The Long Night

by Dean Wesley Smith

  The discovery of the Nibix would change all of that. The clear death of the Supreme Ruler would challenge his presence in Siberan as an immortal. The wealth on the ship would cause great internal and external chaos.

  And the sabotage.

  The evidence of the sabotage could never get out. Bikon had always been smart, but even he had not been able to hide his method of escape. Eight hundred years ago, no one had ever heard of a transport beam. Eight hundred years ago, he had to use an escape pod.

  It would become clear to anyone with half a brain that Bikon had planned his betrayal carefully. All of the work the Ribe-Iber-Bikon family had done since then—eight hundred years of maintaining peace, expanding Jibet's economic and world base, and improving the Jibetian way of life—would be discounted with that one piece of news.

  For Bikon, believing his rival gone forever, had allowed the Supreme Ruler to live in the people's imaginations. He had used the Supreme Ruler's image to defeat the revolution, and then he had used the Supreme Ruler's family history, its supposed lineage to the Jibetian pantheon of Immortals, to maintain stability.

  It must have seemed so brilliant at the time.

  And it was.

  But it was Ribe's curse now.

  His only hope was to destroy the ship and to make it look as if someone else did it.

  Preferably the Federation.

  The starships might make that easy for him.

  "The station is hailing us," the general said.

  "Let them," Ribe said. "I will talk with them when I am ready. Spread the ships into standard defense positions and hold your location."

  The general turned and gave Ribe a puzzled look. Ribe had not given a direct order about the fleet before. Ribe ignored him and continued to stare at the ships hanging around the space station.

  After a moment the general turned away and did what he was told.

  The Jibetian fleet had reached the station. The ships were unlike any Kira had ever seen. Instead of the birdlike Cardassian ships or the mounted saucer starships, the Jibetian ships were long, sleek, black ovals built for speed.

  She hated them on sight.

  She hated even more the fact that they were not responding to her hails.

  "Mr. Tappan?" she said for the fifth time.

  "I've tried every frequency, Major," he said.

  "They are receiving our transmissions, aren't they, Ensign Jones?"

  "So far as I can tell, Major." Jones had tucked a strand of hair behind one ear. She was bent over her console, her fingers flying. "I think they're not responding on purpose."

  "Great." Kira let out a huge sigh. She couldn't be a diplomat if she couldn't even talk to the parties. Combat was easier. Then a person knew why ships had arrived and how to respond.

  "Major, the Madison is hailing us," Tappan said.

  "On screen."

  She whirled, deciding to let her frustration show. "Are they responding to you?"

  "I haven't tried, Major." Captain Higginbotham smiled. "We agreed that you'd handle this."

  "Obviously, they don't want to talk to me."

  "For the moment." Higginbotham looked relaxed except for the tightening around his eyes. They had to have a class at the Academy to teach Starfleet commanders the art of looking calm under pressure. "Captains Kiser and Mouce will join me in a meeting on Deep Space Nine. We would like to consult with you as well. I want you to beam us all aboard on my mark."

  Kira almost reminded him that to beam him aboard, she would have to drop her shields. But he knew that. The Cardassians would as well. But the Jibetians might not.

  Their silence was affecting her more than she had realized.

  His image winked out.

  "Ensign Moesta," Kira said, "when the captain gives his mark, drop our shields. Raise them the moment the captains beam aboard."

  "Aye, sir," Ensign Moesta said.

  "Mr. Tappan," Kira said, "Hail them and let them know we're ready."

  Tappan nodded. His fingers flew across the pad. "We hailed, and they acknowledged. Another hail from Captain Higginbotham."

  "On screen," Kira said.

  Higginbotham's image winked on again. Behind him, she could see the bright lights of the transporter pad. "Now, Major," he said.

  His image broke up as the screen winked out. Ensign Moesta followed her instructions. Kira held her breath.

  The three captains appeared in a triangular formation in Ops.

  "Shields up now," Kira shouted.

