The Long Night

by Dean Wesley Smith

  CHAPTER

  17

  JAKE HURRIED THROUGH the tunnels. Sometimes he was able to run. Sometimes he had to crawl. And at each intersection, he ripped off a piece of his shirt, leaving it as a marker in case he got lost again.

  He was terrified that he would never find that room again. Then Nog and his family would be trapped forever.

  From a logical standpoint, Jake knew that would never happen. Eventually the red alert would end, the shields would go up, and they would get out. But all the terror he felt while trapped had built into an overwhelming force since he escaped. Not only was his friend's life on his shoulders, but the station's might be as well. He had to find a way to get out of here before more information was relayed off the station.

  He missed Nog's assistance and his company. Even though Nog didn't help Jake into the elevated tunnels, his constant babble had kept Jake preoccupied. Now, when he encountered a tunnel so high that he had to grab it with his fingertips and pull himself up, he worried that he would never get to the top.

  He didn't know how his father did it all, bearing this much responsibility every day of his life.

  Jake had long since lost his sense of direction. He only knew he had never been in these tunnels before because the dust was undisturbed. It rose around him, like a cloud of smoke, getting into his mouth and throat, making him even thirstier than he already was.

  A drink would be heaven. A shower would put him in ecstasy.

  He felt as if he had been running for hours, but he knew he had only been outside the room for a matter of minutes. Each minute was valuable, though, and now that he was outside, he didn't know if the red alert had ended or not.

  He couldn't hear anything except his own ragged breathing. And it was so loud, he was afraid that the Cardassian who set up the spy system could hear it, too. Even though Quark and Rom believed the system to be entirely automatic, Jake wondered. The lack of dust in the area around the equipment meant that someone checked on it.

  The Cardassian, phantom or not, was his first fear. His second fear was that he would discover another room with automatic doors. These, his imagination told him, might be tied to motion or intrusion, and he would be trapped forever.

  His third greatest fear was that he would be crawling through this tunnel for the rest of his life.

  And his fourth greatest fear was that he would die of thirst before ever reaching a way out.

  He wasn't even sure he would recognize the way out when he saw it. When they had come in the grate near the Promenade, Jake hadn't really looked at it from the inside. He was afraid it would have blended into the wall on the inside, looking like a normal part of the tunnel instead of a way out.

  He wasn't even really sure if it was a way out. Those bolts were on the outside. He still had his tools, but he wouldn't be able to remove a bolt from the inside unless it had the proper fittings. He wished he had looked at things more closely. He wished he knew.

  Finally he saw a light ahead.

  His heart pounded. His breath was coming even faster than it had before. This was the first room he had seen since he got out of the spy chamber, and it could be another trap.

  Still, he had to go in it and see if he could escape through the peephole.

  There had to be a way out. There just had to be.

  The light ahead looked the same as it did in other rooms with peepholes. It provided just enough contrast to illuminate the darkness. Jake was able to stand upright in this part of the tunnel. He ran toward the light, pausing only briefly to place a piece of his shirt against the side of the entrance.

  This room was half the size of the one he had been trapped in. It had no equipment—for which he was very thankful—and a short ladder leading up to the grate.

  He climbed up the ladder and looked through the grate.

  Right into the security office.

  Odo sat at his desk.

  Finally, Jake would have help.

  "Odo!" Jake shouted. His voice rang in the small room.

  Odo didn't even look up from his screen. He wasn't even doing anything interesting. Jake could see the entire screen from here, and all Odo was doing was checking the outgoing messages from the last two days. Dull stuff. Not the kind of stuff that took concentration.

  "Odo! Help!" Jake shouted.

  Odo always responded to a cry of help. But this time, he didn't even look up. He couldn't hear Jake. The room was soundproof.

  "No," Jake whispered. He wasn't going to let this opportunity slip by, soundproofing or no soundproofing. He jammed his finger through the grate and yelped when he smashed against a hard, crystal-clear shield. No wonder the grate was soundproof. And no wonder that little room where he had been trapped with Nog had become so hot.

