He studied her.

She looked back, keeping her expression bland. "Why don't you just ask me why I look like this?"

"I assume you did this to better hide your whereabouts after Khittomer."

She laughed again. "I didn't do 'this' at all. What I did was to try to wipe out anything in me that was Vulcan. Succeeded for a while too. I was human. Fully human. The process was imperfect though, and Vulcan blood will out apparently. This is the final product." She touched her face.

"Little cat," he said, but the words held none of the fondness they had when he would call Saavik the same thing.

"Don't call me that."

"As you will, Rise."

She felt irritation rise. He was in no position to bait her. "You forget yourself, sir." She stood slowly, gracefully. "The Tal Shiar could come at any time. You are here on my forbearance only."

"Illogical. You and the Tal Shiar must both want me here or I would not now be in this bed, in this room, in your house." He smiled slightly, the expression mocking. "If the Tal Shiar meant to take me away from here, I would be in their custody by now."

She walked to the window. "You are right. Still so smart." She looked up at the sky where a shiarawk was circling. Opening the window, she leaned out and whistled shrilly.

The hawk called back. Rise smiled as the bird soared toward her. At the last possible moment, the shiarawk pulled up, narrowly missing the window and roof. She could hear his delight as he sent her, *I fly.*

*Yes, my beauty, you fly.*

"A shiarawk?"

She nodded. "His name is Shiansu. Though he flies free he is mine. He's sired most of my clutches."

"Shiarawks are most valuable."

She turned to him. "Everything here is valuable, Spock. I am very rich."

"Rich enough to afford the symbol of the Tal Shiar? Impressive."

"Not really. I train them for those who can also afford to fly a shiarawk. It is all the rage nowadays...my birds are the best trained, the most beautiful. And of course the most expensive. Very much in demand." She looked down at the mews. "I have been successful at breeding the Romulan falcon too." She almost forgot who she was talking to as she lost herself in the subject. "They are difficult to breed in captivity and even more difficult to train. Only the richest houses can afford one. Though few want them. They are nearly impossible to hunt with. I have a male that I think might condescend to hunt for me, but the rest refuse to cooperate."

He seemed taken aback.

She shook her head. "A side of me you didn't know, I guess. I probably should have been a vet, or worked with animals in some way. If I had taken that path, think how different our lives would have been."

"If your mother had let me know of your existence, our lives would have been even more different."

Rise bristled. "Leave her out of this."

"She should have told me that I had a daughter."

"She had her reasons for keeping me secret." Rise would never tell him that over the years she had come to agree with him...that her mother's actions had only made things worse. But loyalty to her mother would keep her silent on that score forever.

"Not very good ones," he said, shifting to get comfortable. "But I can see that discussing her will get us nowhere. Why are you keeping me for the Tal Shiar?"

Rise smiled. "You'll find out." She heard Jorase coming up the stairs. "Your dinner is here. I will leave you to eat in peace." She turned to walk out.

"Have they always known where I was?"

She looked back at him. "The Tal Shiar?"

He nodded.

"They knew you were in the caverns. They did not know exactly where."

"Yet you found us?"

"It took a while. I had to wait till the pain you felt from your sickness grew bad enough."

He frowned. "I do not understand."

"I can feel you." She closed her eyes, relishing this moment. She'd been waiting for it for so long. "I've been able to feel your emotions since I first escaped. Then it was pure rage that I had gotten away. That did you no credit, Father."

His eyes narrowed.

"Let's see, after that there was Kirk's death, Amanda's illness, a Pon Farr--nastily timed, thank god for Saavik's willingness to bail you out especially since I was no longer an option." She knew she was sneering. "Then there was your anger at Sarek's remarriage, your final falling out with him, more Pon Farrs--this time safely planned so poor Saavik was spared the duty--your betrayal by Pardek, hearing that Kirk had been rescued only to die again. Do I really need to go on?"

He was staring at her aghast.

"I can tell you everything you felt in those moments. The crushing grief each time you lost Kirk. The guilty relief when Amanda finally moved beyond the pain." Rise looked down. "I'm sorry for that. She was always kind to me."

