Star Trek - DS9 - Heart Of The Warrior - Book 17

by John Gregory Betancourt

  him. Sisko hadn't heard the last of this, he thought.

  Smoke roiled around him, thick and choking. Hold-

  ing his breath, he rose to his knees and peered to the

  left, trying to spot Kloran or Etkar or any of DS9's

  security guards. If he only had a disruptor, he

  thought, they'd stand a chance of making it out of

  here alive.

  His eyes began to sting, and suddenly everything

  turned blurry. lt the smoke. He blinked at his tears

  and felt his lungs start to burn. Dropping down as

  close to the floor as he could, he sucked in a breath of

  foul-tasting air. At least there didn't seem to be any

  fire, but that was small consolation.

  He began to crawl toward the door, and suddenly

  he found heavy boots blocking his way. He glanced up

  and found a phaser pointed at his head. Behind the

  phaser, wreathed in swirls of smoke, stood a Bajoran

  with a respirator over his mouth and nose. Hard,

  angry, fanatically crazy eyes glared down at him.

  "Butcher!" the Bajoran cried. He pulled back his

  leg and kicked with all his strength.

  Hardly able to breathe, hardly able to see it coming,

  Mekkar couldn't dodge in time. The kick caught him

  in the side of the head, stunning him for a second. He

  fell, gasping. The Bajoran kicked him a second time,

  in the side, and he felt ribs crack. Sharp, raw pain

  blossomed in his side.

  Whimpering, he doubled up. What had he done to

  deserve this? he thought. Why did they keep calling

  him "Butcher"?

  "Up!" the Bajoran called, nudging him with the toe

  of his boot. "On your feet, Mekkar! Up/"

  Mekkar tried to rise but couldn't get his legs under

  him. Pain stabbed through his stomach and ribs. He

  couldn't hold his breath anymore. He sucked in a

  lungful of smoke and began to cough and wheeze.

  Two more Bajorans in respirators joined the first.

  They seized Mekkar's arms and hauled him forward,

  through the smoke, to a hole in the wall. They'd

  blown it open with a bomb of some kind, Mekkar

  realized. They really were insane. They could have

  depressurized the entire station and killed everyone

  aboard!

  At least the air on the other side tasted better, he

  thought, wheezing and gasping. If he could just get his

  breath, maybe he could try to grab a phaser from one

  of them.

  Suddenly someone grabbed his hair and forced his

  head back. Mekkar found himself staring up at Vedek

  Werron's hard, cold face.

  "Justice," the Vedek said, "will be served."

  Turning, the Vedek strode to the door, then out into

  the corridor. The alarm klaxons were still ringing.

  People were screaming and running everywhere.

  Mekkar thought he was going to vomit.

  The three Bajorans dragged him down one of the

  small crossover bridges to the station's core, then up

  to the Promenade. There, men and women clustered

  along the huge viewports, trying to see what was going

  on. The alarms sounded far-off here. Probably more

  than a few blast doors had already closed, Mekkar

  thought.

  "Help!" he tried to shout. "Help!" What came out

  was a wracking cough that shook his whole body.

  They would pay for this, he vowed, as soon as he had

  his strength back.

  Vedek Werron strode into a huge bar like he owned

  the place. He now had a phaser in each hand, and he

  fired them both at the ceiling. Mekkar winced, certain

  they were all going to die from explosive decompres-

  sion, but the phasers must have been set on stun since

  nothing happened but bright lights and a whining

  sound.

  Inside, the effect was devastating Men and woman

  shrieked and dove for cover.

  "Everyone out!" Mekkar ordered. "This place is

  closed!"

  "You can't do that!" a Ferengi called from behind

  the long bar against the wall.

  In answer, Vedek Werron fired both phasers at him.

  "Don't shoot! You can do it! You can do ifi" the

  Ferengi called.

  Men and women stamp eded for the exits, shouting

  and jostling one another in their haste. As the bar

  cleared out, the two Bajorans holding Mekkar's arms

  dragged him to a round table, threw him on top of it,

  and began tying him spread-eagle across it.

  For a second he struggled, but the one on the right

  turned and punched him in the head as hard as he

  could. Darkness swept over him.

  Quark motioned for Rom to stay down, then

  peeked around the end of the bar. Two of the Bajorans

  were tying down their prisoner. Another had taken up

  a position by the front door. Vedek Werron seated

  himself at a nearby table, putting both phasers before

  him. From a pocket he drew a white candle, which he

  lit and set down before him. He stared at the flame as

  though in a trance.

  They were out of their minds, Quark thought. Did

  they think they could possibly get away with kidnap-

  ping a Cardassian and holing up here? As soon as

  security arrived, it would be all over. He eased back

  out of sight.

  "What are they doing, brother?" Rom asked in a

  whisper. Quark didn't think he'd ever seen Rom

  looking so frightened. Nothing like a true emergency

  to bring out the coward in someone, he thought.

