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Star Trek Deep Space Nine: Explorer by: Ed Reilly Author's Note The approximate stardate for this story is 51847. It takes place during the sixth season of DS9, between episodes "Valiant" and "Profit and Lace". ******************** The vast, cold, empty vacuum of space is not a very inviting place, except when it has been your home, the only place you have ever known. You learn to appreciate its beauty, and feel at home in its enormity. Once there had been many Explorers like itself, roaming the universe, searching for others like itself to communicate with, and surveying as much of the cosmos as it possibly could. Then the horrible enemy, the fluid enemy, began the killing. They did not understand the Explorers, and rather than peacefully coexist, they decided to destroy them. Luckily, for this one Explorer, it found a tunnel to another part of the universe, and escaped the fluids. The only one of it's kind, that it knows of, to have survived. Now the Explorer faces an enemy even worse than the fluids, time! It is about to die, and before it passes away it wishes to return to its birthplace, but is unable to locate the tunnel that it traveled through towards freedom, so long ago. Knowing the danger, it plans to attempt communication with a solid creature. In the past, the Explorer had been careful to stay away from all solids. Not only does its gaseous form seem to have a negative effect on the solid's machinery, almost all endeavors at contact with solids has resulted in damage to the solid's mind. Not knowing why or how this happens, the Explorer has never initiated contact with a solid, until now. It does not wish to hurt anyone, but it is out of options. In the area surrounding where the tunnel was, it senses no telepathic solids. There is one solid, however, with two separate minds working as one. It could be strong enough. Honestly, it does not know, but it is its best chance at getting home. The Explorer then took off for the structure that it had the dubious distinction of visiting once before. Though visiting does not really explain what happened when it last passed by the structure. Enslaved defines it better, but the Explorer senses none of the malicious creatures it had encountered that last time. ******************** "Worf to Jadzia! Jadzia, are you there?" Awakened and startled by her husband's loud voice from the comm unit, Jadzia darted up from her bed. "Yes Worf, I'm here." "It's 08:20 hours. You're late," said Worf in his strong Klingon voice. "When I left for breakfast you assured me you were getting up immediately." "I know. I fell back to sleep. I'll be there in ten minutes." "Not good enough," Worf replied, "You are going on report." Jadzia laughed at Worf's poor attempt at a joke. Since their wedding she has been trying to develop his sense of humor. She realized he still has a way to go, but she appreciated the attempt. "Yes sir, Commander," she replied before she ended the transmission. Ten minutes later Jadzia arrived in Ops. Quickly she scurried off the turbolift to her station, ignoring the glances and stares being given by the other members of the crew. As she logged into her terminal she realized she still had the same headache that had been annoying her for the last few days. "Good morning Dax. Are you feeling all right? You've looked a little pale the last couple of days," asked Kira, as she walked over towards Jadzia. "I think I might be coming down with something," replied Dax. "I can't seem to shake this headache, and I'm having trouble concentrating." "Perhaps you should go see Dr. Bashir," said Worf, from across the room. "Thank you for your concern, my dear husband, but I think I can handle a little headache." "Maybe he's right," said Kira. "If it has been a couple of days it wouldn't hurt to go see Julian." Dax was annoyed with their concern, but she tried not to let it show. Taking time from her busy day was not what she wanted to do, but her headache was getting worse. "Have Ensign Nobundo fill in for me. I think I will go pay Julian a visit." As she got up and walked back towards the turbolift, Kira and Worf looked at one another and smiled. ******************** Jadzia was not very happy as she walked back to Ops from the infirmary. An hour wait to see him, and what was his answer? Take some extra strength ibuprofen, and get to bed early tonight, she thought to herself. At least it was nothing serious. Arriving back in Ops she relieved Ensign Nobundo and sat back down at her station. She then saw Ben standing over Kira. Both were staring intently at her terminal. "It's been there for the past three days. I thought it would go away eventually, but I was wrong," said Kira to the Captain. "I want the damn thing gone!" stated Sisko, in no uncertain terms. "It is effecting traffic