"You cannot know these things."

"Did you never wonder if you had left anything of yourself behind when you raped my mind? When you tore your way through it to steal my memories?"

He looked at her in dawning horror. "I would have known."

She laughed bitterly. "Oh, don't look so appalled. It's not a bond. Just a resonance, a link of some kind. It only works with strong emotion, pain especially. Your pain, obviously, for you couldn't be this surprised if you had felt any of mine. I had no choice...I lived your life's highest and lowest points. For seventy years. Think about that."

"I had no idea." He looked down.

"Obviously." She moved aside so that Jorase could bring in his dinner tray. "Enjoy your meal, Father."

-----------------------------

Saavik woke with a groan. At first she thought she'd gone blind, then she realized that wherever she was, it was completely dark. She reached out slowly. Her right hand connected with stone. Her left hand just kept reaching. She reached above her, and finding that the ceiling wasn't within reach, stood gingerly, feeling for the top of the tunnel or cell or wherever she was. She rose all the way without hitting the ceiling.

She felt with her foot. The ground seemed solid. Then she caught the familiar chemical reek that had been her constant companion for the months she had traveled silently with Spock. So she was still in the caverns then. She remembered the strange woman that had attacked them. Saavik had assumed she was Tal Shiar. But why would a Tal Shiar operative leave her here?

Saavik reached under her shirt and felt the pouch she'd strapped to her body. She pulled out a small light, turning it on and blinking in the suddenly too bright light. She was in a tunnel. The wall to her right looked like a recent cave in. Had the woman done that? And why? It made no sense.

"Damn it, Spock. Why couldn't you just come home on your own?" Saavik muttered as she pulled out a small compass. The odd fields in the cavern played havoc with it. "Damn it," she said again as she stuffed it back into the pouch. She reached for her dagger then remembered throwing it at the woman.

I'll just have to get it back, Saavik thought grimly, well aware that she had no idea where the woman had gone. But wherever it was, she had probably taken Spock with her. Saavik smiled grimly. How hard could it be to find a Romulan woman that looked and moved like a cat?

She had to backtrack several times but Saavik finally found one of the main tunnels to the surface. She waited until she was sure that no one was watching her, then slipped out of the tunnel.

She walked with purpose, just another Romulan on her way to work. Her clothing blended, she looked the part, and if challenged her accent would not give her away.

She kept walking until she came to the house that Talmek had used occasionally as a meeting place. The building was overrun with Tal Shiar. She kept walking, no different than any of the other curious passersby. Three blocks over was a merchant that had been sympathetic to Spock's cause in the past. As she rounded the corner, she saw that it too was full of Tal Shiar agents.

It's a roundup, she realized. This was all planned. Spock might be in custody already. She had to find the strange cat woman. Sooner rather than later.

Like some form of feline herself, Saavik disappeared into the crowd and began her hunt.

------------********-------------------

Spock watched as Rise's servant filled his glass with fresh water.

"There you go, sir. Will you be wanting anything else?"

Spock ignored the question. "I'm her father. Are you aware of that?" He watched for the reaction.

There was none. "That's her business, sir." She reached for his breakfast tray. "Can't see that she's mistreating you."

He stared up at her face. "She's mistreated you though, hasn't she?"

She looked up at him and actually laughed. "You think she did this to me?" She straightened and touched her mangled flesh. "After the accident, Mistress Rise was the first person to look at me and not shrink back. To treat me like a person and not a monster." She snatched the tray from his lap. "So don't think you can turn me. I'd sooner die for her."

Spock watched her go, leaning back against the pillows. Too much talking tired him and brought the coughing on. And lately, too much talking seemed to be only a few words. He shifted repeatedly, not finding a comfortable spot. Finally, he closed his eyes to doze. When he opened them again, it was full dark.

"You slept a long time." Rise stared at him from the chair across the room. A single candle on the bedside table lit the room.

She played with something around her neck. When she saw he was staring at it, she held it out. "It was Cameron's."

The name wasn't familiar. He shook his head.

"He was the one that got me out of prison." She smiled softly. "He was the father I never had."

