“The turbolift system runs on two distinct networks—for personnel and for cargo—and operates across all habitable and operational sections of the station. Shall I describe the composition of the turbo cabs? It is something of a mouthful.”
You need only remember it, not repeat it. Now: What procedures are conducted following a breach in security?
When Odo got back to his office, the dolls were waiting for him. All five of them were lined up in a row on his desk, facing the door, as if to greet him on his return. Dax had left a note there for him too, propped up in front of the little yellow kai. She is going to love them, she had written.
Odo growled, and reached for the kai, twisting the figure in half with a grim and purposeful ferocity. As if the arrival of the Ariadne the following morning and Bashir’s outburst were not quite sufficient. Trust Dax to introduce even more chaos into an already unsatisfactorily turbulent day.
6
AUGER STEPPED OFF THE TURBOLIFT and had his first encounter with the color and the commotion of the Promenade.
The lighting didn’t go with the architecture, was his immediate thought. The place was meant to be a whole lot darker. And the effect it had was weird—all the metal detail on the walls stood out more harshly than it should. Auger had to blink a few times before things settled a bit and began to make sense. Just before they’d docked, Steyn had managed to fit in a two-minute course in Bajoran history. The Bajorans owned the station, Auger knew, but it had been built by Cardassians, and now it was run by Starfleet. No wonder everything looked just a little bit out of place. But understanding why still didn’t stop him losing his bearings, and it didn’t help that the walls were bending away from him. He realized he was swaying a little. There was a strange scent too, pungent and spicy. It reminded him a bit of the chapels back at home. Steyn had definitely said something about the Bajorans being religious…. Auger decided that what he could smell was incense. And then there was the noise, and the people making the noise, with strange clothes and stranger faces…. It was all a lot bigger and busier than he had ever imagined a place could be.
Steyn came up beside him, and put her arm around his shoulders. “So—what do you think, Auger?”
“Different,” he said, at last. His voice came out small; it sounded lost in all the noise.
Steyn began to laugh. “You should have seen it when it was full of Cardassians. Terok Nor, they called it then.”
“Did the lights work properly back then?” Auger asked.
Steyn gave him a curious look. “How did you know that?” she said. “Oh, never mind.” She shook her head. “I don’t think I’ll ever work you out. Well, you’re right—it did used to be a lot darker here. Cardassians don’t like bright light so much.”
From behind them, Mechter said, “It was a lot easier to do business here back then.”
Auger sensed a beat of silence and then Steyn replied, “Yeah, well, life is full of all kinds of disappointment. Look,” she said, “Here’s our welcome committee, I think.”
Auger looked over to where she was pointing. Some people were approaching. People in uniforms. Two men in front; one was in a black and gold uniform, the other was tan. The eight men behind them were carrying weapons. Auger felt things begin to sway again. He was glad when Steyn gripped his shoulder a little more.
The man in tan spoke to them first. Most other new people that Auger met had something about them that helped him read them. The man in black and gold was about as open as you could get. But the man wearing tan was different. His face was flat and empty. After a moment or two staring at it, Auger had to look away.
“Captain Steyn,” the man in tan was saying, “I’m the station’s chief of security, Odo. We have spoken several times already.” He gestured to the man beside him. “Mr. O’Brien, our chief of operations. He’ll be leading the team that will be carrying out the repairs on your ship. I imagine he’ll want to meet your own engineer….”
The man in black and gold stepped forward and shook hands with Steyn. “We’ll get straight to work, Captain,” he said. “Won’t keep you here longer than we need to.”
“I left my engineer on board,” Steyn was saying. “Trasser. If he’s horizontal, kick him. That usually works.”
The man called O’Brien laughed. Yes, Auger thought, there was nothing hidden there. He risked another look at the empty man.
“These gentlemen,” Odo pointed behind him, “are, of course, here to look after your cargo as we bring it onto the station.”