  The grates weren't always used for listening. The one in Quark's was. The one here was used to spy on Odo's computer. Jake had learned from O'Brien a long time ago that Odo's computer had more security protections than the computers in Starfleet headquarters. Breaking into Odo's system was not an option—except through good old-fashioned eyesight.

  Figuring out the purpose of the grate didn't really help him now. He had to get Odo's attention.

  Jake shouted Odo's name again and then banged on the wall.

  This time Odo looked up, as if he had heard something that disturbed him. Jake banged again, and Odo glanced at the wall. Jake stuck his fingers against the sound shield in the grate and kicked the wall again as hard as he could.

  Odo came over to the wall and looked up at the grate.

  Jake wiggled his fingers, hoping that Odo could see them. Then he banged twice again.

  Odo moved away from under the grate, grabbed a chair, and pulled it under the grate. As Odo stood on the chair, Jake pushed his hand against the shield and then put his face as close as he could to the inside of the grate.

  Odo frowned, then Jake could see him mouth the word "Jake?"

  Jake wanted to jump up and down for joy. Odo had seen him and recognized him. Jake gave the wall two quick kicks and Odo nodded. Odo mouthed the words "Stand back" and then made a motion for Jake to move away from the screen.

  Jake leaned back, although he remained on the ladder. A moment later a slim thread of liquid poured through a thin crack at the base of the grate. The liquid gradually spiraled upward and reformed into Odo.

  They both stood on the ladder, which groaned under their weight. Odo put one hand on the wall for balance and glanced around the tiny empty room.

  "A Cardassian spy tunnel," Odo said without surprise. "I thought we had all of these sealed. How did you get in here?"

  "That's not important," Jake said. He was both relieved to see Odo and terrified it was too late. "Is the red alert still on?"

  "Yes, of course." Odo frowned. "What does that have to do with this?"

  "Nog and I, we discovered this room filled with spy equipment. Nog's trapped in there now with Quark and his father, and if we don't get out of here, the relay will—"

  "Slow down," Odo said. "Who is trapped?"

  "Nog, Rom, and Quark. But that's not as important as the relay," Jake said.

  "What relay?"

  "The one that has been sending information off the station. Rom thinks it sends information to a nearby ship at regular intervals."

  "Everything that's said on the station gets relayed to the Cardassians." Odo shook his head. "I should have known they would reestablish this system. Do you know what information they have?"

  "All I know is that the monitors are focused on Ops and your office and every other important place. Including what Rom thinks is the relay."

  "Well done," Odo said. "Do you think you can find your way back to that main panel or do we need to launch a search party?"

  "I think I can find it," Jake said, holding up the bottom of his tattered shirt. "I left markers."

  Odo nodded his approval. "Stay right here. I'll be back shortly. I need to report what you've found. It might make a difference."

  Jake d
idn't argue. Odo's word was always good. He would be back. Odo slid into a pool of liquid, which flowed up the wall and through the grate.

  Jake took a deep breath and dropped to the floor. He had never felt so much relief in his life. At least someone knew where they were now. And soon he would rescue Nog and his family and escape this place.

  He leaned his head against the wall. He never realized how truly exhausting adventure could be.

  * * *

  Kira hated the meeting room off of Sisko's office. Its vaguely oval shape and its Cardassian design made her think of all the failed war councils the Bajorans had held with the Cardassians over the years. Usually she could set the feeling aside, but not today. Not with a Cardassian fleet outside Deep Space Nine. A Cardassian fleet lead by Gul Dukat.

  The three starship captains had all taken seats in the room. No one took the head chair, and Kira, a major, wasn't about to. She also didn't want to sit by any of them. As a group, they made her nervous. She had the distinct impression that they made each other nervous. And she supposed it made sense. Starship captains were used to making decisions on their own at lightning speed in the far reaches of the galaxy. Sometimes they followed orders, but often they were the supreme commanders of their own tiny empire.

