by Неизвестный
In less than a year, the end result of the convection would have been to turn the entire moon into molten
rock. But a clever feedback loop allowed the excess heat of the moon's core to be shunted into subspace and collected by orbiting conversion platforms. There, the enormous energy imbalance was transformed. Extremely high-frequency subspace waves were changed to more-easily-controlled midrange frequen-cies, which could be safely transmitted to Bajor's power grid.
The engineers who maintained the system likened it to setting off an antimatter bomb in a flimsy wooden box, and then only allowing the energy to escape through a very small hole in one side. The slightest miscalculation could result in the sudden release of all the energy at once, vaporizing the box-or, in this case, Jeraddo and whatever hemisphere of Bajor it was over at the time. But as long as everything performed according to specs, Jeraddo would be providing power to Bajor for the next thousand years.
And the only cost for that benefit was that what had once been an inhabited class-M moon, was now a class-Y demon world on which an unprotected visitor would live for less time than it took to draw a breath. Whether death would come from the toxic corrosive crimson clouds, the sudden atmospheric pressure waves of 1200-degrees-Celsius heat, or the wildly fluctuating gravity fields that were a byproduct of the subspace inversion at the moon's core no one could predict. Nor did anyone particularly care. All possibili-ties were equally unpleasant and equally fatal.
The ship that now took up a nonstandard orbit around the hellish moon appeared to be an ordinary Sagittarian cruiser, its gleaming yellow hull making electric contrast with Jeraddo's red clouds.
The cruiser was as long as the Defiant but no more
than half its width. For redundancy-not efficiency- its back third was ringed by four half-size warp nacelles. Its middle third was covered almost com-pletely with pressure hatches for twenty-four escape modules-one for every five passengers and crew, though each had seating and supplies for ten. And the front third was thick with ablative shielding on its for-ward surfaces. Any impact with an unexpected body would first be absorbed by the hull, then by the "crush zone" provided by the forward cargo storage holds. All was designed to protect the all-important passenger cabins amidships.
In short, it was a typical conservative, civilian ship, designed for safety above all else.
Which is why it looked so out of place this close to Jeraddo, a world where even establishing a standard orbit risked the survival of a ship.
Inside the cruiser, though, Sisko had a better sense of the vessel's survivability. Though it looked Sagittar-ian on the outside, it was pure Cardassian within.
"A Chimera-class, vessel" Terrell had called it. She and Sisko both knew that in times of war, a neutral vessel could be a much safer means of transportation. Especially when it was liberally outfitted with hidden weapons and capable of outrunning almost any other ship in the sector.
"You actually plan to beam down there?" Sisko asked as he watched a false-color image of the moon's hidden surface scroll across the main bridge viewer of Terrell's cruiser. Though the thick clouds of the moon prevented any direct visual observation of its surface, the cruiser's sensors had no difficulty picking up ground detail.
"We've found the abandoned village," Terrell said. She was in the command chair-an imposing black structure that had the silhouette of a looming bat. Atrig was her navigator, seated at a forward console. Sisko didn't know where Dr. Betan was."And from the details on that map, we can narrow down the Orb's; location to perhaps a square kilometer surface area, and search."
"I'm curious," Sisko said.
"I should hope so," Terrell replied.
"How did you manage to misplace an Orb on the station and have it turn up on this moon?"
Terrell stood up from her chair. Typical of Cardas-sian design, the chair was mounted on a meter-high platform so that the commander would always be above the crew. "It's not the same Orb, Captain. It's the second. When I find it, then I can return to Terok Nor and find the first."
"And then what?"
"And then, with Vash's Orb I will have all three, and I will not need equipment to open a wormhole. According to the ancient texts we've deciphered, I merely have to bring the three Orbs together... any-where I choose." She stepped down from her com-mand platform and walked forward to Atrig's navigation console to check the readings on his dis-play. "We're coming up on the village now."
On the viewer, Sisko detected a grouping of primi-tive, blocky structures slide into view, arranged just as he recalled seeing on Dal Nortron's map. Though the crisp layout of the village seemed to be obscured, somehow.
"Is that debris?" he asked.
Terrell made more adjustments on the console and
the sensor image of the village expanded on the screen and became more detailed.
"Some of the buildings appear to have collapsed," Terrell observed. "But with the winds and the gravity fluctuations, that's to be expected."
A door slipped open, and Dr. Betan walked slowly onto the bridge. He was wearing a bulky Cardassian environmental suit, shiny green-black in color, made up of curved segments to look even more like a bee-tle's carapace than any other Cardassian uniform Sisko had seen.
In his gloved hands, Dr. Betan carried the red hourglass-shaped crystal which Vash had brought to DS9. Sisko was startled to see that it wasn't as impen-etrably dark as it had first appeared to be.
