"Lieutenant?" O'Brien asked, his tone showing his curiosity at her inability to answer.
"The Cardassians were just something I didn't expect," she said.
"You don't know how long the commander will be gone, do you?" Julian asked.
She shook her head. His three-day estimate might be long. It might be right. Or, if things went really poorly, he might not return at all.
"Good thing Odo knows where we are," O'Brien said. "I wouldn't want to end up like one of those fellows." He pointed toward one of the cold-sleep chambers. Vivid memories of those skeletons rose in Dax's mind. So little left of lives so filled with hope.
"Well, there's nothing we can do about them," Dax said. "And you two believe we're better off not touching the Supreme Ruler. Benjamin thought he might be gone for days. I suppose we should make ourselves comfortable."
Julian grinned. "We could treasure hunt."
Dax did not meet his grin. "If anything's missing from the Nibix when the Jibetians arrive, they'll blame us for the losses."
"I wasn't suggesting we take anything, Jadzia," Julian said. "Just look."
O'Brien shook his head. "I think the lieutenant is right. I think we should hold off looking for treasure. But I would be curious to see the control room. I'd love to know why the emergency revival system broke down while the Supreme Ruler's system didn't."
"We don't know if it broke down," Julian said.
"If the emergency revival system didn't break down, that would be even more interesting, don't you think?" O'Brien asked.
Julian stood and grabbed his cold-weather gear. "Ah," he said. "An age-old conspiracy."
"It might be age-old," Dax said as she stood, too, "but it might be more relevant than you think."
O'Brien shook his head. "I can't believe that an eight-hundred-year-old wreck would cause so much controversy." He stood, dusted off his trousers, and grabbed his cold-weather gear. "Since we'll be here a while, Lieutenant, do you think you could find it in your heart to tell us the true story of the Nibix?"
"All the details?" Julian added.
Dax smiled. "I'll tell you so many details, you'll wish you'd never heard of this ship."
"Too late," Julian said, gazing around the dark corridor. "I already do."
Every muscle in Kira's body was tense. She paced around Ops. The team with her studied their monitors. The air felt hot, even though she knew the environmental controls kept everything at an even temperature.
The Starship Madison had just taken its position around Deep Space Nine. The Idaho wasn't far behind.
"Major," Tappan said, "the Madison is hailing us."
"On screen," Kira said. She stopped in the same position she had been in before. In front of Commander Sisko's office, as if the remnants of his presence gave her more power than she really had.
Captain Higginbotham's lean face filled the screen. "Major," he said. "The Cardassians are only a few minutes away from the station. Our sources believe Gul Dukat is leading the fleet."
"Gul Dukat?" Kira felt herself go cold. Commander Sisko had established a passing relationship with Gul Dukat. Her relationship with him had remained fiery.
"I seem to remember that your station has had dealings with Gul Dukat before."
Kira nodded once. "Gul Dukat used to head Deep Space Nine when it was a Cardassian station. We've dealt with him more than once."
"I suggest that you initiate the contact with him. I will monitor. If need be, I'll help."
Kira frowned. She had thought Captain Higginbotham would be the diplomat on this trip. "Captain," she said, allowing a bit of worry into her tone, "Gul Dukat and I aren't exactly friends."
Captain Higginbotham's smile was almost merry. His eyes twinkled. "I know, Major."
And, she finally understood, he counted on it. He wanted her to stall Gul Dukat until the Jibetians arrived. Of course, he couldn't say so, not with the Cardassians so close.
"I can't promise I'll be civil to him," Kira said, more as a warning to herself than to him.
"I'm sure you'll treat him as you normally would," Captain Higginbotham said. "The Bosewell is nearly here. We'll have a full contingent of starships shortly."
"And some Jibetians."
He nodded. "It promises to be an interesting afternoon," he said and signed off.
Interesting didn't begin to describe the situation. Tense, terrifying, exasperating. Kira might have used those words. And Higginbotham wanted her to engage Gul Dukat. Higginbotham was capable of Siskostyle negotiation, but he didn't want that. He wanted the fireworks of a Bajoran against a former Cardassian warlord. He wanted her to stall.
