"That's a risk I'm willing to take," Sisko said. After
everything that had happened so far, he knew Admir-
al Dulev would back him. He nodded to Bashir. "The
Maquis ambassadors next, if you please, Doctor."
Ambassador Twofeathers went first and passed, as
did Ambassador Kravits. Sisko nodded; he'd ex-
pected no less. Now would come the real test.
"Now the Cardassians, if you please."
"I feel the same way your own negotiating team
does," Gul Mekkar said, rising. "However, I bow to
the inevitable. Begin your tests, Doctor."
Mekkar placed his hand on the scanner. Sisko
leaned forward in anticipation.
"Subject DNA passes," the scanner announced.
"Subject is Cardassian."
Sisko relaxed even as Bashir took Mekkar's blood
sample. He isn't a changeling. Now I can be rid of
Werron once and for all. At least something good had
come of it, he thought.
He glanced over at Vedek Werron, who had
watched all this impassively. The Vedek's face showed
not a flicker of emotion. Nevertheless Sisko knew it
had to hurt. He'd staked his reputation on it, after all,
and now he'd be deported from DS9 like a common
troublemaker. I'm sure he'll manage to put a good spin
on it, though, Sisko thought. He'll just declare his
mission a success and leave. That'll be the end of it.
Only the Valtusians remained, but testing was little
more than a formality. The whole conference had
been their idea, after all, and they had been the ones
working toward peace.
"Now the Valtusian ambassadors," he said.
Ambassador Zhosh and the others rose. But rather
than argue as Sisko expected, Zhosh removed a small
tube from a hidden pocket in his robes, twisted it
once, and suddenly the hum of a transporter beam
filled the room.
Sisko whirled. "Stop them!" he cried to the guards.
It was too late, he realized a millisecond later. They
were already dematerializing. In the transporter
beam, he saw them starting to shimmer and turn gold.
They were reverting to their changeling forms.
"Dax to Sisko," his communicator said with a
chirp. "We just picked up a small Jem'Hadar ship on
our scanners. It was hiding on a Bajoran moon. Now
it's heading for the wormhole at high speed. Do you
want the Defiant to give chase?"
Sisko tapped his badge, frowning. "No, Dax," he
said. "it's too late. We can't possibly catch them."
And what wouM we do with them once we caught
them? he wondered.
"But at least another changeling plot has been
stopped," Bashir said. "That's the important thing."
"Thanks to me, "Vedek Werron said, puffing out his
chest,
Sisko shot a glare at him, and the Vedek shut up
suddenly. They both knew he'd only accused Mekkar
as an excuse to harass the Cardassians. Now leave it
to the Vedek to claim he'd seen the whole thing--
probably in a vision based on one of the ancient
Bajoran prophecies, Sisko thought.
All the other ambassadors were staring at him in
shock. Even DuQuesne and Mekkar had run out of
insults for once.
"What happened with your DNA scanner?" Sisko
asked Bashir. He'd watched the Valtusians pass the
test on the docking ring. How had they fooled the
computer?
Bashir hesitated. "They must have had real Valtu-
sians aboard their ship," he said. "When they left us
to confer--"
"They must have gone inside and taken skin sam-
ples," Sisko finished. He nodded; it all made sense
now. Like his father had said, they would find a way
around any security measures the Federation came up
with. It had only taken them ten minutes. So much for
any technological advantage a DNA scanner might
give them.
"Skin samples... or worse." Bashir swallowed
visibly, and Sisko realized he must be thinking of
severed limbs. "I'd better get over to their ship. I
think it's still docked." Turning, he sprinted for the
door, calling for medical backup to meet him there.
Sisko knew he'd get a full report later. Hopefully there
weren't injured or maimed Valtusians being held
prisoner aboard the changelings' ship.
Now, though, he had the ruins of the peace confer-
ence to deal with. Admiral Dulev would definitely not
be pleased, he thought.
"I'm sorry," DuQuesne said to him, sounding
sincerely apologetic. "It seems we were on the verge of
giving the changelings exactly what they wanted."
"The Maquis buffer state might have given the
changelings a toehold in the Alpha Quadrant," T'Pao
mused. "They might have taken over and used it as a
base to launch their invasion of the rest of the Alpha
Quadrant."
"It's possible," Sisko said.
Gul Mekkar looked at the other negotiators. "I
move for an adjournment for today," he said. "We
can reconvene tomorrow to finish up. Not," he added
hastily, "that we can use the Valtusian--rather, the
changeling--plan now, of course. But we can offi-
cially dismiss their plan. And perhaps something new
will occur to us."
Sisko nodded. "I think that's wise." Although noth-
ing was likely to come of these talks now, the negotia-
tors could still wrap things up nicely. At least they
hadn't made a terrible mistake.