“I’m very glad to see them,” said Steyn. “And I bet Mr. Mechter here is too…. As I told you, he represents the consortium that employed me to carry their cargo. I’m sure he’d like to accompany us while we bring it onto the station.”
Mechter nodded silently. The man with the empty face considered him for a moment, then turned to look pointedly at Auger.
“Oh,” said Steyn, offhandedly, “that’s just Auger. He’s part of my crew. Hasn’t traveled much, so I thought he’d like a look at the station.” She frowned at Odo. “That is all right, isn’t it?”
The man called Odo continued his inspection of Auger. Auger stared back. He had made a mistake, he quickly realized, in thinking of this man as being empty. If anything, it was the opposite; in fact, Auger thought there was more wound up within him than in anyone he had ever met before. Still, looking at that flat, expressionless face, Auger was fairly certain he wouldn’t like to play him at poker. After a moment or two, the not-empty man nodded and, seeming to be satisfied, he looked away and back at the captain, much to Auger’s relief.
“He’s your responsibility, Captain Steyn,” he said.
“Of course,” she said. “Well, shall we think about getting the cargo on the station then?”
The third morning session ended with only provisional agreement between the delegates about the access they were willing to provide each other to front line starbases. Sisko watched Veral. She had stood up but as yet made no move to leave the room, and was slowly picking up the padds that had been laid out in front of her.
Ross leaned in toward Sisko, shielding his mouth. “Wanted a word with you after yesterday’s session, Ben,” he murmured. “You went off in a bit of a rush.”
Veral was now piling up the padds, one of top of another.
“I’m sorry,” Sisko replied. Keeping his voice quiet. “Was it urgent?”
“Not particularly, I just wanted your opinion on a point of detail on Romulan access to our starbases. The commander of Starbase 375 had more than a few security concerns, but I managed to come up with a couple of bright ideas that should keep him happy.”
“Sorry you couldn’t find me.”
Ross contemplated him. “I thought you might have gone to see your father, but when I contacted your sister she said you hadn’t been in touch for a day or so.”
“I wasn’t at the restaurant,” Sisko said. “I went to see James Leyton.”
A silence opened up between them. Veral had turned her attention from the padds to the cup from which she had been drinking all morning. She twisted the handle until it was at ninety degrees from her.
“Oh,” Ross said. He pressed the back of his hand against his mouth. It muffled his voice even further, and Sisko had to lean in closer to hear him.
“How was he?”
“Unrepentant.”
Ross said nothing.
“Even more so,” Sisko said, “by the time I left.”
Veral laid the spoon straight beneath the handle of her cup. This ritual complete, she tucked the padds beneath her arm, and addressed the two men opposite. “A productive morning, wouldn’t you agree?” she said.
Sisko nodded. Ross made a noise that could count as agreement.
“I am very glad,” she continued, “that we came to a resolution on the staff we are able to make available to your starbases. Let us hope the afternoon progresses toward putting some of them there.”
“I’m sure we’ll have every success,” Ross sa
id, with an official smile that Veral met with one so correct Sisko was sure it could cut.
“Until this afternoon,” she said, then nodded a farewell, and made for the door. Sisko glanced over his shoulder to watch her leave. The whole room was emptying, he saw, quite slowly, since some of the other delegates were hanging back to continue conversations. Sisko turned his attention back to the table in front of him. He reached across for the spoon Veral had so carefully positioned, picked it up, and began to twist it between his forefinger and his thumb.
“Leyton said,” Sisko continued, “that he was glad the war was in my hands.”
Ross seemed to consider that for a moment, then he stood up, and pushed the chair under the table. He leaned against it, bringing himself close to Sisko once again. “Well, so am I,” he said. He straightened himself up again. “Would you mind if I gave you a bit of advice, Ben?”
“Be my guest.”
“Try to get away from here, even if you can only manage a few hours. Try and put it all aside. And no more good works.” Ross gave him a dry look. “Including prison visits. Go and see your folks.”