Stall she would.
She went to the science station and looked over Jones's shoulder. The Cardassians would arrive at the station momentarily. The Bosewell was almost here, as were the Jibetians. As of yet, though, no one had figured out what that other ship was, the one that was streaking here at a speed that was dangerous to most ships known to the Federation.
Her only solace was that it hadn't come through the wormhole. The ship belonged to this sector. No Changelings in the mix.
As the Cardassians approached, she straightened. "Mr. Tappan," she said. "Hail Gul Dukat."
"Aye, Major," Tappan said.
In a moment, Gul Dukat appeared on the screen. He never seemed to age. His lizardlike features had a fire to them that instantly put Kira on guard.
"Gul Dukat," she said in the only voice she could use with the Cardassians—one that was slightly sarcastic, one that barely hid the anger she had toward them—"you hadn't told us you were favoring us with your presence."
"Major," he said, "we saw the Defiant near our border and believed you had trouble here. We have come to assist you."
"The Defiant is not here," she said.
"No? But we saw it head this way." Gul Dukat seemed genuinely surprised.
Sisko must have seen the Cardassians and led them away from the asteroids, which either meant he was cloaked and nearby or that he went back. If he saw the starships, he probably would have returned to the asteroids.
She hoped.
"You are mistaken," Kira said.
"You seem prepared for trouble, Major," Gul Dukat said, his voice at its softest and most dangerous. "Two Federation starships and one more on the way. I am sure something must be happening."
"We are having a meeting between the Federation and some applicants to the organization." Kira smiled her sweetest smile at him. "Clearly this has nothing to do with you. Or your fleet."
"Obviously," Gul Dukat said and looked as if he were about to sign off. Then he frowned. "Major? We recently heard that the Romulans provided the Federation with a cloaking device."
"You've known that for months, Dukat," Kira said. "I thought you were here to assist us."
"Since I'm here, Major, I thought I'd check on the device." He shrugged. "Do you have the plans available?"
"Dukat," Kira said, "what do you want?"
"A little honesty, Major."
Kira clasped her hands behind her back. "You know exactly what I think of you, Dukat."
"Major—"
"And while we're talking about honesty, tell me what brought you across the border."
He leaned back away from his screen. She could now see the silver of his breastplate. "I told you, Major."
"Good. Now that you know what's going on, you're free to leave."
He shook his head. "I think I'll stay awhile, Major. You have no understanding of the internal workings of the Federation. Neither do I. But I have observed them. Never before have they sent three starships to conduct a negotiation. Not even as sensitive a negotiation as a treaty with the Cardassians." He smiled. "I think you might be happy for my presence, Major."
"I'm never happy for your presence, Dukat."
"Perhaps that will change in the next few hours," he said, and his image winked out.
"Do you want me to hail him again, Major?" Tappan asked.
"No." Kira growle
d the word. Dealing with Cardassians always left her feeling furious.
"How long until the Jibetians arrive, Mr. Tappan?" she asked. She wanted to know if she had a moment to go to Sisko's office and smash something to get rid of this foul temper she was in.
"One hour, ten minutes, Major."
Time enough then. She whirled, headed toward the office, and had opened the door when Ensign Jones spoke.
"Major?" she said, "I've identified that ship."
Kira stopped, sighed, and let the office door close. She came back into Ops. "What is it?"
Jones pushed away from the station so that she could face Kira. "It's the Ferengi flagship."
"The Grand Nagus?" Kira asked. She clenched her fists. "I sure love the way this station keeps a secret."
CHAPTER
14
AS THE DEFIANT drew near the asteroid, Sisko tensed. He sat in the commander's chair, hands gripped on the armrests, and watched the monitors.
The asteroid looked as it had when he first saw it, a pockmarked ball floating among a dozen other pockmarked balls in the darkness of space.
No ships. No one had followed them. No one had preceded them. The Nibix was safe.
For the moment.