to and from the station. Get rid of it!" "Yes sir!" replied Nerys. She realized the Captain was not in the best of moods, so she left it at that. As Sisko walked back into his office, Dax turned towards Kira, "What was that about, Nerys?" "That ion cloud that has been hanging around the past few days is causing some havoc. This morning two ships temporarily lost propulsion when they got to close to it." "I thought it was a simple ion cloud that would dissipate in a couple of hours," said Jadzia. "Yeah, well I guess we were wrong. Oh, how did it go with Julian?" asked Kira. "He claims it's simple fatigue. He gave me something for my headache and told me to get some rest. What's wrong with Benjamin?" "I don't know, but he made it quite clear to get rid of this annoying cloud," replied Nerys. "Worf, any ideas?" "When I was on the Enterprise we ran into a similar cloud of ion gas. It turned out to be a group of sentient lifeforms in a gaseous state. They were called the Calamarains." "I heard about that," said Dax. "They almost were able to penetrate your shields. What did you do to get rid off them?" Worf all of a sudden got a very disgusted look on his face. "Q used his powers to separate us from them." Remembering his one visit to DS9, both Jadzia and Nerys were revolted by the mere mention of the name Q. Neither of them pushed Worf for more details. "Well this gas cloud has not moved in three days, and has made no attempt to contact anyone in any form, so I'm going to assume it is not sentient," stated Kira. "I agree," added Worf. "A concentrated beam of negative ions, fired directly into the center of the cloud, should cause it to disperse." "Do it!" ordered Kira. Worf tapped a few panels on his terminal, and within a few seconds he nodded towards Kira to let her know he was ready. "Fire," she said calmly, and with that a large beam was fired into the cloud. Almost immediately shrieks of pain filled the Ops deck as Dax fell screaming to the floor. Kira instantly hit her communicator and ordered medical assistance while Worf quickly ran to his wife's side. It took a few seconds, but Nerys finally realized Jadzia's suffering started at the instant the negative ion beam hit the cloud. Quickly she ran over to Worf's terminal and terminated it. With that, Dax' screaming stopped, and her body fell limp in Worf's arms. "What is Happening?" yelled Captain Sisko, as he ran out of his office. Then, seeing Jadzia's unconscious body, he could not hide the shock on his face. He ran over to give his assistance. Approximately sixty seconds later, Dr. Bashir, and a couple other medics, came running into Ops. Worf looked up at Julian and simply said, "My wife needs help." ******************** Rom stepped through the doors of the holodeck, and walked into 1960's Las Vegas, as Vic Fontaine was entertaining the audience in the lounge with his rendition of "The Lady is a Tramp." The Ferengi found Garak sitting alone at one of the tables in front of the stage and walked over to him. "Hello Mr. Garak," he yelled to the Cardassian, over the music. "Dr. Bashir asked me to tell you that he can't make it tonight." "Great, it's just like Julian to leave me alone in this, this... What is this called again?" "I believe it is called a casino, Mr. Garak," answered Rom, with one of his crooked toothy grins. "Ahh yes, a casino. By the way, you can drop the Mister. Just Garak is fine," he said, as he returned Rom's smile with a dubious one of his own. "Did Julian give a reason for canceling?" "No he did not, but I did hear someone in the background talking about Commander Dax being ill." Suddenly a grave feeling of concern fell upon Garak. "Is your brother downstairs, Rom?" "Yes, yes he is. Is there something wrong?" "No, I just need to speak with him for a minute. I'll finish my drink then come down to see him. Thank you so very much." "O.K. Mister, I mean Garak." And with that Rom turned around and left the twentieth century bar for the twenty-fourth century bar. Garak simply gazed into his drink. Could it be happening again? he asked himself. Vile memories came back to him. Most of the memories of his past he could just move to the back of his mind, but not these. While Garak's mind was in the past, Vic finished up his song. "Thank you everybody. We're going to take a short break, so relax for a few minutes and we'll be right back." He then walked off the stage and sat down with Garak. "Hey, pallie, was she really that cute?" "What? Who?" replied the Cardassian. "The girl. The girl that stood you up. Any guy looking this sad must have been stood up by some dollface." Garak gave him a puzzled look. "I have no idea what you are talking about. Our mutual friend, Julian, was supposed to meet me here tonight, but got held up with a patient." "I didn't know you were a friend of the good Doctor. How