  "Not much," Quark said. He was concerned him-

  self, but most important, he wondered how he could

  possibly turn things to his own advantage. After all, as

  the Ninth Rule of Acquisition said, "Opportunity

  plus instinct equals profit." And his every instinct

  said he was looking at a latinum-plated opportunity.

  Sisko watched as Dax used the station's internal

  sensors to locate Mekkar. "He's in Quark's," she said.

  "Quark's?' Sisko said. He frowned. If Mekkar had

  run out for a drink instead of being kidnapped...

  "I'm picking up seven life-forms there," Dax went

  on. "One Cardassian, four Bajorans, and two Ferengi.

  WaitmI lost them!" She looked up. "They've acti-

  vated a scrambler of some kind."

  Sisko moved to the transporter controls. Maybe

  that one brief lock had been enough, he thought. He

  fed the readings from Dax's console to the transporter

  and tried to get a lock on Mekkar.

  Nothing. "I can't beam Mekkar out," Sisko asked.

  "It's a subspace distortion field," Dax went on. "I

  might be able to punch through it in time, but I

  couldn't guarantee getting a lock on any of them."

  Sisko nodded slowly. "I see." They also might kill

  Mekkar at the first sign of trouble, he thought. "I

  guess we'll have to see what their demands are."

  He opened a comm link to Quark's, and a second

  later Quark's face appeared on the screen.

  "Captain Sisko!" Quark said, looking anxious. "I

  insist you do something at once! There are Bajoran

  terrorists here--"

  A fist flashed in front of the monitor, and Quark

/>   gave a pained cry. Everything blurred, and then the

  monitor swiveled around and Sisko found himself

  gazing at Vedek Werron's face. Werron smiled se-

  renely.

  "Captain Sisko," he said, "the Bajoran people have

  spoken. War crimes must be atoned for."

  Sisko leaned forward, the muscles in his jaw clench-

  ing. He had seldom been this angry. It nearly left him

  speechless.

  "Werron," he said, deliberately keeping his words

  short and clipped. "Put down your weapons, bring

  Gul Mekkar out, and I promise you that we will get to

  the bottom of this matter."

  "You had your chance, Captain," Werron said.

  "Here are my demands. You will make a runabout

  available to me immediately. We will transport the

  Butcher down to Bajor for a fair trial. After his

  execution, your peace negotiations can continue."

  "And the alternative?" Sisko asked.

  "I will convene a military trial here, with myself as

  judge, jury, and executioner," he said.

  "That is unacceptable," Sisko said. Either way, he

  knew Mekkar would be killed.

  "It's your only choice. Think about it." Werron

  severed the transmission.

  "But I've never even been to Bajor before!" Gul

  Mekkar continued to protest. "This is insane! I was

  busy fighting the Federation during the Bajoran occu-

  pation--"

  "Lies!" Werron hissed. His face twisted with rage.

  "Shut up, Butcher, or I'll kill you here myself?'

  Mekkar shut up. Pain speared his side from the

  broken ribs again, and he twisted in agony on the

  table. Somehow, he managed to keep from screaming.

  He wouldn't give Werron the satisfaction.

  Quark nursed his bruised cheek. He thought Vedek

  Werron had loosened a tooth, and he probed carefully

  with his tongue, tasting blood. So much for reasoning

  with him, he thought, glaring from across the room.

  "Are you all right, brother?" Rom whispered.

  "Yes," Quark said, "so far."

  "Do yourself a favor... leave them alone! It's

  none of our business what they do to the Cardassian!"

  "You're right," Quark said. "It's none of our busi-

  ness. But I'm not going to let him treat me this way in

  my own bar!"

  He slid off his stool and stalked forward. Rom

  grabbed his arm, pleading silently with him for rea-

  son, but Quark shrugged him away.

  "Vedek," he said, "there's no reason to let our

  misunderstanding get in the way of business. Would

  you like to run a tab while you're staying here?"

  Werron stared coldly at him. "So you can poison

  me?" he demanded.

  That was the general idea, Quark thought. "No, of

  course not!" he said magnanimously. "Corpses are

  bad for business. I'm just trying to make an honest

  living, that's all."

  "Water," Werron said.

  "That's it?" Quark asked. "Would you like it

  scented, perhaps? Or flavored with Jonja? Or per-

  haps--"

  "Water," Werron said. "Pure, unadulterated

  water."

  "Coming up," Quark said. Turning, he headed for

  the bar. He could feel Werron's sharp gaze boring into

  the back of his head, and he shivered a little. No

  chance of drugging the Vedek's water, he thought, but

  if he could win his trust, maybe he'd try some Bajoran

  spiced ale later. You could hide some pretty potent

  solutions in that, and he'd never know until it hit

  him ....

  Sisko bit his lip and considered the problem from

  every angle. It seemed to come down to two choices,

  neither of which appealed to him Let Werron and his

  people kill Mekkar on the station or let them trans-

  port Mekkar down to Bajor for trial and execution.

  He had no doubt that an armed attack on Quark's bar

  would result in Mekkar's immediate execution, and it

  might also cost the lives of some of the Bajorans and

  his own security forces. This would have been a

  perfect job for Odo, he reflected.