  Ensign Moesta hurriedly obeyed her commands.

  Captain Higginbotham smiled. He was taller than the other two captains. Rangier, too. Captain Kiser was shorter and heavier. His wedge-shaped face was grimmer than she had ever seen it. Usually his dark humor and subtle teasing brightened any gathering.

  And in the far corner, Captain Mouce stood. Kira had never met the captain of the Bosewell before. She was small and lean but had a lot of power in her petite frame. Her hair was a mixture of gray and white, and her eyes were a wide bright green. She had the exotic look of humans raised in the outer colonies.

  "Welcome to Deep Space Nine," Kira said, and never had she given a more sincere greeting in her life.

  A bead of sweat ran down the side of Jake's face. The back of his throat was dry. The heat in the room was up considerably. Quark had moved away from the door, but he still kept his eyes closed. Nog sat beside his uncle, and Rom was examining the side of the equipment, as far away from Quark as he could get.

  Jake was studying the screens, hoping for a clue, anything to help them escape.

  Then he saw Kira speak briefly to one of the starship captains. The captain's image winked out, and Kira snapped a command to one of the ensigns.

  "Looks like something is about to happen," Jake said.

  Quark sighed. "Something is always about to happen," he said. "Let me know when it does happen."

  Suddenly the light in the room brightened for a moment and then a scraping sound filled the area, cutting through Jake's ears and making his teeth ache.

  "What—?"

  On one screen Jake could see three starship captains beam into Ops.

  "The doors!" Quark shouted as he tried to scramble to his feet, but Nog, in his haste, bumped into Quark and sent them both tumbling. Rom launched himself toward his family instead of turning toward the door behind him.

  All three doors were opening at once. Kira had to drop the screens on the station to let the three captains aboard and the automatic doors were somehow linked to the screens. Cool air entered, relieving some of the heat. The doors had made it half open and then started to close.

  "No!" Jake shouted. He sprang for the sliding metal plate. His thin body somehow made it between the closing metal and for only a flash he thought maybe he should stay there and try to hold the door open for the others. But it became quickly clear that he wouldn't even be able to slow the door down. Its weight would crush him.

  At the last second he slipped on through, barely pulling his arm and fingers out of the way as the panel slammed shut.

  On the far side he could hear the distant shouting of the three Ferengi.

  "I'll get help!" he shouted back, but he doubted they could hear him.

  He turned and looked down the dark, narrow corridor. A short distance away, the corridor forked. He was back to the same problem he and Nog had earlier.

  Which way was out?

  CHAPTER

  16

  SISKO COULD SEE his breath. The cavernous control room of the Nibix seemed colder than it had even a moment before. The domed ceiling, open to the stars, added to the illusion of chill. Sisko felt, if he glanced up, as if he were standing on a platform in open space.

  Bashir had his hands under his arms and was rocking back and forth. Dax had crawled under the control panel with O'Brien to see the sabotage for herself. When they came out a moment later, she was covered with the same black specks that dotted O'Brien's skin and uniform. She confirmed his findings and added that the s
abotage was both thorough and subtle.

  It had been done by someone completely familiar with the ship.

  Sisko ran a gloved finger over one of the green glowing control panels. The ship still seemed alive and vital, just as he imagined it would. But, with all his study, he had not been able to foresee how many problems the discovery would cause. And how many of the problems would fall on his shoulders.

  "What do you think, old man?" he asked Dax softly. She was standing beside him, looking beautiful despite the cold. He still wasn't used to his old friend's new look, new beauty. He still felt Curzon's presence, the old man's vitality and quick mind, even though Jadzia was a completely different person.

  "The word is out, Benjamin. The presence of the Jibetians as well as the Cardassians proves that. The moment we communicate with those starships, everyone will know where the Nibix is. And judging from Quark's reaction to the ship, not only will there be political trouble, we'll have trouble with scavengers as well."

  "Couldn't we post some sort of guard around the ship?" Bashir asked.