you do'in, Vic, Vic Fontaine," he said as he stood and offered his hand to Garak. Garak remained sitting, smiled a polite smile, and shook Vic's hand. "I'm Garak." Vic sat back down and said, "Oh ya, Julian told me about you. The spy turned tailor, right?" Garak had to struggle to keep the polite smile on his face. "Well you know Julian, always telling stories and all. You can never believe what he says." He was a little annoyed that the doctor found it necessary to tell everyone about his supposed past in the Obsidian Order, and thought it would be only fair to 'play a joke' on his good friend. "Did he ever tell you the one about how he missed being valedictorian of his class, at Starfleet Medical, by missing one of the questions on one of his final exams?" "Yeah, all the time. He confused a vein with an artery, or something like that." Garak leaned in close to Vic and whispered, "I did some detective work. Our doctor friend graduated with 2.08 grade point average. He failed Inter Species Molecular Biology his final semester and had to repeat it the next fall." Garak's smile turned from polite to roguish. "He was not even allowed to graduate with his class." Vic gave a look of surprise. "Our Julian? He doesn't seem like the kind to tell tales." Garak then put down his empty glass and got up out of his seat. "I would love to trade stories with you about Dr. Bashir, but I do have to be going. If you will excuse me?" "Hey, hold on there a minute pallie. It looks like you could use a friend," said Vic. "I got a few minutes. Tell me what's got your head all screwy." Garak sat back down. He asked himself why he was about to disclose a disturbing part of his past to a hologram, but then realized he had nothing to lose. "Well, in my rather modest past I ran across a rather dreadful situation. I was not able to solve the problem. Instead I simply came up with a temporary solution and hoped It would never return." "And it's back. Isn't it?" asked Vic. "I'm afraid it is. I've been hoping for days that it is not the same damn cloud of ion gas, but it is, and it is continuing to hurt people." Vic leaned across the table. "Have you told anyone? If people are getting hurt than you have to be a man my friend." Garak's face turned angry, and he raised his voice slightly. "It is not that simple! How can I expect a hologram to understand?" He then got up and started to walk out. "Computer, end program." Vic stood and started to say something, but then disappeared. Garak exited the holodeck, and walked downstairs to the bar. He found Quark preparing cosmopolitans for two elegantly dressed Orion women sitting at the bar. "Quark, I need to speak with you." Quark did not look up. "Ah yes, Rom told me you needed something, but as you see I have a bar to run. Maybe later." "I know what a tragedy it would be to prevent you from performing your craft, even for just a few minutes, but I am willing to make it worth your time." That made Quark's head jump. He placed the drinks in front of the woman and asked, "What do you need?" "Dax. She's sick. What do you know?" Quark faked a quizzical look and replied, "What makes you think I know what is going on in the infirmary." Garak started to get annoyed. "I don't have time for your games. You are the only person on the station who is almost as good as I am at getting information like this through unofficial channels." "Coming from you that is quite a compliment," said Quark. "But then why do you need me? Why not use your own resources to find the information?" "Yes, Unfortunately I draw the line at spying on my friends, which Julian is one," replied Garak. Quark started to laugh. "You, Garak, the infamous spy for the Obsidian Order, has a morale code. Remind me to get another tailor. I've lost all respect for you." Garak, now angry, yelled, "Will you help me or not?!" "Relax," answered Quark, "I can help. What do you have to offer?" "I've noticed you have a supply of soap in one of the cargobays that you can't get rid off." "Yes," said Quark, curiously, "it seems like everyone has a sonic shower nowadays. Can't even give the stuff away." "I know and old associate who has started a totally organic agricultural facility on City Alpha VII. He should be willing to give you a fair price," said Garak. "What's he going to do with all that soap?" inquired Quark. "I don't know! I think he puts it on the crops instead of pesticides or something. Do you want his name or not?" Quark started walking towards the backroom and gestured for Garak to follow. "Lets go where it is more private." Once in the back room of the bar, Quark led Garak to a computer terminal. "Turn around for a second," ordered Quark, not wanting for the Cardassian to see how he was obtaining the information. He punched some keys, and a few seconds later he was, illegally, in Bashir's medical