Mekkar rose, picking up his files, and nodded to the
other Cardassian negotiators. They joined him, head-
ing for the door.
Suddenly an explosion rocked the station. As the
floor bucked and heaved beneath him, Sisko rolled
with it as best he could, ignoring the panicked
screams and shouts from the ambassadors. Alarms
began to blare.
"Keep calm!" he shouted over the noise. "Hold on
to something and try to stay where you are!"
Was it an attack? Had the Jem'Hadar ship returned
and opened fire on them? If so, why hadn't Dax
warned him?
Desperately he gripped the edge of the table to keep
his balance, then tapped his badge. Smoke began to
fill the room. Then everything went dark as power
failed. A second later, red emergency lights flickered
to life.
"Dax!" he cried. "Status report!"
A second explosion hit, and the force of it knocked
him flying backward. He tried to grab hold of some-
thing for support. Smoke and red flames leaped
everywhere.
"Dax?" he screamed. "Dax?"
CHAPTER
23
mIRA SWALLOWED HARD, feeling like she'd just walked
into a nest of pit spiders. Her every instinct made her
want to grab her phaser and duck for cover, but she
knew she'd be dead before she made it two steps.
"My name is Kira Nerys," she said. "I'm looking
for a Groxxin named Orvor. Has anyone here seen
him?"
"What do you want with him?"
one of the aliens
called from the bar. She couldn't see which one, but
she thought the voice came from a green glob with
three eyes and five or six bony ridges on its broad
face.
"Our business is with him alone," she said. "We're
not here to start trouble."
"Dead, you won't," another voice called. There
were chuckles all around.
"Let me handle this," Worf said to her in a low
voice. "I am a trained security officer, after all."
"By all means," Kira said.
Worf stepped forward. "l speak for my companions
and myself," he said. "We offer you no threat. Put
down your weapons."
Nobody answered. Kira scanned the hard faces
looking at them and thought they were getting ready
to open fire. She'd better do something fast, she
thought, or they'd all end up little piles of ashes.
"You have five seconds to live," the bartender said.
"Any last words?"
Worf frowned and opened his mouth, but before he
could speak, Kira stepped forward.
"Just... hyperspace links lead us all together."
It was the password phrase they had been given so
they'd know the real Orvor when they met him. There
didn't seem to be much choice but to use it now.
Hopefully the Groxxin was somewhere in the room,
and hopefully he'd act to save them. It was a long
shot, she knew, but she didn't have a better idea.
Instead of one person stepping forward, everyone
in the Empty Coffin seemed to relax a little, almost as
though she'd passed some test. Did they all know that
password? She felt a wave of confusion.
"What about that one?" the bartender demanded,
nodding toward OdD. "Isn't he...?" "A changeling, yes," Kira said.
"I am OdD, not 'that one,'" OdD said. "I was
brought up in the Alpha Quadrant, and I have re-
nounced the Founders and their philosophy."
"I've never seen a Founder before," the bartender
said, lowering his disruptor rifle, "but we all know
enough to fear them and their evil ways."
"They are powerful," Odo said. "Determined, yes.
Wrong, yes. And certainly stubborn. But not evil."
"So you're defending them--"
"No, I'm saying they're wrong."
"But..."
Quietly, Kira drifted toward the back of the bar,
searching for a Groxxin. Most of the patrons had put
their disruptors away. Half of them were following the
bartender's argument with Odo, but the other half
had resumed their own conversations.
Kira spotted an alien with dense yellow fur sitting
alone in one of the booths. She slid in opposite him,
noting his snoutlike mouth and eight-fingered hands.
A Groxxin... but was he the one they wanted?
"Orvor?" she asked.
The Groxxin shook his head. "He was picked up by
the Jem'Hadar last night."
"Picked up? What do you mean?"
"They took him on the street outside." He jerked
his head toward the door. "It had to be something
important. The Jem'Hadar never come to Old Town
unless they have to." He chuckled. "Snipers killed six
of 'em on their way out."
"Where would they take him?"
"Probably one of the interrogation centers."
"We have to get him out."
The Groxxin laughed bitterly. "Nobody escapes
from the Jem'Hadar. He's probably dead already."
Then we've come all this way for nothing. Kira
shook her head. "I can't accept that," she said. "If
there's a chance he's still alive, we have to try. Where
would he be?"
"Try their central interrogation center; it's located
on Peace Street." Quickly he gave her directions.
"Thank you," Kira said. She slid out of the booth
and rejoined Worf and Odo by the door. Odo's
argument with the bartender was still going strong.
"Did you find him?" Worf asked in a low voice.
She shook her head. "He's not here. The Jem'Hadar
picked him up."