He did not give her the satisfaction of looking away.

"He wore this garnet in a ring. I had the stone reset when he died. I never take it off."

"What do you want of me, Rise?"

"I want nothing, Spock. Trust me on that."

"Then why bring me here if not to exact some form of revenge on me?"

"Helping the Tal Shiar work against you is my revenge."

"And how do you intend to do that? Other than keeping me here?" he asked, hoping to draw her out.

She smiled. "You shall see. In good time." She rose and picked up a small bottle. Opening it, she filled a dropper with the amber contents and held it to his mouth. "This will ease your cough."

"Not poison?"

She shrugged. "Why would I try to poison you with this? If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead."

"Logical," he conceded, as he took the dropper and squeezed the liquid into his mouth. It was very bitter but he forced himself to not grimace as he swallowed it down.

"Done like a true Vulcan," she said with a mocking smile.

"Is it just me you hate, or all Vulcans?"

She shrugged again.

"I did not know you were my daughter. I would never have--"

"--I do not wish to discuss it, Spock." She began to rise.

He held out his hand. "We shall not speak of it then." When she did not sit, he said, "Stay?"

"Stay? Why?" But she sat back down. "Are you actually enjoying our little chats? I always suspected there was something of the masochist in you."

"Does that mean there is something of the sadist in you?"

She stared at him, then smiled harshly. "If there is, I got it from you, Daddy."

He took a deep breath.

"How odd that sounds. Daddy. I imagine that I would never have called you that."

He didn't answer.

"Sure you don't want me to go?"

He searched for a safer subject. "Your servant?"

"Jorase."

"Yes. What happened to her?"

"I found her on one of the first worlds Cameron and I settled. She had been injured in a factory there. Slipped and fell into one of the machines. She actually looks much better than when I first met her." Rise seemed very far away. "She had run out of money, had no family to help her. She was begging on the streets when I nearly ran her over with my flitter. I took her in, at first just intending to get her something to eat, but she was so grateful...and then so useful. She has been with me ever since."

"She is very loyal."

"Tried to turn her, did you?" Rise smiled and Spock realized it was the first real smile he'd seen from her. Her attention was captured by something at the door and she bent down, rubbing her fingers together. A black cat stalked in, followed by three kittens. "Freya! Where have you been? I thought Shiansu had gotten you, you silly thing."

Spock remembered his mother having a cat named Freya about the time Valeris had come into his life. He watched Rise's face as she stroked the cat and played with the kittens, chuckling softly as they rolled at her feet, swatting at her fingers. Her expression was transformed for a moment, then she looked up and saw that he was watching her and the pleasant look was replaced with something sterner.

"Do not think me weak," she warned. She got up quickly and walked out of the room, the cat following her out with the kittens gamboling behind.

----------------------------

"So which one is mine?" Sela shielded her eyes, watching the two birds circling high above.

"I haven't decided yet." Rise held out her arm, the heavy glove protecting her flesh from the ripping talons of the bird that sat waiting to be flown. *Ready?* she sent to the shiarawk.

The bird screamed and shifted, his wings coming up slightly in his excitement to fly.

Rise nodded at Keltun, her Romulan assistant. He swung the lure high and fast then snapped it hard. The fresh carcass went flying into the high grass at the edge of the estate.

"Go," she told the bird as she flung him up and out.

Two powerful wing beats and the hawk was heading for the grass, flying in straight and low, his progress toward the carcass incredibly fast. Rise leaned back and sighed in satisfaction. This young bird was one of the best she'd bred yet. There wasn't a wasted motion as he took the carcass, the impact of the 'kill' would have broken the back of the rodent had it still been living.

"Amazing," Sela said next to her. "Such a fine symbol." She smiled at Rise. "Your birds are always the best, even better than those who have been doing this forever. How can that be, Sureya? What's your secret?"

Rise smiled. "They like me."

Sela shot her a skeptical look. "That's it? They like you?" She laughed and reached for Rise's hand. "Well, I like you too, Sureya, but I defy you to train me."