"Ensign Coleman," he said, "are we alone?"
Coleman had been monitoring the other ships in the area ever since they left the space around the station. Even so, his cautious nature demanded that he double-check. Sisko waited a beat too long as Coleman ran the scans again.
"No one followed us, sir."
"Good." Sisko leaned back in his chair. Even though no one followed them, they had to be cautious. The asteroid belt itself bothered him. Ships could hide easily here—he had used asteroid belts for that himself. "Keep an eye out. We don't want anyone to sneak up on us."
"Yes, sir," Ensign Coleman said.
Sisko stood. The immediate danger had passed. Now he had to discover how the away team did in reviving the Supreme Ruler. He didn't want to risk a subspace transmission, even encoded. But he would risk a quick transport beam. Besides, if he were going to be honest with himself, he had to admit that he wanted desperately to return to the surface. No amount of justifying would change that.
"I'm going to beam to the surface to see how we're doing," he said. "Ensign Kathé, you have the conn. I want you to decloak only during the time it takes me to get to the surface. Then stay cloaked. Keep the transporter locked on me at all times. If there are any problems at all, I want you to beam me back to the ship immediately."
Ensign Kathé stood. Her long rainbow hair wrapped around her like a shawl. The colors shimmered in the bright light of the bridge. "Yes, sir," she said, her tone reflecting her pleasure and terror at being in charge. "I'll do everything I can, sir."
"I know you will." He made sure he spoke gently, wishing that he had brought one more crew member, someone else he could trust. It surprised him that there were so few members of the DS9 crew that he trusted on this deep level. Kira and Odo had to remain at the station. Jake wasn't qualified. And the others were on the surface below.
If he told that concern to Dax, she would laugh at him and tell him to be thankful he trusted so many people on his staff. They both knew that some leaders had no one to trust but themselves.
He took the turbolift. On his way, he grabbed his cold-weather gear. Then he walked into the transporter room and smiled when he saw transporter veteran Vukcevich at the controls. Vukcevich had been a member of the DS9 crew from the beginning, but he usually worked in the docks. When the Defiant came to the station, Vukcevich petitioned Sisko for a position on the ship, saying he had always wanted to work a transporter, and the luck of the draw had put him on a space station instead. Sisko had put Vukcevich in charge of all the duties concerning the transporter ever since and had not once regretted it. Seeing the slight man hunched over the control pad made Sisko revise his earlier thoughts.
He trusted his crew. All of his crew. Some, though, had earned a deeper trust than others had.
"Commander," Vukcevich said, speaking so softly he was hard to understand, "I have the coordinates for the away team, but they are not where they should be."
Sisko stopped, one foot on the step leading to the transporter pad. He leaned in, hoping he had heard incorrectly. "Where are they?"
"Using the ancient schematic Lieutenant Dax superimposed over the wreckage, I would guess that they're in what used to be the control room."
The worry that had dogged Sisko all day grew worse. A chill ran up his spine. "Are there problems at their previous coordinates?"
"No, sir, not that I can tell."
"And they're alone on the surface?"
"According to my scans, sir. You might want to check with the bridge."
He had checked with the bridge. And double-checked with the bridge. And didn't want to check with the bridge again. He stepped onto the pad. "Beam me down there."
"Aye, sir," Vukcevich said. Sisko watched. Vukcevich manipulated the controls and that slightly warm, slight prickly feeling of transport began. A second later, Sisko was standing in a poorly lit, freezing cold cavernous control room. He pulled on his gloves and his deep-cold jacket, wishing he had some sort of protection for his face.
The control room had a high domed ceiling open to the stars. Some type of clear material—probably the same glasslike substance used for the cold-sleep chambers—arced overhead, unbroken by the crash. Faint starlight filtered in. Sisko looked up first, half searching for the blip that would be the Defiant in orbit, even though he knew the Defiant was cloaked.