  "We could," Sisko said. The writing on the console was faint, almost unreadable. He had forgotten most of the ancient Jibetian he had studied anyway. "But this ship is big. We'd use a tremendous amount of manpower to watch over it, and that still wouldn't prevent some determined treasure hunter from getting in here."

  "Then we have the Supreme Ruler to worry about." Dax put her hand beside Sisko's. The green glow reflected off her gloves. She didn't touch any of the panel, but she appeared to be examining it, as he was. "He's the nearest thing Jibetians have to a god."

  "That should protect him, shouldn't it?" Bashir asked.

  "Julian, sometimes I think you skipped all the important stuff at the Academy," O'Brien said. He was still near the sabotaged control panel. "One man's god is another man's demon."

  "And sometimes," Sisko said, "it's not as black and white as that. Sometimes it's as simple as the destruction of a belief. The believers themselves might go after the Supreme Ruler once they discover his youth or his actual physical form. Not to mention what someone with actual power might do to prevent the ruler's existence from becoming known."

  "You're right, Commander," O'Brien said. "We can't defend the ship here. So that leaves us with only one choice."

  "If we remove the chamber with the Supreme Ruler in it, we still have the problem of the valuables," Dax said.

  "That wasn't the choice I was thinking of," O'Brien said.

  "Obviously, Chief, you have something in mind that we haven't thought of. What is it?" Sisko asked. He took his hand off the panel and turned so that he could see O'Brien's face.

  "I think we'll have to take the Nibix to Deep Space Nine. We can defend it there."

  "And you're calling me unrealistic," Bashir said. "You propose to haul this ruined piece of equipment through Jibetians and Cardassians and somehow hook it up to the station."

  "It's not a ruined piece of junk," O'Brien said. "It's in remarkable shape for its years and for all that has happened to it."

  "The Supreme Ruler is in remarkable shape for his years and for all that has happened to him, but I wouldn't put him through the middle of a potential battle right now," Bashir said.

  Sisko held up his hand for silence. His initial reaction had been the same as Bashir's, but he also knew O'Brien well enough to understand that his chief wouldn't suggest anything completely impossible. "You believe that the Defiant can pull the Nibix to Deep Space Nine without doing any damage to the Nibix."

  "I know it can," O'Brien said.

  "But the Jibetians. The Cardassians. Surely they count," Bashir said.

  "You're five steps ahead of us, Julian," Dax said. "I want to hear how the chief believes he can get the Nibix off this rock first."

  "That's the problem, isn't it?" O'Brien said. "Even the tractor beam is useless if we can't get the Nibix back into space."

  "But you have a plan," Sisko said.

  "I've been thinking about it since we got here," O'Brien said. "You're interested in this ship for its historical mystery. But it was giving me a technical mystery as well. One that I'm only now discovering all the answers to."

  "You could share them," Bashir said.

  O'Brien gave him an annoyed glance. "I was about to. You see, the fact that the Nibix still exists is amazing all by itself. When the ship hit this asteroid, it wasn't a direct blow. Probably what happened is that the ship and the asteroid were going in the same direction and they were pulled together."

  "Of course," Dax said. "I've been so interested in the contents of the ship that I hadn't thought of the ship's presence at all. If it had been a direct hit or even a glancing blow, we would only have a crater to explore."

  O'Brien nodded in agreement and went on. "So I did some more scanning and determined that this ship is structurally sound. In a few places the hull has been ruptured, but in ways that affect life support, not structural integrity. If I placed a dozen or so freight antigrav units in strategic positions around the hull of the ship, it would give this thing just enough of a boost that the tractor beam on the Defiant might be able to pull it free."

  Sisko glanced around the ship. Here, in the control room, such a thing sounded possible. But he remembered the destruction in the chambers near the Supreme Ruler's chamber, and that made him skeptical. "You think we can do this without ripping the Nibix apart?"