logs. "All right Garak, I have your information." The Cardassian immediately turned around and started to walk towards the computer. Quickly, Quark put himself between the computer and Garak. "Hold on," said the Ferengi, as he took a hand held computer PADD out of his pocket. "Your friend's name, and how I can get in touch with him." Garak grabbed the PADD from Quark's hand and entered all the pertinent information. He then handed it back to Quark who stepped aside and let Garak view the screen. It was exactly what he had feared. Jadzia had suffered some kind of brain trauma. She was now in stable condition, but the level of synaptic activity in her brain was unusually high. She is being kept in the infirmary so some tests could be run. 'Unknown' was listed under cause of the trauma, but it was noted that her episode coincided with an attempt to destroy a cloud of ion gas with a negative ion beam. Garak then turned around and asked Quark, "Do you have any Romulan Ale?" "I might," he answered. Garak, looking dazed, started to walk towards the door. "Good, set me up." He then walked back into the bar and took a seat next to Morn. ******************** It had taken a half a bottle of Romulan Ale, and some words of wisdom from Morn, but Garak finally realized what had to be done. As he walked into the infirmary he was glad to see Dax sleeping on one of the biobeds. Right now, he did not have the courage to face her. He quietly walked over to the bed and simply stared at her beautiful face. From his office, Dr. Bashir saw Dax' Cardassian visitor. "Garak, didn't Rom give you my message?" Garak, clumsily, turned around and regarded the doctor. "Yes, yes he did, but I need to speak wi-" Julian interrupted him, and, with an angry tone in his voice, asked, "Are you drunk, Garak?" "Unfortunately, I am, but let me explain." "I can smell the booze all the way from here," said Julian. "I'm to busy to speak know. Go sleep it off, and come back in the morning." He then turned around and headed back towards his office. Before the Doctor could get to the door, Garak ran around him and blocked his path. He put his hands on Julian's shoulders and said, "I know what is happening to Dax. I want to help." Julian removed Garak's hands from his person. "What is happening to her, and how do you know?" "Let me explain," said Garak. Then both men entered Julian's office and sat down. Bashir did not speak while Garak told his story. He simply sat and listened in disbelief. When Garak was finished, all Julian could do was sit there with his chin on his chest. Finally he forced himself to speak. "You need to go to Captain Sisko with this." Garak held up his hand, and quickly responded, "I was hoping, by telling you, we could avoid having this matter get out." "Garak," exclaimed Julian, almost yelling. "Now that I know this information I have no choice but to take it to the Captain." For a few seconds the room was silent. Both men simply stared at one another. Again, Julian broke the silence, "Tomorrow morning, at 08:00, there is a meeting of the senior staff. It would be better if they heard this from you." Garak stood and responded, "No. I can not do that. I've told you all I can. I will not do anything else." He then started to walk out the door. Julian jumped up, placed his hand on Garak's shoulder, and spun him around. "You coward!" Bashir shouted. "My friend. Your friend is lying right there. Her mind is being violated and you are the only one that can help her. How can you just turn your back on her?" All Garak could offer was, "I'm sorry Julian." He then turned and exited the office. As Garak walked across the infirmary, Julian yelled to him, "If you stay silent, then you are just as bad as Dukat." Garak stopped for a moment, but then continued, and left both Julian and Dax behind. ******************** The next morning at 08:00; Julian, Nerys, Odo, Worf, Miles, and the Captain, gathered to discuss what was going on with Dax and the mysterious ion cloud. The Captain called the meeting to order, and asked the Doctor to give his report. Julian got up and walked over towards the display screen, but before he could start, the door chime sounded. Sisko ordered the person to enter, and, as the door slid open, everyone was surprised to see Garak on the other side. Before anyone else could speak, Julian said, "I believed Mr. Garak would like to address the senior staff." Captain Sisko eyed the Cardassian, "Can you tell us about this cloud, and what it is doing to Dax?" Garak entered the conference room looking a little haggard. Obviously he was hung over, but overall was none the worse for wear. "Yes I can," he answered, as he took a seat. "I have a rather disturbing story to tell. I would appreciate it if you held your questions until I am finished." Garak then took them back approximately ten years. To