Then he made himself look down. The control panels glowed a soft but insistent green, the same green as the Supreme Ruler's glowing staff. An overhead light spotted on the center control panel, a thin black board in a boomerang shape that filled the center of the room. Dax stood beside the board, one hand on its panels. Bashir was in the chair beside her, arms behind his head and his head tilted back as he gazed at the stars. Sisko couldn't see O'Brien anywhere.
"It would be nice if you said hello to your commander," Sisko said softly and smiled as Dax and Bashir started. They hadn't heard him beam down. A large bang echoed in the room, followed by a soft curse. Then O'Brien emerged from beneath the boomerang. Black particles filled his curly red hair and dotted his face.
"Benjamin," Dax said, "we didn't expect you for another day, maybe more."
"I can see that," Sisko said with a smile. He walked over toward them. The air was so cold that it made his boots squeak. "At least I didn't catch you treasure hunting."
"Something far more interesting," O'Brien said.
"I trust the Cardassians are no longer watching us," Bashir asked.
"We lead them to the station," Sisko said, "where they were greeted by three Starfleet starships and will soon be joined by a fleet of Jibetian warships."
"Poor Kira," Dax said softly. "She was hoping to avoid diplomatic duty for a while."
"Sounds like she'll put in enough diplomatic duty to be promoted to ambassador," Bashir said. "How did all those groups converge so quickly? I thought this was supposed to be a secret mission."
"So did I," Sisko said. "Their presence makes our actions here even more important. I am surprised you're not with the Supreme Ruler."
"We don't dare touch the Supreme Ruler with the equipment we have here," Bashir said. "His cells have deteriorated, and while he's technically alive, I'm not certain he's revivable. I would like to take him to the station's medical facilities before I proceed any further."
"We don't always get what we want, Doctor," Sisko said.
"Well, sir, I'll be blunt. It's my belief that should I attempt to revive him here, he will die. Totally and irrevocably. At the station, I'll have the equipment to give him a fighting chance."
Sisko's stomach tied itself in knots. Dax smiled at him, her look understanding. She knew, as he did, that to lose the Supreme Ruler now might not just destroy the careers of the people around him, but it might have serious—and fatal
—repercussions for the Federation as well.
Sisko took a deep breath, hoping to calm himself. "Let's beam him aboard the Defiant, then, and post a guard here to prevent scavenging."
"I'm afraid it's not that easy, sir," O'Brien said. "We can't remove him from his sleep chamber, and if we tamper with the chamber itself, it'll stop working. We'll have to move the room itself."
Sisko closed his eyes. A slight shiver ran through his system, brought on, he hoped, by the cold. He needed a few moments to think. "Tell me what you're doing here," he said.
"Now that's the question, isn't it?" O'Brien said with more enthusiasm than he had ever shown for the Nibix or the Supreme Ruler. "We got to talking about what made this ship crash on the asteroid. Cold-sleep ships have fail safes—"
"I'm familiar with them, Chief," Sisko said gently. Not only was he familiar with them, he had made them a special point of study during his early interest in the Nibix. Some of the theories of the Nibix were that its fail safes had been improperly constructed, allowing the ship to disappear without awakening any of the crew.
"Good then." O'Brien glanced at Bashir. He had sat up in the chair, and looked in this light like a spotlit piece of Renaissance art.
Dax was watching O'Brien, a frown on her face. "You found something, Chief?" she asked.
"Just when the commander showed up. I was about to call you down, Lieutenant." O'Brien took a deep breath as if to control his emotions, and then he grinned. "Forgive me, sir. Dax explained how important all this is. It's just I feel like Sherlock Holmes. The clues are so subtle, and yet they're there, clear as anything."
"What clues?" Sisko asked. His stomach had knotted so tight it felt as if he had swallowed a rock.
"The Nibix was sabotaged." O'Brien rocked back and forth on his feet as if he couldn't contain his excitement.
Sisko let out the air he'd been holding. "You're certain, Chief?"
"As sure as I am of anything, sir. This ship was never intended to reach its destination. From what I can tell, as soon as it left Jibetian airspace, all its navigational systems went off-line. Then the automatic awakening systems were disconnected."
The Long Night Page 11