  He'd scarcely had time to think about the mission

  to the Gamma Quadrant, he realized a bit guiltily.

  Too much had been going on here. He prayed they

  were having better luck than he was.

  Now he had to focus on the present problem,

  however. What options did he have?

  What if I let them take Mekkar to Bajor? he

  wondered. That would at least buy us more time. And

  if he guilty of war crimes, perhaps he should be

  punished... but through the proper channels.

  He realized suddenly that he didn't know whether

  Mekkar really was this so-called Butcher of Belmast,

  as all the Bajorans seemed to believe. Dax hadn't had

  time to give him her full report.

  "What about Mekkar?" he asked her. "Is he guilty

  of war crimes?"

  "No," she said. "Gul Rel Mekkar--our Mekkar--

  is innocent. He had never even been in Bajoran space

  before these peace negotiations, which is why the

  Detepa Council sent him. They had hoped to avoid

  any problems with the Bajorans. According to

  Bajoran records I was able to access, Gul Ren

  Mekkar--similar name, similar appearance, perhaps

  a relative of our Mekkar--was the one the Bajorans

  called the Butcher of Belmast."

  "It seems a pretty clear case of mistaken identity,"

  he said. "How could Werron have made such a

  mistake?"

  "He wants to believe Mekkar is the Butcher of

  Belmast," Dax said. "Everything I've read about him

  leads me to believe he's not stable. He thinks he has a

  divine responsibility to bring all Cardassians to jus-

  tice. This hostage taking..." She shook her head.

  "He's a dangerous man, and nothing's going to con-

  vince him he's wrong. Not even the facts."

  "1 have to try," Sisko said.

  He called Quark's bar again, and this time Werron

  answered himself.

  "I've had a chance to review the facts of the

  Belmast case," Sisko said, "and I agree that it's an

  outrage, and appropriate steps should be taken to

  punish the guilty parties."

  "Excellent," Werron said. "Then you'll provide a

  transport for us to Bajor."

  "I said the guilty parties, Vedek. Gul Rel Mekkar

  isn't the Butcher of Belmast. He's never even been to

  Bajor. You're looking for Gul Ren Mekkar--"

  "Lies!" Werron screamed. "All lies!"

  Slowly Sisko shook his head. "Facts don't lie,

  Vedek. If you don't believe me, I'll be glad to supply

  you with the appropriate files so you can check for

  yourself--"

  "Get me that runabout," Mekkar said. His eyes

  were wild, dangerous, Sisko thought. "You have one

  hour."

  He severed the connection.

  "He's a fanatic," Dax said. "There's no reasoning

  with him."

  Sisko sighed. "I'm starting to think you're right,"

  he said. 'Tll have to seek a higher authority."

  "Admiral Dulev?"

  "Kai Winn," he said. As the religious leader of

&n
bsp; Bajor, she might have enough influence with Werron

  to talk sense into him, he thought. "Try to keep an eye

  on Werron," he said. "Let me know if anything

  happens."

  "You got it," she said.

  Sisko went into his office and shut the door. He

  didn't particularly like Kai Winn, but he understood

  her. Although she had a ruthless--and sometimes

  senseless--drive for power, hers was an honest greed

  compared to Werron's.

  He put through the call. Would she speak to him?

  Would she be available on such short notice? After a

  few tense moments of waiting, her face appeared on

  the monitor.

  "Hello, Emissary," she said, smiling broadly. She

  did be atific well, he thought. "As always, it is a

  pleasure to speak with you."

  "And it's a pleasure to see you looking so well," he

  said. "I have a problem with Vedek Werron, however,

  and I was hoping you might be able to give me the

  benefit of your counsel."

  She all but preened herself in satisfaction. Nothing

  worked quite so well as playing up to her, he thought.

  Quickly he outlined the situation. "Vedek Werron

  seems unwilling to listen to reason--or the truth."

  Kai Winn sighed. "Werron has always been some-

  thing of a problem for us," she said. "If Mekkar is not

  the Butcher, he should be released at once. We don't

  want another Cardassian incident; this is an age of

  healing. We must move on and put the scars of the

  past behind us."

  "Exactly," Sisko said. "Then you'll speak to him

  for us."

  "He would never listen to me," she said. "He has

  somehow built me up in his mind as his enemy. He

  thinks he sees plots of my spinning behind every bush

  and every tree."

  "Then what do you suggest?"

  "Send him to Bajor. We will have a fair trial for Gul

  Mekkar, and I will personally expedite it. We will

  have him declared innocent and released, if that is the

  case, within a single day."

  Sisko smiled. "Thank you, Kai," he said. That

  sounded like an altogether satisfactory solution.

  CHAPTER

  25

  THE SECOND THE Jem'Hadar surrounded him, Odo let

  his body loose its rigid form, morphing back into his

  normal humanoid shape. The change served no real

  purpose except to show them that he could

  shapeshift--that he was, in fact, a changeling. Hope-

  fully that would be enough.

  "Founder," the leader of the Jem'Hadar squad said,