the time of Terok Nor, and the Cardassian occupation of Bajor. ******************** As his shuttle approached Terok Nor, Garak went over in his mind the orders he had been given. Review the data from Dukat's experiments, and determine if they have any real purpose. If they do not, then proceed as necessary, he thought to himself. Knowing the history between Gul Dukat and himself, he wondered why he was given this task, but then quickly brushed it aside. There was nothing he could do to change it, so there was no use in worrying about it now. Once the shuttle was docked, he entered the station and began walking along the promenade. He had expected to be greeted by security officer Odo when he arrived, but was disappointed to discover Odo had been temporarily assigned to set up security at a new labor camp (or as the Bajorans called it, internment camp) on Bajor, and was not expected back for another few weeks. Garak had always found the shape-shifter, the only known one of its kind, fascinating, and had been looking forward to observing the unique lifeform. Garak quickly put his disappointment aside, and decided to go see Dukat. No use putting this off, he thought. He made his way to Dukat's office, and after a moments pause he request to enter. "Come," he heard Dukat say, simply. Then the door opened. Dukat was sitting behind his desk, studying a PADD. The Gul was notified when Garak entered the station, and had been expecting him. He did not bother to look up at the man he detested, the alleged assassin of his father. Garak entered and walked over to the desk. No pleasantries were offered by him either. "I take it you know why I am here?" he asked. Dukat still did not make eye contact as he reached for another PADD on his desk, and handed it to Garak. "All you need to know about the cloud and the experiments is here. The data was updated just this morning," he said. "You are also free to tour the cargobay, where the tests are being run." "I do not need your permission," replied Garak, patronizingly, as he grabbed the PADD from Dukat's hand. "I have a few questions first." "Glinn Lardin is the one in charge of this project. Get your answers from him." Garak, in a more forceful tone, responded, "You are the one in charge. You will answer the questions." Dukat put down the PADD, and finally looked up at Garak. Usually he did not respond to demands, but he rationalized this one. "I suppose the quicker you get what you want, the quicker you will leave." "Why?" he asked Dukat, directly. "Why what?" answered Dukat, almost playfully. Unable to hide his anger any longer, Garak placed both his hands on the desk, then leaned over until he was almost in Dukat's face. "I've read the preliminary reports you sent to Cardassia Prime. Why are these experiments so important that they continue even after people die?" Dukat could only stare at Garak for a few seconds. He wanted to respond by saying that they were Bajorans, not people, but decided against it. He then leaned forward in his chair. Now the two were practically nose to nose. "It is unfortunate that some lives have been lost, but this lifeform posses information that could be invaluable to the Empire. I will do anything within my power to see that we communicate with this thing. Also, let me remind you, the first two people to die in these experiments were Cardassian soldiers." "And how many Bajorans?" demanded Garak. An uncomfortable look came over Dukat. He slid back into his chair and chose not to respond to the inquiry. "Everything you need is in the report. Refer any questions to Glinn Lardin," he said, as he broke eye contact, and went back to studying his PADD. Garak, satisfied that he had won this round, merely turned and left the office. His next stop would be to the cargobay. To personally view these experiments. ******************** On the way to the cargobay, Garak quickly read Dukat's report. It had all started just ten days ago. Ships started to, unexplainably, lose power when coming in contact with this simple cloud of ionized gas. The answer seemed simple enough. Shoot a beam of negative ions into the cloud, and the cloud will disperse. They were wrong. The cloud, instead of dissipating, seemed to slowly retreat. This raised many suspicions. At this same time, a patient, who suffered head trauma after a shuttle accident, was in the infirmary. He was being treated with a cortical stimulator when all of a sudden he started going into convulsions. Later it was discovered this happened simultaneously with the discharge of the negative ions into the cloud. Immediately it was theorized that this cloud was some kind of lifeform that had the capability to communicate telepathically, and the cortical stimulator increased one's ability to receive messages from the being. Attempts were made at once to contact the cloud, but