Sisko appeared, grinning from ear to ear.
"Good work, Commander," Kira said.
"It's not over yet, Kira," he said, although his tone belied that. "We'll be docking the Long Night in a few minutes. As soon as it reaches the station, I want that ship sealed, and I want guards posted from the airlock to the Promenade."
"Will do, sir."
"And Kira?"
"Yes?"
"If anyone attempts to get near the Long Night, the guards are ordered to shoot to kill."
The tension returned to Kira's shoulders. Sisko had never given an order like that. Ever. She hoped it was more for the benefit of all those mercenaries listening in than for the guards themselves.
"We'll put the station's shields around it as well," Kira said, "so no one can beam aboard."
"Good thinking, Major," Sisko said. "I also want to record all activity in and near the docking bay. No one is to enter that ship. No exceptions."
"Yes, sir," Kira said.
"Now." Sisko leaned forward. "Did you find that leak?"
"Someone reinstated that old Cardassian spy station. The equipment was Cardassian. It was also new," Kira said. "Odo found and dismantled it."
"Actually, Major," Odo said, stepping forward so Sisko could see him, "Jake found the spy system and was instrumental in saving the station when that ship exploded."
"Jake?" Sisko visibly paled.
"I'm okay, Dad," Jake said, also stepping forward. "It was fun."
"Fun," Sisko muttered.
"He helped us a lot," Kira said.
Sisko frowned. "Good work, Son. Just stay out of the thick of things until I return. Okay?"
"I could say the same for you, Dad."
Sisko grinned. "Yeah. I guess you could. We've had more than enough excitement for one week."
"That's for sure," Kira muttered.
"Odo," Sisko said, "over one hundred crew members from the Madison will beam aboard the station. They will help with security. Captain Higginbotham says they are among his best people. Use them."
"Yes, sir," Odo said.
"And Kira, please ask the Cardassians their business. And warn all single ships to stay outside of transporter range of the station or be destroyed. Sisko out." His image disappeared off the screen.
"Why does everyone leave the Cardassians to me?" Kira asked Odo.
"Because you are most effective with them, Major," Odo said. "And I must go if I am to coordinate two security teams. Jake, would you like to come along?"
Jake shook his head. "I think I'll stay here until my dad returns if you don't mind, Odo."
"I think you deserve a rest," Odo said. "Someday perhaps the rest of us can get one, too." He made his way to the turbolift.
Kira turned to Tappan. "Get Gul Dukat."
"I'm way ahead of you, Major."
She smiled at Tappan, thankful for the man's competence. "Put him on screen."
Gul Dukat was standing beside his command chair, his hand on its back. His posture made his strange neck scales stand out. "Major, I see you have the coup of the century. Not only all the wealth of Jibet, but its mystical leader as well. You are to be congratulated."
"I asked you to leave more than once, Dukat," Kira said.
"I know, Major. But I believed that you were doing so in error. I knew that your commander had a prize with him, and with all the ships heading toward Deep Space Nine, I believed he might have use of our services." Dukat put his other hand on the chair back in a vain attempt to look relaxed. "I was, as usual, underestimating him. The Federation handled the crisis with very little bloodshed. Commander Sisko is to be congratulated as well."
"I'm sure he'll be pleased with such high praise from you," Kira said. "Now, go home, Dukat."
"You have a strange way of showing your gratitude, Major."
"And you need acting lessons, Dukat. I don't buy your I-was-only-here-to-help routine. Especially when we discovered a Cardassian spy station on Deep Space Nine."
Dukat smiled. "We've been through this, Major. You know that we sell our technology all through the galaxy. That station could have belonged to anyone. But it does show that you need to tighten security there. Nothing like that would have happened under Cardassian rule."
For the first time since the crisis began, Kira grinned. "Oh, but it did, Dukat. And I do believe I have failed to be polite in that matter. Thank you for all the information you most unwillingly gave Bajor in those years. I wouldn't be here now if you hadn't. Kira out."
Dukat's smile had left his face as his image winked out. A moment later, the Cardassian fleet turned and headed back toward Cardassian space.