"You're untrainable," Rise agreed, gently pulling her hand away.

"You used to like it when I did that."

"We said no expectations." Rise watched as Keltun approached the shiarawk. The bird was busily eating, its wings mantling the carcass to keep it out of the sight of the other birds above. She called out to her assistant, "He likes this one. We'll use it from now on in the lures. Let him finish. I want him to have a taste for it."

"There is a difference between no expectations and no fun," Sela said with a pout.

"Perhaps we have different needs for fun?"

"I think we were pretty much of one mind on that when we started." Sela smiled as she again turned her eyes to the skies. "They're beautiful."

"They are," Rise agreed. She held her arm out and whistled loudly. One of the shiarawks began to circle lower and lower. Finally she came to rest on the glove, back winging to get her balance. *Pretty girl,* Rise sent her as she touched the back of her head.

The bird cocked her neck, allowing Rise to scratch the side of her neck.

The assistant came up and Rise handed the shiarawk over to him. She saw that the hawk on the ground was finished eating and walked over to him. He looked up at her, then past her to the sky. *I know you'd like to fly, little one. But not yet. You're not ready.*

His shrill scream was a definite argument. He extended his wings and took a few jumps.

"Looks like someone isn't going to come quietly," Sela called out to her.

"He'll come," Rise said as she watched the bird launch himself into the air and speed away.

*Shiansu,* she sent to the bird that remained in the sky.

*I get,* he answered her, as he set off after the younger bird.

"I forget sometimes they're essentially wild. They seem to enjoy their partnership with you."

Rise smiled. "That is the idea."

Sela turned away and looked in the shed next to the mews. A chorus of barks and other cries greeted her. "Your collection has grown since the last time I was here."

"People keep bringing them to me," Rise said as she watched Shiansu begin to drive the other bird back toward her.

"But most of these aren't Romulan."

"You're right. It seems like wherever I've lived, I've managed to attract stray canids and felines. I've given up calling them anything but dogs or cats."

"So many cats," Sela said with a shudder.

"You hate them, yet you like me, and I've been told I look like one."

"Your face does. But I'm willing to overlook that. Other places you look pretty much like any other Romulan." Sela shot her a lascivious glance.

Rise just shook her head, a slight smile playing at her lips.

*We come,* Shiansu's mindvoice sounded. The young hawk landed with an angry cry on the grass in front of her. Shiansu flew by, his wings causing a caress of air as she passed. *Young bird, silly bird,* he sent her.

*Yes, very young. Thank you for getting him,* she replied, smiling at the smug tone in the older bird's mental cry. She held her glove out to her runaway and he hopped up on her arm. *Sorry, friend. Maybe someday you'll get to fly free like your father, but not just yet.*

He screeched and flapped his wings. Shiansu screamed from the sky and the younger bird settled down quickly. She carried him into the mews and put him into a large cage near the front.

Sela stood at the entrance, watching her. "And how's your prisoner?"

"Sick." Rise locked the door and put the glove away. "Sicker than he realizes."

"Only a fool would stay in the caverns as long as he did."

"He isn't a fool. Arrogant but not foolish." Rise tried to walk past Sela but the woman put her arm up.

"No, you're right. A fool wouldn't be as dangerous to our people as he is." Sela nuzzled Rise's neck, stopping only when her communicator buzzed. "Yes? Very good." She smiled and dropped her arm as she instructed Rise, "Go get him, it's time."

Rise hurried away and into the house. She grabbed the transporter controller then stopped at the main door to drop the estate's defenses on the side near the mews. Then she slowly climbed the stairs and walked into Spock's room as if nothing were amiss.

He was dressed in the robe she had left for him and was sitting in the chair, reading. "Rise."

"You are better today. Our tonics do you some good after all."

He nodded.

"You must take some air. It will help in your recovery."

"I am fine here."

"But there is something I want to show you. Something important." She deliberately chose the tone of voice she had used so long ago on him, when she was Valeris and there was nothing he wouldn't do for her.

He stood slowly. "If you insist."

She saw him sway. "We'll skip the stairs," she said, taking his arm and hitting her transporter. A shimmer and a moment later, they were deposited on the grass outside the mews.