  The problem with three captains was like having three Vedeks controlling one tiny area of Bajor. Each would think he was right, and none outranked the other.

  And they all outranked Kira.

  She remained standing. She leaned against the cool metal walls and watched as the captains settled into their places. Higginbotham sat alone on the side nerest the wall. He was a tall, lean man whose length was in his torso. He towered over the group.

  Kiser was also tall but not as tall as Higginbotham. He was imposing, though, in his own way. All traces of his humor were gone. When he said hello to Kira, it was as if she were looking at a different man than the one she had met a few years before. That Captain Kiser had been relaxed. This one looked like he would be a formidable opponent if crossed.

  Mouce was about Kira's size, and she moved with power. She took the chair beside Captain Kiser and, although he was much bigger than she was, seemed almost to dwarf him.

  Apparently Higginbotham had been the brains behind the idea. The others appeared to let him run the meeting, although Kira knew that appearance would change should any of them disagree with him.

  No one even seemed to remember Kira was in the room.

  Until Odo came through the door.

  Kira pushed away from the wall. Odo never let himself in a private meeting. All she needed was this sort of gaffe in the middle of the crisis.

  Unless something else happened.

  "Odo," she said as she hurried to his side, "this is a private meeting."

  "I'm sorry to intrude, Major, but we have an urgent problem."

  "Handle it," Kira said.

  "I would," Odo said, "if it were within my capabilities, but it is not. It depends on you. On all of you, I suppose."

  Mouce stood, her hands flat on the table top. "And just who are you?"

  Kira turned. Of course, Captain Mouce didn't know. She had never been on the station before. "Odo is our chief of security."

  Odo nodded at her, then turned his attention to Captain Higginbotham. "No one contacted Starfleet about the discovery of the Nibix, right, sir?"

  Higginbotham smiled. "I don't know, Odo. Admiral Wolfe contacted me."

  "What's this all about, Odo?" Kira asked.

  "I believe we found the leak, Major. But if so, we may have another problem. I trust the Federation discovered the Nibix by overhearing Cardassian and Jibetian communiqués?"

  "Forgive me, Odo," Higginbotham said. "But to give you any information at all would violate Starfleet protocol. You are not an officer. You aren't even a member of Starfleet."

  "Neither am I," Kira said, "and you've been talking to me."

  "The Federation has an understanding with the Bajorans," Kiser said. "This man is a Changeling, aren't you, sir?"

  Odo took a step back, his movements jerky as they often were when confronted with his heritage.

  "Odo was raised in this quadrant," Kira said. Her face was warm. She could feel the tension, bottled up inside her all day, turn to anger. "He didn't even know who his people were until last year."

  "That's right," Kiser said. "On a mission in which both you and he were held by the Changelings for a short time, isn't that correct?"

  "Are you implying something, sir?" Kira said. "Because if you are, you should know that I hate implications—"

  "Major." Odo's voice was soothing. "This will get us nowhere."

  "Perhaps, Mr. Odo," Mouce said, "you should give us the facts, and we can make whatever decision you believe is so important."

  Odo nodded at her with what seemed like gratitude.

  Kira clenched her fists. It took a physical effort to keep quiet.

  Odo glanced at her, then addressed his remarks to Higginbotham. "We have discovered a Cardassian spy system within the station. The information is gathered from points all over the station, including Ops, my office, and this room. We think the information goes to a relay, which sends it regularly to a ship docked at Deep Space Nine."

  "You're sure about this?"

  Odo nodded. "The system is in some old spy tunnels. Commander Sisko and I cleared out the electronics and sealed the spy station when he came to Deep Space Nine three years ago. Within the last few months, someone must have reopened the system, put in new equipment, and set up the relay."

  "Why haven't we noticed this before, Odo?" Kira asked.