"See that?" Terrell said. "That glow inside?" She looked at Sisko. "It means it's getting closer to its missing mate."
"You seem to have everything under control," Sisko said.
"Not quite," Terrell said curtly. "You still have to answer my questions."
Sisko had known that was coming. "You won't like the answers."
"I think I will. Because if you're thinking of disap-pointing me, remember that Terok Nor is still running under manual-control conditions, and it will be several hours before anyone goes looking for your missing staff and your son. They are right where I left them- which makes them easy for me to find."
"All right. You want to know how to negotiate with the wormhole aliens," Sisko said.
Terrell nodded. "I know the science of wormholes. But the aliens are an X-factor. You've dealt with them
and returned. My people never did. What's your secret?"
Dr. Betan pressed a small control on a side bulkhead and a panel beside a small transporter platform skid open to reveal four environmental suits in storage racks. Terrell gestured to them. "We don't have much time."
Sisko went to the suit Dr. Betan pointed out It seemed to be the right size.
"There is no secret," he said. "The Prophets-the aliens-are in complete control the entire time. They initiate contact. They control the length of contact. And then they terminate contact." He stepped into the trouser section of the suit, and then watched as the imbedded pressure rings expanded to extend the legs to the proper length.
Terrell's voice was tense. "Then under what condi-tions could you see them refusing to let a traveler leave their wormhole?"
Sisko held up his arms so Dr. Betan could slide the chest piece over his head.
'Terrell, you told me I was too caught up in think-ing about the Orbs. What if you're too caught up in thinking about the wormhole as simply another dimen-sion?"
Terrell was more used to the suits than was Sisko. She was already dressed, needing only to attach her helmet. "Explain."
"The Bajorans believe their wormhole, the Blue Wormhole, is the home of their gods. In a sense, it's their heaven. But if you've truly discovered a second wormhole..."
"Don't even suggest it," Terrell threatened. "Heaven and hell, as you call them-supernatural realms of
eternal reward and eternal punishment-are not wor-thy of scientific discussion or consideration." She strode over to Sisko and lifted a helmet from the rack behind him. "Life is everywhere in our universe, Cap-tain. In the most unlikely ecological niche, on almost every world, we find something that
qualifies as living matter. Why can't you accept that different dimen-sional realms also harbor life, without having to invoke superstition?"
"Just a suggestion," Sisko said. "The Prophets or aliens or whatever you'd like to call them can be unnerving, I'll admit. And I don't usually have any idea what it is they want when they contact me. But they've never kept me in their realm against my will. Why they, or beings like them, didn't allow your peo-ple to return, I can't say."
"Keep thinking," Terrell said tersely as she snapped Sisko's helmet closed and sealed it. The helmet was a hemisphere of something transparent that curved from a shell-like shoulder unit. At once, all sound was muf-fled except for the rasp of Terrell and Dr. Betan breath-ing over the suit's comm link, and Terrell's voice. "I'm sure you'll come up with something more useful in the next hour."
"Why an hour?"
"Because that's just about how long these suits will stand up to the corrosive atmosphere down there." She stepped up on the transporter platform at the side of the bridge. Sisko saw Dr. Betan do the same and followed.
Here we go, Sisko thought.
"Atrig," Terrell said tensely. "Energize."
And then Sisko dissolved into light, and reformed in absolute darkness.
CHAPTER 24
quark didn't know what made him feel worse. The fact that Captain Sisko had been kidnapped by crazed Cardassians who might soon have the means to con-quer the galaxy, or the fact that his holosuites were wired into the station's main computers and apparently had far more computational capability than he had ever dreamed of, let alone charged for, in the past ten years.
He lightly moved his finger toward the open area at the front of his holding cell and marveled again at the sudden shock of the simulated security forcefield. "Amazing," he said.
"Oh, be quiet," Odo grumbled.
The changeling was sitting on the edge of the bunk at the back of the cell, holding his head.
"Well, I see you're back to being your old self," Quark said.
"Quark, I'm warning you..."
"No need. No need. In fact, I'm going to be espe-cially nice to you while we're in here."
Quark loved the way Odo looked up at him then. The constable was so easy to bait.
"And why would that be?" Odo asked, sounding as if he already regretted saying anything at all.
"Because we're finally in a position where everyone will have to listen to me, and you can't walk out, or threaten to haul me off to your office."
"You're babbling, Quark."
Quark went back to the cell opening and called out to the others. "Excuse me! Can I have everyone's attention, please?"
The cell across from Quark's held Bashir, Kira, and Jadzia. Jake and Nog were in the cell to the right. They all stepped forward to the limits of their own security forcefields to look at Quark.
"We're listening," Bashir said. The doctor sounded exhausted. Or frustrated. Or hungry. With Hew-mons, Quark knew, it was difficult to tell.