"It's not their nature to be evil," she heard Odo
saying a trifle hotly, "just as there is no species or race
that is evil. It's a matter of environment and circum-
stances. I personally am proof of that, as you can
see--"
"I hate to break up this fascinating argument," Kira
said, taking Odo by the arm, "but we have to go." She
pulled him out the door and onto the street, turned
left, and began to walk at a brisk pace. Quickly she
told them what the Groxxin had said about Orvor
being captured by the Jem'Hadar.
Odo stopped suddenly, looking pained. "I must be
the reason," he said.
Kira and Worf stopped, too. "What do you mean?"
Worf demanded.
"I mingled with one of the changelings. Just as I felt
Selann's thoughts, he must have felt mine as well. He
could easily have discovered you were on the
Jem'Hadar ship and learned about Orvor from me. I
feel like a fool," he added bitterly.
"That's all right, Odo," Kira said quickly. She
knew he would never had consciously given them
away. "You couldn't help it. It's not your fault. We
wouldn't have made it this far without you. Besides,
maybe it's a coincidence. The Jem'Hadar never tried
to find us aboard their ship, after all."
"Perhaps," Worf suggested, glowering a bit at Odo,
"that's what the hunt was supposed to do. Only we
escaped before the net could close in on us."
Kira nodded slowly. Of course, the hunt. She'd
been assuming it was aimed at Snoct. Perhaps they
had been lucky to get off the Jem'Hadar ship after all.
"But that still leaves our informant," she said,
starting forward again. "The Groxxin in the bar
seemed to think he would be dead. If so, that's the end
of our mission."
"He might still be alive," Odo said. "He would
make good bait if they wanted to capture us."
"That's what I was thinking," Worf said. "It smells
like a trap."
"I know," Kira said. "But I don't see any alterna-
tive other than trying to rescue him. Without him, our
whole mission is a waste." And, she mentally added,
he and his mate risked their lives to contact us. The
least we can do is try.
The streets had been growing steadily nicer as they
walked. Fifteen minutes from Old Town and the
Empty Coffin, the first few pedestrians appeared,
busting about on unimaginable errands. Now, turning
left at a huge apartment complex, Kira abruptly
found herself on a broad street lined with open-air
shops. Tall spreading trees with razorlike yellow
leaves canopied the pavement, and ample street
lamps cast a pleasant golden glow over everything.
Hundreds, perhaps thousands of peoplemsome
Groxxin, some Jem'Hadar, even a few Iffalians like
Snoct--moved among the shops, browsing, haggling
with merchants, picking up orders. Farther up, a few
hovercars glided down the center of the street on
/> antigrav skids.
"Two more blocks," Kira said, eyes searching the
buildings ahead. Finally she spotted their target, eight
stories tall and built like a prison. "It's that tall stone
building--see it?"
"Yes," Worf said.
"There's an alley just ahead," Odo said. "Turn in
there."
"Right." Kira ducked into the narrow passageway
between two shops selling exotic-looking fruits and
vegetables. It was little more than a deep doorway, she
realized quickly. They had no real cover here.
There, Odo shapeshifted into a smaller figure with a
cloak and a hood that left his face in shadow. He
gazed out at Kira.
"Shop close by the building," he said. "I'11 go in
alone first to make sure it's safe." "But--"
He shook his head. "I'11 be all right, Major," he
said. "Nothing can happen to me. You just take care
of yourselves for now."
"We'll keep you covered," she promised.
"Keep your weapons hidden," he said. "The last
thing I want is to be caught in the middle of a
firefight."
He strolled quickly out of the deep doorway,
turned, and headed for the interrogation center. Kira
watched with trepidation. She had a bad feeling about
this whole setup. Now that the changelings knew their
plan, what else might they have guessed? Perhaps
Auron hasn't made it back to civilization yet, she
thought, remembering how far they'd stranded him
from the Jem'Hadar base on Skovar VI.
She paused at a fruit stand and picked up what
looked like a bright purple melon of some kind. When
she shook it, it rattled faintly... a dried gourd with
seeds inside? She passed it to Worf, who smelled it,
made a face, and passed it back. Not to his taste
either, she thought. She put it back on the stand.
From the comer of her eye, she watched Odo reach
the interrogation center. As he climbed the broad
steps to the front doors, Jem'Hadar suddenly stormed
in from all directions, surrounding Odo with drawn
weapons.
CHAPTER
24
MEKKAR DOVE FOR the floor when the first explosion
rocked the conference room. It was those damn
Bajoran terrorists, he knew. He'd been warned about
them by half of his friends before he left Cardassia.
Never turn your back on a Bajoran, they'd said. You 7l
find a dagger in it if you do.
Close by, someone screamed in agony, and alarm
klaxons began to sound. A surge of anger ran through
Star Trek - DS9 - Heart Of The Warrior - Book 17 Page 19