“I’d love to,” he said, “but I can’t tonight.” He looked up at Ross and admonished him with the spoon. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten? We have to go and drink champagne and make small talk.”
Ross’s face fell. “Hell, that’s all I need right now.” He stifled a yawn. “Oh well,” he said, with a sigh, “at least Councillor Huang knows how to put on a good show. I suppose we may as well enjoy ourselves.” He patted the back of Sisko’s chair. “I’ll see you later, Ben.”
Sisko stayed in his seat and stared out of the window ahead. Outside, he guessed, the midday sun would be high in the sky. Daylight should have been pouring in, bright and revealing, but instead its glare was curbed by the tinted glass. He played with the spoon, catching a little of the light with it and reflecting it onto the tabletop opposite. Perhaps Ross was right, he thought, he should try to put it aside. It was done, and there was nothing to be said about it. And he still had a war to win….
“Captain?”
Sisko turned and looked round. Garak was standing beside him, one hand resting on the back of the next chair along, just where Ross had been, moments before.
“You seem reflective,” Garak said. “Am I disturbing you?”
“No,” Sisko replied. “No, it’s all right.”
“Do you mind if I sit down?” Garak tapped his fingers against the chair.
Sisko gestured with the spoon. “Be my guest.”
Garak sat down and settled himself, and then turned to look at Sisko, an odd gleam in his eye. Sisko twisted at the handle of the spoon.
“What did you want, Garak?”
“Oh,” Garak said, and smiled, “nothing particularly important. It was just that…I had a small favor that I wanted to ask you.”
Steyn was proving more competent than her tardiness at keeping appointments had suggested to Odo. She was thoroughly briefed on the arrangements that had been made to unload the latinum from the Ariadne. Odo had been tempted to put it down to the severe Lissepian who seemed never to be farther than a few inches from her shoulder, but he had grudgingly come to the decision that Steyn was capable enough in her own right. For example, now that he had taken a closer look, Odo had to admit that Steyn had not been overstating the case about her security systems. The biometric scanning systems she had in place were extremely impressive.
The systems were permanently scanning for life-forms within three meters of the crates, and any signature that passed within that space which did not match those contained in its database would automatically trigger two forcefields. One around the crate, to keep them out, and another a few feet away, to keep them in. Since the system could not be altered remotely, adding Odo’s signature to the ones that the scanners would accept meant that Steyn had to go on ahead to enable Odo to come on board the Ariadne. He and Mechter stood in uneasy silence until Steyn gave them the go ahead to join her.
The hold of the Ariadne was cramped with the three of them inside. Odo surreptitiously made himself a few millimeters thinner. Steyn opened the crate, and Odo looked inside. A rack of vials, nestled within, each one filled with liquid latinum. No children’s toys this time, Odo thought. These were the kind of thing for which people might even kill. He glanced at Steyn, and she nodded. He picked up one of the vials. Mechter moved in a little more. Odo contracted another millimeter, and then gestured to some tiny marks engraved on the flat bottom of the vial.
“What are these?” he asked.
“Identification number,” Steyn explained. “Each one is unique to a specific vial. When the latinum gets to the other end, the recipient has to match their own numbers up to the codes they have before the latinum is credited to them.”
“But they have to get past the biometric scanners before they can begin to read off the codes,” Odo said.
Steyn smiled at him. “That’s right,” she said.
“I’m gratified that I’ve been permitted to get so close,” Odo said.
“Couldn’t do it without you, I’m sure,” Steyn said cheerfully. She glanced over her shoulder, and her expression became a little dryer. “We’ll need to be where you are, Mr. Mechter,” she said, “if we’re going to get these bloody things off the ship.”
Now we come to the weak spot. Where will you come out on the Promenade?
“A turbolift on the main floor.”
Look to your left. Describe what is there.
“Close by, there are shops and restaurants. They will all be closed.”
Remember that. Look to your right and describe what is there.