  "I wouldn't suggest it otherwise," O'Brien said. "This old ship has given us enough troubles without adding one more into the mix."

  Despite himself Sisko shuddered. The last thing he wanted to imagine was the accidental destruction of the Nibix. He clasped his hands behind his back and walked away from the group. He needed a moment to think.

  There were so many factors here, each one spelling disaster and each one hinging on decisions he made. He still felt as if he wasn't thinking like a commander, but like an excited kid. Of course he would like to bring this toy back to his station. But was that the best thing for the Nibix, for the Federation, and for the station itself?

  He wished, more fervently than ever, that he had never seen the statue, that the Nibix still remained a legend, a myth, a figment of a collective imagination.

  He walked back to the group, still undecided.

  "Dr. Bashir, if you have use of the station facilities, can you save the Supreme Ruler?"

  "There's no guarantee, sir," Bashir said. His slender features had a haunted look. "But at least we'd have a chance."

  "Not to mention three other doctors from Federation starships," O'Brien said.

  Bashir nodded. "The consultation would be very helpful and very welcome."

  "And it would show the Jibetians that we're doing all we can," Dax said.

  "They'll have to understand that nothing like this has ever been tried before," Bashir said. "That must be a factor."

  "You're asking for logic in religion, Doctor. Some races can't combine the two at all," O'Brien said.

  "That's very cynical," Dax said.

  "I'm sorry," O'Brien said. "I'm not usually that way. I've just been thinking what would happen to the O'Brien clan if I suddenly went back eight hundred years. The history of Ireland on Earth is rife with all sorts of religious misunderstandings, some logical and some not."

  "But we're talking about the Jibetians," Sisko said, "who, after their revolution was quashed eight hundred years ago, have been stable ever since."

  "That concerns me, Benjamin," Dax said softly.

  He glanced at her. He didn't need more concerns.

  "Jibetian history says that the Supreme Ruler's main assistant had this ship built. But he was also the one who quashed the revolution and ruled while he waited for word of the Supreme Ruler."

  Sisko frowned. "I thought scholars decided that the Supreme Ruler had been hasty in leaving Jibet. That if he had waited, he would have continued to rule Jibet instead of his assistant, Bikon."

  "That was the theory," Dax said. "But that was before we knew of the sabot
age."

  "A double-cross?" Bashir asked.

  "Possibly," Dax said. "It was a conundrum with no real answer. The Jibetians always sort of skimmed over it in the history. No one ever thought to consider that Bikon might have betrayed the Supreme Ruler."

  "Although they did acknowledge a small betrayal if I remember right," Sisko said. "They claimed that Bikon erred in leaving the Supreme Ruler's side. If Bikon had insisted that the Supreme Ruler stay, he would have."

  "That's an old political principle," Dax said. "Admit a small mistake so that you don't get blamed for the large one."

  "Now whose being cynical?" O'Brien asked.

  "I don't understand why this is important," Bashir said.

  "Because," Sisko said, "Bikon's family has ruled for eight hundred years."

  "Discrediting him is like discrediting the entire government," Dax said.

  "And you expect us to take this ship into the middle of a Jibetian fleet knowing all of this?" Bashir asked.

  "We're the only ones who know about the sabotage," Sisko said. "It's not likely that Bikon let that information out. To anyone."

  "That still doesn't make this safe," Bashir said. "You listed a number of reasons that this ship is in danger."

  "But no one dares destroy it near the station," Dax said.

  "I hope you're right," Bashir said.

  Sisko did, too. He met Dax's gaze over Bashir's shoulder. Her eyes were twinkling. She loved taking risks as much as Curzon had.

  As much as Sisko did.

  This mission might end both their careers and could cost them their lives. But the thought of flying the greatest lost treasure ship of all time right into port was a thought neither of them could let go of.

  Sisko grinned at her, and Dax grinned back. The grins soon became chuckles, and the chuckles turned into full-blown laughter, the first laughter to echo down the cold halls of the Nibix in eight hundred years.