the first results were terrifying to say the least. No communication was made, and furthermore the two Cardassian test subjects suffered irreversible brain damage and died within a few hours. Dukat then decided to bring Bajorans in as test subjects, and small progress in communication was made, but at the cost of fourteen Bajoran lives. Garak knew that fourteen was only the number for this official report. The real number of deaths was probably much higher. The thought made Garak shiver. The progress in communication was small, but so promising to Dukat that he had the number of experiments doubled. During these attempts at communication the universal translator confirmed that the being was trying to convey something, but was unable to determine exactly what. No further progress had been made. Garak entered the cargobay, or laboratory as it was temporarily being called, not knowing what to expect. What he found was a Bajoran woman lying on a biobed with three Cardassians standing beside her. One of the Cardassians was applying what appeared to be a cortical stimulator to her forehead. Behind them about forty other Bajorans were lying on cots. Garak did not know if they were alive or dead, but judging by the stench he assumed the latter. He walked directly over to the biobed and announced his presence. "I am Garak. I have been sent to monitor these experiments." He knew he did not have to add anything further. The Cardassians knew who had sent him. "Which one of you is Lardin?" "I am," proclaimed a tall thin man, as he stepped away from the bed. As usual, no other pleasantries were traded. "Are these Bajorans dead?" asked Garak, as he pointed to the mass of motionless bodies. "No. They have been sedated. They await to be test subjects." "Why do they need to be sedated?" asked Garak, suspiciously. Lardin was now becoming annoyed. "I see you have Dukat's report. The answer is in there," he answered, as he turned back towards the bed. Garak then raised his voice, "I want you to answer the question, Glinn!" Lardin did not want to respond, but knew he had to comply. "Continue to prepare this subject," he said to his two colleagues. He then turned and gestured towards a corner of the cargobay. "This way," he said to Garak. "There minds must be clear when contact is attempted," said Lardin, softly. "That is not the only reason, is it?" asked Garak. Lardin looked Garak sharply in the eyes, "No, of course not," he replied. "They can not see what happens during contact." "What exactly does happen?" Garak asked, as he returned the gaze. "The truth now. Not what Dukat put in this report." "You can see for yourself, this subject is about to make contact." Garak did not respond. He simply started walking back towards the biobed. He saw the Bajoran woman, who was now awake, looking scared and confused. The two other Cardassians had strapped her to the bed. "Start contact procedure," ordered Lardin. Then one of the men tapped a few panels located on the bed's terminal. Instantly Garak could see discomfort on the woman's face that quickly turned into pain, and he felt his own stomach turn knowing that this was only the beginning. Abruptly the woman started to squirm as sweat began to cover her face, and foam could be seen forming at the sides of her mouth. Having seen many displays of torture, Garak had become desensitized to such things, but he was not prepared for what he saw next. Lardin walked up to the woman, and, for one second, Garak thought he might put an end to her pain. Instead he pushed a button on the cortical stimulator, and Immediately the woman's eyes widened to the size of saucers. Screaming in agony, she went into terrible convulsions. As the woman voided her bowels, Garak wanted to demand that Lardin put a stop to the torture, but found himself speechless. He instead closed his eyes in an attempt to prevent himself from witnessing such a tragedy. About ten seconds later the screaming stooped. "Put the data threw the translator," ordered Lardin to one of his subordinates, as he and the other man released the woman's straps. Garak stood stone-still for a few more seconds. He then walked up to the bed. As he stared at the women, he attempted to rationalize why he did not order a stop to this. Then the smell of the woman's feces hit his nose, and all he could do was stand there and feel like a coward. "She's dead?" he asked the Glinn, somberly. Lardin turned to address Garak, "No," he answered, "she most probably has suffered some brain damage, but is not yet dead." Garak was barely able to hold down the contents of his stomach. "Is there a chance she may survive?" "No." Garak was so filled with anger and shame that he did not notice the detached attitude these men had towards the terror they have been inflicting. "Where will she go from here?" he asked. "They are