by Неизвестный
"-so he struck as quickly as he could to render her unconscious-"
"-and he-"
"-or she-"
"-plans on coming back to finish the job before Vash wakes up-"
"-which should be in the next thirty minutes!" Bashir grinned at her, quite obviously enjoying the chance to play detective. "I must say, Jadzia, we make a wonderful team."
Being a Trill, Jadzia simply returned Julian's grin and said, "I've always thought so. But for now," she went on, "maybe we should have Odo post more guards?"
Bashir nodded, "Good idea. I'll call-"
"Where is she?!"
Major Kira burst into the Infirmary like an avenging Pah-wraith, fury expressed in every line of her being.
Jadzia could guess what had caused Kira's reaction, and it seemed Julian had also, because at once he took on the manner of someone outside the jurisdiction of both Starfleet protocol and Bajoran laws. He faced Kira as a physician with a patient in his care-a patient no one would be allowed to harm.
"If you mean Vash, she's still recovering," Bashir said firmly.
Kira took a swift look around the Infirmary, saw the analysis bed was empty in the treatment alcove and
started for the surgery. "I don't care. I'm talking to her."
Bashir immediately stepped in front of Kira, to block her advance. "Not until she's awake, Major."
They were centimeters apart, neither one willing to yield. Kira's hands were balled into fists at her side. Restlessly, she shifted her weight from foot to foot. Her voice was demanding, belligerent. "Then wake her, Doctor. Use some of those magic potions of yours to bring her around now."
Bashir held his ground, unconvinced. "There is no medical need to do so."
With that, Kira's military bluster gave way to a plea of personal indignation. "Julian! She is involved in try-ing to sell an Orb of the Prophets. That is an outrage! To me, my world, to ten thousand years of Bajorans who have sought to follow the Prophets' teachings. I demand to speak to her."
Bashir still didn't move, though Jadzia was pleased to see Julian's attitude soften. "Major, first of all, Vash isn't going anywhere. And second, any questioning you conduct might be more useful if you had a few moments to... gather your thoughts, so it won't be... as personal."
"How can it not be personal?"
Bashir sighed. "Listen, Nerys, whatever Vash said to Captain Sisko, you have to remember she had just received a jolt of a disruptive neural toxin, almost directly to her brain. Maybe what she said did make sense. Maybe it didn't. But in any case, the captain said he couldn't understand everything she said. The point is, we won't know for certain until she wakes up."
Kira stared hard at Bashir. "A 'disruptive' neural toxin? Not a fatal one?"
"Fatal to Andorians, not humans. She'll be fine."
Jadzia saw the major's rigid posture relax as she stepped back from Bashir, lowering the level of con-frontation, but not ending it. "You're surprised by that," Jadzia said to her.
Kira nodded, taking a deep breath to further com-pose herself. "I thought... I didn't have much time. That I might lose her before.... Why would someone try to kill Vash with an Andorian toxin?"
"To make it appear as if an Andorian is the attempted murderer," Odo said, startling everyone as he suddenly entered the Infirmary.
"Did you find something on the scanner records?" Jadzia asked. She knew that was what Odo had been doing for the past ten minutes: analyzing the security tapes taken of the crowds on the Promenade at the time Vash was hit by the dart. Normally, she knew, visual scanners weren't used in the public areas of the station on an ongoing basis. But there were few things Odo hated more than an unsolved crime in his territory, and Jadzia was aware DS9's security officer was determined to use every means he could to solve Dal Nortron's death and erase what he would no doubt consider a per-sonal affront to his abilities as station constable.
"No, I did not," Odo said gruffly. "Whoever the shooter was, he must have positioned himself just by the gym, under the banners. Precisely where there is a gap in the scanner coverage."
Bashir shot a sideways glance at Jadzia, clearly intrigued by Odo's reasoning. "That could indicate the shooter is someone with highly detailed knowledge of station security."
Odo folded his arms. "Just what are trying to sug-gest, Doctor?"
Odo's challenging tone seemed to unsettle Bashir. "I'm... suggesting nothing."
To divert Odo before he could directly accuse Julian of suspecting him, Jadzia bestowed a winning smile on the constable. "Odo, Julian and I were just trying to find a pattern to the... the clues in this case. So far, when you put them all together, they don't make a lot of sense, so any extra piece of information should be considered carefully."
"Of course they don't make sense," Odo said darkly. "Quark is involved."
Jadzia wasn't willing to let that stand. "Maybe," she said.
Odo was silent, but the pained expression on his face conveyed his thoughts well enough.
"Well," Kira said, "the one person who might be able to make sense out of whatever is going on is still in there." She pointed to the surgery.
But Vash's doctor still wasn't ready to yield. "And she'll be waking up soon. Odo, just in case whoever attacked Vash tries to come back and finish the job, could you-"
"I already have three officers stationed outside the Infirmary, Doctor. And Worf has placed transporter-suppression shields around this section of the Prome-nade to prevent anyone or anything being beamed in or out."