Spock looked around, "What did you wish to show me? Your birds?"

She shook her head.

"Something more interesting," Sela said, walking out of the animal's shed. She walked to where they stood and leaned up to give him a kiss on the cheek. Then she let out a peal of laugher and said loudly, "Oh, Spock, you say the most droll things. It's what I've always loved about you."

Rise took his arm, looking up at him with an expression of adoration.

He looked at them as if they'd gone mad. "What are you doing?"

A rustling in the grass behind the mews caught his attention. Talmek stood watching them. "You betrayed us?" his voice sounded loudly from the edge of the property. "All this time...a lie?"

"Stop him," Sela yelled to soldiers that appeared from the front of the house. "He must not be allowed to compromise Spock!" Under her breath, she continued, "How inconvenient that he escaped so close to where you were being held. What are the odds?"

Spock tried to pull away but Rise held him with an iron hand. He called out to his assistant, "Talmek, this is not what it appears." His voice was weak and it was not clear if the young Romulan had even heard him.

"Traitor," Talmek yelled at him before taking off running.

The soldiers began to fire, yelling for the man to stop.

"Your soldiers are remarkably bad shots," Spock observed. "Or they've been instructed to allow him to escape."

"How else would the story get out--that you are in league with us--if he does not get away?" Sela's smile was triumphant. "Your influence has been a problem. Your death would have made you a martyr. We couldn't have that. Much better to discredit you."

Rise felt him sag and glanced at Sela. "And we have done so. Now he must rest."

Sela shot her a surprised look.

"He is sick. All has gone according to your plan. Be happy, Sela." Rise saw her nod finally. She reached for her vest and touched the transporter button.

As they appeared in Spock's room, she heard him say, "So this is your revenge?"

"No, Spock. This is politics. Nothing more."

"You derive no satisfaction from it?"

She eased him down onto the bed. "I didn't say that."

He began to cough--the wracking heaves causing him to fight for breath. He reached for a tissue and held it to his mouth. It came away bright green. He stared at it, then looked at her.

"The caverns are a dumping ground for waste, Spock. The atmosphere down there is poisonous. The deeper you go the more toxic it becomes. You spent too much time there."

"I am dying?" He sounded resigned.

She nodded.

"That's why they do this now. Before I can die for my cause."

"Times are hard for the Tal Shiar right now. They are fighting for existence, even though that may not be apparent to anyone on the outside. You are a threat to them. Alive or dead. Only here, discredited and muzzled can they be sure you will not interfere with their work."

"So you are the one to betray me...again. Did they bring you to Romulus just for that purpose? Or did you hear of their plan and rush to join in?"

"My reasons for coming to Romulus had nothing to do with you." She thought of the mad flight she had undertaken when Cameron had died. Romulus had welcomed her. And held no memories. And then there had been the birds and later the other animals. "I found peace here."

"Peace?"

She nodded. "What I do now, I do as a favor for a friend. Nothing more. Once you die, I will go back to my normal existence."

"So you plan to keep me here until my death?"

She nodded.

"How long do I have?"

"I don't know. The damage to your lungs cannot be reversed. But it could be months or even years before it kills you."

"Or weeks or days?"

"Yes."

He leaned back against the pillow. His eyes were empty of emotion. "I find that it matters little to me now." He looked away. "I imagine you feel the same way."

It was not a question and she did not bother to argue. She quietly left his room and closed the door.

Jorase was standing in the hall. "Why do you hate him so?"

Rise shook her head and tried to walk past.

Jorase reached out and stopped her. "Mistress, this isn't the real you...the woman that takes in every hurt or lost animal that comes along. And not the woman that took me in."

Rise shook her head. "Leave it alone, Jorase. There is too much history between him and me to ever explain it to you." She looked back at Spock's door. "He is getting sicker. Attend to him?"

Jorase nodded, a sad look on her face. Rise, eager to get away from Spock, hurried past her and outside to the waiting animals.