"Wow, Major," Jake said. "Is that true? Did you really have a Bajoran spy station here?"
"We no more had a Bajoran spy station here than Dukat was on hand to protect Deep Space Nine, Jake," Kira said. "Rule number one of Cardassian diplomacy: whoever humiliates the other guy first wins."
Jake's eyes widened. "Remind me to stay on your good side, Major."
"Don't worry," she said. "After all you did today, you'll always be on my good side, Jake."
CHAPTER
27
THE LIGHTS WERElow in the infirmary. The crowd made Bashir nervous, but Commander Sisko had insisted upon having visitors. Bashir stated it was against his medical judgment to have so many people in the room—it might stress the Supreme Ruler at a time he didn't need stress—but Sisko said that the Supreme Ruler would want it this way.
When all the parties involved saw the ruler awaken without tricks, without the chance to substitute an imposter, then they would accept him. And even if the awakening was difficult in the beginning, the ruler would be grateful later.
Doctors Wasner and Silverstein stood behind the diagnostic chair and monitored the ruler's levels. Bashir stood beside him, clearly the pointman on this operation. Captains Higginbotham and Kiser also watched as Starfleet representatives. Captain Mouce remained on her ship to keep guard on the mercenary ships still arriving from far points in the galaxy.
The leader of the Jibetian Council, a thin nervous man who perspired more than anyone Bashir had ever seen, stood beside the bed. The Jibetian general, the leader of the fleet, stood beside him, almost like a guard. The advisors remained outside the room. Bashir judged their presence five too many.
The Supreme Ruler, the subject of all their scrutiny, no longer looked like a wasted survivor of a long journey. His cheeks glowed that odd mixture of red and white that Jibetians had when they were healthy. His organs were running well, and his brain scans were turning out fine.
Although no one knew if he would ever be able to think on his own again. Bashir believed he would, but Wasner was skeptical. He'd seen brain death on the cellular level too many times in cold-sleep chambers to believe that a man who lived this long under such adverse conditions would survive intact.
The vital signs had shown the ruler regaining consciousness for the last fifteen minutes. Soon, though, Bashir would call an end to this vigilance and have only a few of the observers remain. The ruler could remain in this half-waking, half-sleeping state for hours.
No sooner had that thought crossed Bashir's mind than the ruler moaned.
"What was that?" the Jibetian high councillor, Hibar Ribe, asked.
"Shh," Silverstein said.
The ruler stirred, moving a hand toward his head. Bashir felt like applauding. Instead, he leaned in to shield the ruler's eyes from any ambient light.
"Take it slowly," Bashir said.
The ruler opened his eyes. They were bright green and vibrant. Bashir resisted the urge to jump back. He had thought of this man as a patient for so long, it was startling to see the personality.
"Vital signs are normal," Wasner said, his voice rising in triumph.
"We're not on the ship," the ruler said. His voice was raspy. He coughed as if he were trying to clear his throat.
"Be gentle," Silverstein said. "You haven't spoken in a long time. It will take a while for y
ou to feel normal again."
"Where are we?" the ruler asked. He gazed at the faces around the room, clearly recognizing none of them. Finally his gaze rested on the Jibetians. "And who are you? Did Bikon send you?"
Ribe started. The general nudged him.
"Welcome," Ribe said, his voice shaking. "I am Hibar Ribe, of the Ribe-Iber-Bikon family. We've been waiting a long time for this moment."
A frown creased the Supreme Ruler's forehead. He coughed again and struggled to sit up.
"Wait just a moment please," Bashir said. He put a firm, but friendly hand on the ruler's shoulder, holding the man in place. "You've seen him wake up. You may all leave now. We still have a long way to go here."
"Will he be all right?" the general asked.
"If you leave now," Bashir said.
Higginbotham and Kiser left immediately. Sisko waited until Ribe and the general left before nodding his approval at Bashir. Then Sisko exited.
Wasner continued to monitor the vital signs. Silverstein looked at the ruler's face and smiled.
The ruler ignored her. His bright eyes met Bashir's. "Something went wrong," he said.