"I certainly couldn't ask for more than that. Thank you, Constable."
Odo's stiff response told Jadzia that the constable wasn't swayed by Julian's attempt to create a more cooperative mood. "Don't mention it, Doctor. How-ever, in the interests of full security, I would appreciate being in the room with Vash when she wakes up."
Before Bashir could answer, Kira added, "So would I."
"She's not going to be in the best of shape," Bashir warned.
But Kira was in control of her emotions now. "Julian, an Orb of the Prophets. Vash is no longer just a smuggler who can pay a fine and move on to the next system. Even an attempt to interfere with an Orb makes her liable to life imprisonment under Bajoran law. What she's done-or even planned to do-is so serious, I've reported it to Kai Winn. Three Vedek Inquisitors are already on their way."
"The Inquisitors function as a war crimes investiga-tive tribunal." Bashir's voice betrayed his alarm.
Kira's jaw tightened. "Up until now, all missing Orbs were the result of Cardassian looting. We are talking war crimes."
Jadzia finally saw her chance to act as mediator. "Nerys, let's say Vash is involved in... oh, I don't know... some extralegal transaction involving obtain-ing an Orb from one of the Cardassians who stole it in the first place. If she were doing this so she could, say, return the Orb to the Bajoran people-the way Grand Nagus Zek returned the Orb of Wisdom-don't you think it possible that no charges would be brought? I mean, the Inquisitors didn't file charges against Zek."
"Are you defending her, Jadzia?" Kira's voice was incredulous.
"If she's done what you think she's done, not at all. But what I am trying to do is to point out that we don't know everything yet, and that there might be some alternate explanation. And if we keep that in mind, then maybe we'll be able to talk to Vash, instead of interrogate her. And maybe she can help us right now,
instead of deciding to say nothing until her legal defender spends months negotiating an... accommo-dation with the Inquisitors. If we keep open minds, maybe we can get to the bottom of this much faster than if we jump to conclusions. That's all." Jadzia held steady under Kira's measuring gaze.
The major made her decision. She nodded to Jadzia. "All right, I won't threaten her with life in prison right away. And since you seem to be open to more possibil-ities than the rest of us, why don't you start the ques-tioning-I mean, the conversation."
Odo cleared his throat. "In case any of you were wondering," the changeling sa
id heavily, reminding them all of his presence, "I have no problem with Dax asking the questions. At first."
Now everyone looked at Bashir.
"Too much stress will delay her full recovery. A conversation will be much better than the third degree."
Kira blinked. "The third degree of what?"
"I'll explain later," Odo said.
But Kira wasn't willing to let it go. She frowned. "What are the first two degrees?"
"I'm sure 'interrogation' is what Julian meant to say," Jadzia said smoothly, glaring at Julian to stop him from adding anything else provocative. Jadzia could see that Kira was losing the fight to control her impatience. "So, Doctor, keeping our minds open, promising not to be a source of stress for her, is it pos-sible you'll allow us to see your patient?"
"Yes. But..."
"But what?" Kira snapped.
Bashir raised his eyebrows. "Doesn't anyone think we should wait for Captain Sisko?"
"He's involved with Chief O'Brien," Odo said. "He'll be expecting a report from me, and from you, Doctor, when we're finished with the prisoner... that is, the patient."
"All right," Bashir shrugged. "Then just let me check on her first."
Odo bowed his head as if giving his approval.
Bashir went into the surgery.
Jadzia looked at Kira and Odo. "Why does it feel that we're on opposite sides all of a sudden?"
"We're not," Kira said testily as if offended even by Jadzia's question.
"I hope you don't think that Julian and I are insensi-tive to the Orbs, or to the Bajoran religion," Jadzia said.
Kira stared at a point over Jadzia's shoulder as she seemed to think over many different possible replies before she said, "Not intentionally."
Now Jadzia felt offense. "Then I apologize," she said tersely.
"No need."
"Well, obviously, something is needed."
Kira's gaze shifted. Her eyes met Jadzia's. Again, it seemed she struggled with finding the right answer before she muttered, "All right. It couldn't hurt for you to spend some time in the temple."
Jadzia felt her spots prickle, never a good sign when it came to her mood. "Major, since coming to this sta-tion six years ago, you know very well I have made the Orbs one of my chief areas of study."
Kira's smile was condescending, almost one of pity. "Dax, you've spent six years studying what you believe to be solidified energy vortices. And you can spend the next six hundred years doing the same, and
you will learn absolutely nothing because they are not vortices, they are the Tears of the Prophets. And until you understand that, you won't-"
"She's awake," Bashir announced as he walked from the surgery. "Doing fine as a matter of fact." He looked around uncertainly, as if he sensed residual traces of the argument that had just begun between Kira and Jadzia. "You can... come in now... if you still want to, that is...."
Kira pushed straight past Jadzia into the surgery. A moment later, Odo gave Jadzia a small shrug, and fol-lowed after Kira.