"Well, I just wanted to remind everyone what Odo said about what happened to him on the Day of With-drawal."
Quark heard Odo get to his feet and come up behind him.
"Let it go, Quark. I got stunned by a looter. I missed the whole day."
But Quark shook his finger at his nemesis. "Uh, uh, uh. Not so fast. When Dr. Bashir asked if you were sure, you launched into a most convincing story about how one of the things you missed was Gul Dukat scur-rying off like a vole deserting a ship seized by bailiffs."
Odo glared at him, but said nothing. Quark knew it was because there was nothing he could say. Not now.
Quark finished the conversation by calling out to the others. "But even I remember when Gul Dukat left because it was early in the day, before the fighting broke out. So if Odo remembers coming down to die Promenade to break up a fight, then he has to remem-ber Dukat's leaving, so one way or another, he's hiding something-which means he's tying to us!"
"Happy now?" Odo asked.
"I'll be happy when you admit you can't remem-ber what happened to you on the Day of With-drawal."
"Then you'll never be happy again," Odo said, and walked back to the bunk and sat down with a grunt.
"Quark!" Jadzia called out to him. "This might not be the time to revisit the past. We should try and find a way to shut down this simulation."
Quark put his hands on his hips, thoroughly miffed. "Oh, I get it. I get caught in a small white lie like, I thought you wanted me to keep the change, or, I logged the payment into your account yesterday-it must be the computer, and what happens? Everyone points their fingers at me like... like suddenly my pants are on fire. Typical Ferengi, you say. Isn't that just like Quark, you say.
"But catch Odo, our constable, our shining exemplar of truth, justice, and the Federation way, in a lie of supernova proportions, and what do you say?" Quark raised his voice in a not very convincing parody of Jadzia. "This isn't the time to revisit the past." He turned his back on everyone. "Well, I'm sick of it."
His ears tingled as he heard Jadzia sigh. Then she called out, "Anyway, Quark, you must have some kind
of override on your holosuites. Can't you try shutting it down?"
Quark raised his hands to the simulated ceiling. "Don't you people get it? This isn't one of my holo-programs. My prisons have chains on the wall, metal rings on the floor, a complete selection of whips and restraints for every taste, and your choice of beverage. I have no idea where this came from."
"Could you at least try?" Jadzia asked.
Quark huffed with impatience. "Computer, end pro-gram. There, are you happy?"
"Try an override, please."
"Computer, this is Quark. I need an emergency shut-down in holosuite A."
"Please state your password," the computer voice replied.
Quark froze. How could he reveal his password to... everyone?
Odo seemed to be able to read his mind. "Quark, you can change your password later. We need to get out now."
Quark cleared his throat. "Computer... this is Quark. Password... and I don't want to hear any snickering," he suddenly warned his audience. "Pass-word... Big Lobes."
Quark rolled his eyes as Nog covered his mouth and seemed to go into either a gagging or a coughing fit, Quark really didn't care to think which.
"Big Lobes authenticated," the computer con-firmed. "Emergency shutdown procedure is not avail-able."
"What?! Why not?" Quark demanded.
"Priority override is in effect during state of emer-gency. This simulation will run for an additional two
hours, thirty-three minutes, or until terminated by Pre-fect Terrell."
Quark shrugged, totally defeated. His lot in Me. "Well, that's that. The station's computer is controlling mine."
"But it can't be in complete control." Nog said with sudden inspiration. "For this simulation to exist the station's computer has to be using subroutines from your computer."
"So?" Quark said.
"So," Nog answered as he stepped to the back of the holding cell he shared with Jake, "maybe one of those subroutines is the safety override, which means these forcefields might be just for show."
Quark wasn't impressed with his nephew's idea. "And how do you expect to find out if-"
"Nog!" The shout came from Jake as the young Ferengi charged forward to test his theory and-
-hit a full-power forcefield that threw him back against the far wall of the cell with twice the force with which he had launched himself.
Quark saw his nephew slide unconscious to the deck with a soft moan as his headskirt slid up the back of bis head until it flopped forward to cover his face like a baby's sleeping bonnet.
Quark sighed. "That's Starfleet initiative for you."
He looked out past the Security Office to the doors to the Promenade. As gloomy as it was out there, in the abnormal blue Cardassian lighting Quark remem-bered so well and hated so much from the old days on the station, he could see simulated people walking back and forth. Bajoran slav
e workers and Cardassian soldiers, mostly. It was a very realistic effect, but it was still only window dressing. "If this simulation is
so accurate, I wish we could get one of those pedestri-ans out there to come in," Quark sighed.
Odo snorted. "If it's an accurate simulation from the Occupation, no one will. This wasn't the favorite place on the station for Bajorans or Cardassians."
"Or Ferengi," Quark said.
And then the main doors slid open and someone entered.
"Anyone home?" a familiar voice shouted.