all placed in another cargobay, where they are monitored and given medical attention." "Take me there!" ordered Garak. "Now!" Lardin pointed to one of the other Cardassians who was placing the woman on a stretcher. "Follow him. He will be taking this body there." As Garak followed the crew member and the patient, or victim as Garak saw it, his mind raced for ideas on how he could put an end to this. He was not even aware that they had arrived at the makeshift infirmary until he heard the hiss of the doors opening. Little did he know there was another shock waiting for him behind the door. Once inside, another Cardassian crew member took the patient and proceeded to wheel her across the cargobay. When they moved out of the way, Garak swallowed hard as he took in the entire scope of the room. In the front were about twenty unconscious Bajorans lying on stretchers, obviously waiting to die. But what was really shocking was in the back of the cargobay. It was at least 150 bodybags pilled on top of one another like piles of garbage. "Those bodies back there," asked Garak, of the Cardassian that had met them at the door, "Are they all Bajoran?" "Yes. All Bajoran," proclaimed the man, as he began working on the latest victim. "Are you a physician?" asked Garak, of the same man. "No," he replied, without looking at Garak. "What is going to happen with those bodies?" continued Garak. Now the crewman turned and regarded Garak with contempt. "You ask a lot of questions. Who are you anyway?" At this point the man that escorted Garak and the patient to the infirmary spoke up. "Just answer his questions honestly and eventually he will go away," he said to his fellow crew member. "I don't know what's going to happen to these bodies," said the Cardassian. "I suppose they will be tossed out the air lock, but for now they tell me to pile them in the back, so that's what I do." Garak wanted to begin solving this mess by killing these two cold hearted bastards, but was able to control the urge. Instead he asked, "When will the next attempt at contact be?" "Not for at least another hour," said one of the crewman. "Lardin has a meeting with Gul Dukat in five minutes. When he returns we will continue." Garak gave both the crew members one more look of disgust, then exited the cargobay and headed for Dukat's office. ******************** When Garak arrived at the door to Dukat's office, he wanted to storm right in and demand an explanation for the murders, and also for the lies. Instead he was able to keep his temper under control. He thought it would be more wise to simply pretend to sit in on the meeting. This way he was more likely to hear information that would aid him in destroying these experiments. After Dukat yelled for him to enter, Garak walked in, gave a polite smile, and simply proclaimed he would sit and observe the meeting. This made Dukat giggle. "From the way Lardin said you reacted in the cargobay, I thought you would to busy vomiting up your intestines." That made the Glinn and Dukat laugh out loud. Garak was barely able to control his anger, but was able to send Dukat a nice comeback. "You forget, in my line of work I see many creatures writhe and beg for their lives, but I am usually the one that dispenses the pain. I haven't dispensed any today, but it is still early," he said as he widened his eyes. Suddenly Lardin broke in, "Is that supposed to scare us, Garak?" Before Garak could reply, Dukat put up his hands and demanded a stop. "Let's get back to the damn meeting," he said threw his gritted teeth. Lardin turned back to the display unit on the wall and continued. "The translator has not picked up anything that can be interpreted." "Any progress on how we could speak to this thing?" asked Dukat. "Without knowing what it is trying to tell us, the translator has no basis to interpret anything from us into something it can understand." The Gul responded to that with hostility. "Not good enough Glinn! Until we find out what and why it is attempting to communicate with us, these experiments will continue!" At first, Lardin did not respond, but then he summoned the courage to ask Dukat something he knew the Gul would not want to hear. "Possibly it is trying to tell us it has nothing to offer, and we should let it go?" Surprisingly, Dukat did not respond with anger. He did not respond at all. Seeing an opportunity, Garak decided to jump in. "How are you keeping this cloud stationary?" Lardin, anxious to change the subject, answered, "Every half hour we are surrounding the cloud with negative ions. It seems unwilling to attempt penetration of the wall." The look on Garak's face did not betray what was going on in his mind. As he nodded his head at his two associates he was busy planning how to prevent Dukat from killing anyone else. "Yes. I see," said Garak. "I believe I have