  "We haven't had need for this kind of secrecy since—"

  "—the treaty negotiations," Kira said and sat down in one of the empty chairs. The negotiations between Bajor and Cardassia, conducted here on Deep Space Nine, at the cost of Vedek Bareil's life. "You think they were established then?"

  "No," Odo said. "I checked the tunnels at that time. But afterward, I think the Cardassians did not want to be at a disadvantage again. My guess is that whoever got the information first about the Nibix broadcast it far beyond just the Cardassians."

  "The history of the relay doesn't matter," Mouce said. "What matters is whether or not Mr. Odo is telling us the truth."

  "He is," Kira said.

  "Until we can disable that relay," Higginbotham said, "we can't beam out of here."

  "Who's your chief engineer?" Kiser asked Kira.

  "He's on the Defiant," she said.

  "Then who would be your second choice, Major?"

  "I'm fairly handy with laser tools," Odo said.

  "And you're a Changeling," Kiser said. "I know Ben Sisko trusts you, but he and I have been known to have differing opinions. I think that—"

  That was too much. She couldn't let this go on, starship captain or not. "I think that you had better stop maligning Odo's honor, Captain," Kira said. "He's done more for this station and for Starfleet than half the officers in your fleet. There are a dozen people, admirals among them, who would vouch for this man's decency and his loyalty. Don't question it."

  "So you would have him do it?"

  "I most certainly would," Kira said.

  "That's good enough for me." Higginbotham stood in an attempt to end the conversation.

  "But you're not the one in charge here, are you, Paul?"

  Higginbotham looked at Kiser. "Are you suggesting, Jim, that we need someone to take charge?"

  "Captain," Mouce said, the word covering both of them, "we're not dealing with Changelings here. We're dealing with a near ally and a planet with whom we have a treaty. To throw in another conflict is to lose track of where we're at. Major Kira, the situation exists on your space station. Remedy it and quickly. We'll stay here for the moment, but none of us want to be separated from our ships for long."

  "Thank you, Captain," Kira said. She nodded to Odo, who left before someone could countermand Mouce's order. She wiped her hand over her face. The Cardassians' spy system wa
s set up again. And someone had sent information about the Nibix all over the galaxy. No wonder the Ferengi had shown up. Others would show up soon, too.

  Between the mercenaries, the opportunists, and the two war fleets, Deep Space Nine would soon be chaos.

  CHAPTER

  18

  HE FELT LIKE he was sitting in a crypt. Julian Bashir climbed the stairs to the Supreme Ruler's sleeping unit. The man's face hadn't changed. He still looked serene. It seemed odd to Bashir that the man before him looked younger and was actually hundreds of years older than Bashir was. If the Supreme Ruler ever did wake up, the shock of being so far into his own future might just kill him.

  Bashir smiled at the thought. Earlier O'Brien had told him he was thinking five steps ahead. Now he was thinking twenty steps ahead. If the Nibix lifted off the asteroid, if they made it back to DS9, and if they managed to revive the Supreme Ruler, then the shock of surviving might kill him.

  Seemed ridiculous to worry over.

  But then it might be the cold.

  He hadn't ever been this cold, and except for a small unit on the effects of temperature in medical school, he didn't know much about it. Perhaps it made a man find humor in situations that were essentially humorless.

  Or perhaps that was simply the mind's way of dealing with too many stresses, too much information.

  That seemed more logical.

  He sighed and sat on the platform. Its chill soaked through his deep-cold pants. O'Brien's words about never being warm again after cold sleep returned to him.

  No one had ever been in cold sleep for eight hundred years. No one knew the effects. Maybe Bashir could revive the Supreme Ruler only to discover the man had permanent frostbite or that the cold had gone to his head, literally.

  He sighed. It wasn't the cold or the number of events that made his black humor appear.

  It was fear.

  Dax had told him his entire career would be on the line when it came time to wake up the Supreme Ruler. His future, his post at Deep Space Nine, his ability to face challenges like this one, might all go away if he failed here.