------------*******-----------------

Saavik studied the estate that spread out before her. It had taken her two days to find out the identity of the woman who had taken Spock and another three days to reach where she lived. There was a fence that looked as if it was more for decoration than anything else but she'd been warned by those who had told her where to find Sureya that the estate was known for its state-of-the-art defenses. She wasn't going to blow it now by tripping some alarm accidentally.

She pulled out a small tricorder and turned it on, scanning softly. The estate might look pristine but it was laced with a variety of sensors and alarms. The intricately carved front gate was generating a field of enormous power. Saavik crawled back a few meters in the grass. How was she going to get in?

A sudden shriek overhead made her jump. She looked up and saw a Romulan hawk soaring. It landed on a tree and stared down at her. It screamed again and again. Saavik had the feeling that it was trying to give away her position.

"I'm not food," she muttered. "Go away, bird."

The hawk screamed again. Saavik looked up just in time to see it dive at her. She rolled and tucked, keeping herself hidden in the tall grass. She felt the whoosh of wings, passing just short of her. She waited for the bird to dive again but it didn't. Tentatively she looked up.

"The next time he won't miss," said Sureya, who was now standing at the front gate. "He doesn't like intruders."

Saavik stood up slowly, brushing off her clothes and using the motion as an excuse to make sure the disruptor and knife she'd obtained were still safely hidden.

"Welcome to my house, Saavik."

"How do you know my name?" Saavik asked as she walked to the gate.

"Because I know you." The woman hit a panel and the forcefield dropped. Several dog-like creatures that had been playing at her feet ran out toward Saavik.

She tensed, then realized that their barks weren't threatening when one of them knelt down in a play pose and whined. She looked at the other woman in query.

"They're friendly. Here throw this for them." The woman tossed Saavik a ball. "Back inside the compound, if you don't mind."

Saavik lobbed the ball back through the gate. The dogs chased after it, barking frenetically.

"Well, come in."

Saavik didn't move.

"Suit yourself. But if you want to see Spock, you'll come in."

"He's alive?"

"So far," the woman said in an unconcerned voice. "That could change at any moment."

Saavik walked through the gate. She felt something tug at her weapons and looked down.

"I'm very rich, Saavik. There are few things I can't afford in this defense system." The woman held her disruptor and knife. She tossed them into a slot and they were destroyed. "You won't be needing those."

Saavik felt her hands clenching. "You're right, I don't need those to kill you and take him away."

The woman turned. "I made sure the Tal Shiar didn't catch you in the caverns. The way I see it, you owe me."

"Owe you?"

"For your life."

Saavik noticed the slight scar on the woman's arm where her dagger had stabbed her. "You heal fast."

"Yes. I do."

"Who are you?"

The woman picked up the ball one of the dogs had dropped at her feet and threw it hard. She looked back at Saavik. "My name here is Sureya. You knew me as Valeris. Spock's taken to calling me Rise, which is my real name. So if you want to call me that, I suppose you can." She started walking back to the house. "Come on, I think he's still awake."

Saavik just stared at her. "Valeris?" Rise didn't wait for her and Saavik hurried to catch up with her. "You betrayed him again?"

"Yes, I did."

Saavik grabbed her by the arm roughly, pulling her up shortly.

A shriek from above sounded and Rise smiled warningly. "I wouldn't do that. Unless you relish a shiarawk attacking you? He's very protective of me."

Saavik let go.

Rise spun and kept walking. "Hurry up, Saavik. I'm sure Spock will be so happy to see you."

Saavik followed Rise into the courtyard the fronted the house. A fountain ran, the sound of water dropping down its many levels providing soft background noise. Flowers grew and there were benches scattered around the area. A black cat sunned herself on the slate walkway while three kittens played around her.

"Freya, you're a fool to bring them out when Shiansu is in this kind of mood." Rise frowned and picked up the kittens, handing them to Saavik, and then scooping up the cat. "Bring them inside," she said, as if Saavik were just a normal guest being impressed into temporary rescue service. One of the kittens, black like its mother, pushed under her chin and began to lick her neck. It tickled and Saavik made a sound.