Bashir stared at Jadzia. "I was only gone a minute."
"Around here, that's all it takes," Jadzia said drily. Then she followed the good doctor into the surgery, wondering what the next minute would bring.
CHAPTER 13
O'BRIEN shifted uncomfortably in the center chair of the Defiant. It wasn't that he had never taken com-mand of the ship before. But he had never done so when Captain Sisko was standing at his side
"We're at 50 kilometers and holding," Commander Arla said from her position at the flight operations console. Beyond her, on the Defiant's main viewer, Deep Space 9 was a distant, sparkling smear of jew-eled radiance against the translucent lavender plasma wisps of the Denorios Belt. There was no atmospheric distortion in space to account for the constant flicker-ing of the station's lights, O'Brien knew. Instead, it was DS9's slow rotation that caused lights to flare erratically from viewports and disappear behind defense sails and docked spacecraft, like the twinkling of stars.
"Um, what do I do now?" Arla asked.
It was obvious to O'Brien that the young Bajoran Starfleet officer was about as at ease as he was with their new assignment-which was to say, not at all. And for good reason. Apart from Captain Sisko, Arla and O'Brien were the ship's only crew for this mis-sion. Arla claimed she hadn't piloted anything larger than a shuttle since she'd graduated the Academy, and now she was at the conn of one of the most over-powered, hard-to-handle Starships in the fleet.
"Activate automatic station keeping," O'Brien told her. Reflexively, he looked up at Sisko to make sure he had said the right thing. The captain's nod told him he had.
"Relax, Chief. Worf is standing by at Ops. If any-thing even looks like it's about to go wrong, you can have a full crew beamed on board in less than a minute."
But the cause of O'Brien's unease wasn't the prospect of disaster. He couldn't resist the impulse any longer. He started to get out of the chair. The chair. "You sure you wouldn't feel more comfortable doing this yourself, sir?"
"The Defiant's in good hands, Chief. Now sit down."
O'Brien sighed as he did. But it still didn't feel right.
"Are the tactical sensors reconfigured?" Sisko asked.
"As best they can be," O'Brien answered. "Though they really were never designed for this kind of detail. I mean, I had to modify the gravity generators to create an artificial inertial-matrix aperture for the-"
"I don't need a lecture, Mr. O'Brien," Sisko said
gently. "Just your assurance that they're going to work."
"Oh, they'll work, sir. Just not as fast as if she were the Enterprise."
"How long then?"
O'Brien had already done the duration calculations, but he worked through them again just to be sure. "I'd say ten hours for the full sensor sweep. Maybe another hour for the computer to finish the comparison between the Cardassian schematics and the scan results."
"And then we'll have a complete interior map of the station-"
"-with all deviations from the original designs called out by the computer. If there are any more hid-den rooms in there, we'll definitely find them."
"Very good," Sisko said. "Now I'm wondering if while you're conducting the station scan, you can look for something else that's gone missing."
O'Brien sat forward in his chair, apprehensive. "I can try, sir. What is it?"
"Quark."
O'Brien frowned at the viewer before him as he contemplated the computational effort that would be required by what the captain was asking of him. On the Enterprise, with her special-purpose science sen-sors and multiband hyperspectral arrays, O'Brien would have felt confident he could do a biosweep of Deep Space 9 and find an hour-old outbreak of mold on a single slice of bread in a neutronium-lined food cooler inside of fifteen minutes. Finding a full-grown Ferengi would have taken less than half that time.
But the Defiant wasn't built primarily for science.
Her scanners and sensors were designed to locate and analyze targets first and further humanity's under-standing of the universe second. To tune and focus sensor emanations to ignore all living matter in approximately two cubic kilometers of space, except for one Ferengi....
A sudden thought struck O'Brien. "Captain, are you sure Quark's even on the station?"
"That's what I'm hoping you will tell me."
O'Brien's brow became deeply furrowed as he cal-culated his chances of success. "Is there any chance you might get all the other Ferengi to leave the station for the day?"
"As I said, I don't want anyone to know that any kind of a scan or a search is under way. That's why you and Commander Arla got the job. And only you two. Do you think you can do it, Chief?"
O'Brien nodded, his head already filling with a list of the adjustments he'd have to make to the sensor scan rates, the density-overlap mapping algorithms, even the power-output waveguides. The subspace reso-nance patterns would have to be tuned to the exact salt content of Ferengi muscle tissue and.... He suddenly realiz
ed he hadn't answered the captain's question because he'd already become caught up in the how of his assignment. Not to mention the why. "Yes, I can, sir. Is Quark in trouble, Captain?"
Sisko nodded gravely. "He might be."
O'Brien found himself wondering if Quark had become the victim of a kidnapping. If so, then his sympathy was with the kidnappers. "Then should I scan the docked ships, as well? Just in case he's on one of them?"
"Good idea, Chief. And keep scanning them as they
dock, just in case someone's going to try to slip him onto one that's arriving later." Sisko tugged down on his jacket. "Anything else before I go?"