“There is a staircase leading up to a platform which overlooks the thoroughfare. On the main floor, beyond the staircase, there is a clothing shop. Next door to the clothing shop is the assay office.”
And which way do you go?
“Right, of course.”
Odo removed the crate of latinum from the Ariadne himself. Once it was off the ship, he and Steyn, with Mechter close behind, brought it through the cargo bay. Four of Odo’s officers kept the cargo bay secure while the crate and its convoy transferred to the turbolift. Steyn had been unwilling to risk the biometric scanners in the transporter and, besides, Odo wanted to have the latinum in sight for the entire length of time it took to bring it from the Ariadne to the assay office.
Eventually, they reached the Promenade. Eight more well-armed security officers were waiting for them and took up their positions, four in front and four behind, keeping clear of the range of the scanners. Other security teams were dotted about, around the other lifts, and at regular intervals along the Promenade. The procession moved slowly toward the assay office. When they got there, Odo and Steyn took the crate inside, under Mechter’s watchful eye, and Odo secured the door after them. A pair of security officers peeled off from the rest and positioned themselves outside. Mechter studied them critically for a moment or two. From the slow nod he eventually gave, Odo assumed he was satisfied with what he saw.
“If you come this way, Mister Mechter,” Odo said, gesturing to him to follow, “then we can close off this area.”
The Lissepian gave another nod, and Odo led him and Steyn back round the way they had just come. Half of the security team followed Odo, and the rest went down the Promenade in the other direction. When Odo got almost as far as his office, he stopped and waited until his officers were clear, and then signaled their readiness up to ops. Within a few moments, the forcefield was up, and a few seconds after that the other team confirmed that the second forcefield had also been raised.
A third of the Promenade on either side of the assay office had now been sealed off, and the latinum with it. Odo gave a grunt of approval, and tapped his combadge. “Mister O’Brien,” he said, “the Ariadne is clear. You can take your crew on board.”
“Got you, Odo. Thanks.”
Odo turned to Steyn. “The work will be starting on your ship very soon, Captain,” he sa
id. “I imagine Mister O’Brien will be able to give a better estimate of when the repairs will be complete.”
“Thank you,” Steyn said and let out a sigh. “I tell you,” she said, giving Odo a smile, “it’s a relief to have your people working on the ship at last. And to know the latinum is safe and sound, of course….”
“As safe as it is possible for us to make it, Captain,” Odo replied.
“More than good enough for me,” Steyn said. “Now that I’ve seen you in action.”
They exchanged satisfied smiles.
“May I ask,” Odo said, “what your immediate plans are? I believe some quarters have been set aside for you and your crew. Will I be able to find you there if I need you?”
Steyn looked around her, taking in her surroundings. Odo noticed her young crewman hanging about nearby, clearly waiting to join her when she was ready for him. When Steyn caught sight of him, she grinned and stuck her thumbs up at him. Odo watched the young man smile back, shyly.
“That was a bar I saw on the Promenade, wasn’t it, Mister Odo?” Steyn asked.
“Yes,” Odo confirmed. “Quark’s bar.”
Steyn’s interest was piqued. “The name sounds Ferengi,” she remarked. “Or Klingon.”
“Quark is Ferengi,” Odo answered. “Among other things.”
“I see.” Steyn chewed at her bottom lip. Odo saw that she was looking at her young crewman again. Then she nodded, as if having made a decision. “Maybe I’ll take Auger there before I go and catch up on my sleep. Something else new for him to see.”
“If your young colleague is as little traveled as you say he is, I think it is almost a shame to give him such a poor view on the quadrant at large as he will find in Quark’s.”
Steyn laughed. “I guess from that you won’t be joining us then?”
“Thank you, Captain, but I believe I have plenty to occupy my time at the moment.” Odo glanced across at the dark and looming figure of Mechter, looking around the Promenade. He had one hand pressed against his chest. “To begin with…” Odo murmured. He went over to Mechter.
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