Rise looked back and smiled. "She likes you." She let the door close and put the cat down. "No accounting for taste, I guess." Her tone was gentler than her words.

Saavik set the other two kittens down but the little black one didn't want to budge. Rise stepped in and gently pried the claws out of Saavik's clothing and skin.

"You look like a cat," Saavik realized.

"So I've been told." Rise put the kitten down then walked up the stairs. "He's up here."

Saavik followed her up and was surprised to see Spock lying unrestrained in a comfortable room. "A prisoner?"

Spock looked up, a mixture of welcome and warning on his face. "Some prisons are more pleasant than others, little cat."

Saavik saw Rise's eyes narrow at the endearment. "Are you all right, Spock?"

He nodded. Then he looked at Rise. Their eyes held for a long time before she finally looked away. He almost smiled. "Other than dying. I am all right other than that."

"Dying?" She grabbed Rise. "What have you done?"

"It is not her, Saavikam," Spock tried to get up and was overcome by a coughing fit.

Saavik let go of Rise and rushed to him, easing him back down against the pillows.

"He has spent too much time in the caverns. The atmosphere down there is deadly. There is nothing anyone can do." Rise turned and left the room.

"I don't believe that, Spock."

He touched her cheek. "It is true, Saavik."

"So she brought you here to die in comfort?"

He shook his head. "To discredit me. She is working with the Tal Shiar."

"Why? Hasn't she hurt you enough?"

He looked down. "I never told you the whole truth about her. I didn't tell anyone, not my mother and father, not Jim, not you. I was going to, but when Rise escaped there seemed no point."

"I don't understand."

"Rise is my daughter."

Saavik stared at him. "But you planned to bond--"

"--I did not know she was my daughter at the time." His look was stern.

"But she did? And she was going to allow it?"

He shook his head. "She did not want it."

"How can this be? A daughter you never knew you had?"

"It is a long story. Suffice it to say that her mother hid her existence from me."

"Why?"

He shook his head. "She is long dead, Saavik. It is useless to speculate."

"Who was her mother?"

"Doctor Christine Chapel. Someone I served with on the Enterprise."

"A human?"

He nodded. "Rise is mostly human, although you'd never know it looking at her."

"I'd barely know she was Vulcan. She looks more Romulan."

"She underwent genetic modifications to make her appear human. They didn't hold."

"I wish I could feel bad for her. But somehow I can't."

He took a deep breath, then closed his eyes for a moment. "You should not have come. Why didn't you go home?"

"And leave you here?" She smiled. "I'm your rescuer, isn't that what you used to call me?"

"It is." He looked very far away and she knew that he was thinking of the Pon Farrs she had helped him through. "But you cannot rescue me this time. I am dying. I shall not leave this place again."

"But your katra?"

He shook his head.

"Spock, it cannot be lost. It must not be lost."

"Perhaps I will be able to give it to you?" He touched her cheek again. "You will have to rescue me again, little cat."

"No. This isn't right." She stood up and went out into the hall. "Rise!"

"In here," Rise called from the bedroom on the other side of the staircase.

Saavik strode in, saw that Rise had opened the windows to air the room. A servant that Saavik hadn't noticed before was making up the bed. She tried not to stare at the women's disfigured face. The woman nodded to her, then went back to tucking in sheets.

"For me?" Saavik asked.

Rise nodded.

"So, I'm a prisoner now too? Along with your father?"

Rise smiled. "So he told you. I wondered if he would."

"He is dying, Rise."

"I know that."

"He must go home to Vulcan."

Rise shook her head. "That's impossible."

"Rise, his katra. Do you understand anything about that?"

She nodded. "I studied Vulcan and its traditions quite a lot when I was young. Spock should have thought of his katra before he came to Romulus." She turned and walked out of the room.

Saavik followed her down the stairs, about to argue more but stopped short by the sight of a blonde Romulan woman standing in the hallway.

"The gate was open. I closed it after me. You're getting careless, Sureya." She pulled Rise to her for a quick kiss, then turned to stare at Saavik. "Who are you?"

"She's a guest, Sela," Rise answered before Saavik could.