heard enough for the time being. I'm going to get something to eat." As Garak walked out, both Dukat and Lardin continued there discussion without acknowledging his statement. Garak stepped out of the Gul's office, and into the operations center, with a plan already in mind. He marched directly over to a soldier who was manning one of the stations. In his most threatening voice, Garak ordered, "Get up! I need use of your terminal!" With that demand, the entire operations center seemed to come to a stand still as everyone stopped and stared at Garak and the young soldier. After a moments hesitation Garak again yelled, "You know who I work for, soldier. Do you have any idea what the penalty for insubordination is?" as he widened his eyes and glared at the at the young Cardassian. Now scared to death, the soldier clumsily stood up and surrendered his seat. Garak sat and quickly began to punch code after code into the computer. Part of his training in becoming a spy was to learn how to convert control of any Cardassian computer to himself. Within a few seconds he had completed this task. Almost instantly, Garak could hear the mumbles and curses of the crew as they realized they were locked out of their terminals. Knowing he had only a short time, Garak released the docking clamps that were holding his shuttle. By now everyone had figured out that Garak was the one responsible for this situation, and Garak knew they knew. The same young soldier, who had been scared silly moments before, attempted to physically remove Garak from the computer terminal. Garak simply solved the problem by striking the soldier squarely in the nose with the back of his left hand. He then stood, and as both Lardin and Dukat came running from the office, Garak hit a panel that transported him over to his shuttle. Once Garak realized he had arrived safely in his small ship, he went to work on releasing the ion cloud. The computers on station were still under his command, so they did not pose a threat. He knew that it would take an intelligent person a few hours to break his command codes. With Dukat in charge, he joked to himself, it would probably take a lot longer. Within a minute he was within range of the cloud. He set the computer to fire a burst of positive ions around the cloud that would eliminate the wall of negative ions. Once ready, he fired. It took a few minutes for the positive ions to neutralize the negative ones, but once it did, the gaseous creature wasted no time in fleeing from its Cardassian imposed imprisonment. As the cloud slowly floated away from Terok Nor, Garak suddenly lost both impulse and warp engines. He realized he had gotten to close to the cloud and suffered the same problem other ships had just ten days ago. Fortunate for him he still had life support. As he began making repairs, he thought to himself, what if Dukat was right? What if that creature did contain some sort of knowledge that could be beneficial to the Empire? He then thought of the woman on the biobed, screaming and begging for her life. Also he remembered the bodybags thrown carelessly away in the corner of that cargobay. After those thoughts he knew he had acted properly. He then wished the mysterious cloud creature a silent farewell, hoping never to see it again. ******************** "Luckily, I was able to get the engines started again before Dukat regained control of the station," Garak told the group, as he ended his story. "I did file a full report on what happened, but as usual, the higher-ups in the Cardassian military just swept it under the rug." Silence filled the air for a short time before the Constable added, "If I remember correctly, I arrived back on the station approximately five weeks after Garak left. No mention of this was made in any of the security logs. Not that I thought it would have." Odo then folded his arms and gave a sigh before he continued. "As for gossip around the station, yes, people did seem to know that something had happened, but no one was quite sure, and, when it came to affairs of the military, you did not ask questions." He then paused, and sighed again. "I had no idea a massacre of that magnitude had occurred." While Odo was speaking, Garak realized that during his entire telling of the story, he was never able to make eye contact with any members of the group. As he began to look around, he sensed an array of emotions; shock, anger, fear, disgust. When Odo was done, Miles turned back towards Garak and asked, "It must have been difficult to shake those memories when you first came to live on DS9?" "Having lived the life of a spy, Mr. O'Brien, I have seen a lot of suffering. You learn how to put the feelings aside and do your job." Miles did not offer anything further, but silently thought to himself, Yes, but at the cost of becoming a cold, lonely, introvert. |