Bashir nodded.
"You are not Jibetians."
"We're allies," Bashir said. "We assisted your people."
"My ship?" Despite Bashir's efforts to keep the man down, the ruler rose on one elbow. The movement clearly made him dizzy, but he did not lie back down.
"The Nibix is here."
"My family?"
Bashir took a deep breath. The doctors had agreed to answer the questions the ruler asked but only those questions. The rest, they decided, could wait until later. "They didn't make it," Bashir said.
The ruler closed his eyes. For the first time since he woke up, he looked vulnerable. He almost eased back down, then caught himself.
"The crew?" he asked.
"Your ship was sabotaged, sir," Silverstein said. "It's amazing you survived."
"Sabotaged?" the ruler asked. His eyes opened again filled not with the sadness that Bashir expected, but with a fury so powerful that it filled the room.
"Yes, sir," Bashir said. "Probably right after you left Jibet."
"His vital signs are traveling all over the map," Wasner said. "We have to end this little session."
"No!" the ruler said. "You can't leave it here. You have to tell me what happened."
The three doctors looked at each other.
"It's better for a patient to know," Silverstein said. And she was right. It had been shown in study after study that patients who knew what they were up against coped and eventually survived. But that didn't make this one any easier.
"After the sabotage, the Nibix drifted," Bashir said. "The wakeup systems were dismantled. When the ship got near its destination, no awakening sequence kicked in, and when the ship got into trouble, no one woke up either. We found you on an asteroid not far from here."
"How long did we drift?" The ruler didn't miss a thing. And his brain probably wasn't operating up to par yet. He must have been formidable when his mind was working at peak efficiency. Bashir would have to study Jibetian history. He didn't understand how a man like this was overthrown in a revolution.
Unless that revolution had help from the inside. The same help that sabotaged the ship.
"Eight hundred years," Bashir said.
The ruler shook his head. "That isn't possible."
"I'm afraid that yours was the only chamber to continue working," Bashir said.
The ruler rubbed a hand over his face. Then he nodded. "The staff? Where is it?"
"Beside you," Wasner said. He lightly touched the green rod as if it would break at the slightest movement.
The green of the glowing staff was the same color as the ruler's eyes.
"You need to sleep," Silverstein said.
"I have been asleep for a long time," the ruler said. "Yes," Silverstein said, "but you need healthy recuperative sleep now."
The ruler tucked the staff beside him and eased back down on the diagnostic table. "One last thing then," he said, his voice breaking as he spoke. He was clearly exhausted. "Did my world survive? My people?"
Bashir nodded, glad he could say something positive to the young man. "Very much so. They now live on eighty worlds spread out through space."
The ruler looked puzzled for a moment, then smiled. A sad, hopeful smile. "Eighty worlds. We only hoped for one."
He closed his eyes, and after a moment he was sleeping.
A normal sleep.
Guards lined the Promenade, all trying to ignore the shouting coming from Quark's. Jake, Rom, and Nog were leaning over the railing on the Promenade's second story. The shouts carried well up here. Better than anywhere else in the Promenade.
"It is your duty as a Ferengi to report to me immediately," the nagus yelled. "You have failed me again, Quark!"
"I didn't fail, Nagus." Quark's voice quivered. "I was injured. I was even unconscious for a time. I—"
"Imagine my position when Cardassians, mercenaries, even Jepson himself learned about the Nibix before I did. And I have a man on the scene."
"I didn't mean to embarrass you," Quark said. "I was injured."
"I'll injure you again if you use that excuse with me, boy. I expect an apology. And compensation. I brought ships here expecting profit."
"I didn't send for them," Quark said.
"I know that!"
"Then why do you want compensation?"
"Because if I had known how difficult making a profit would be, I wouldn't have come, Quark. You know that. You're supposed to protect me from all of this."
Jake looked at Nog. Nog shrugged. Rom was grinning.
"If you give the bar's profits for the next month, I might forget this little incident."
"The next month?" Quark said. "But I've been shut down for days. I need to make money to survive. How about half the profits?"
"All of the profits, Quark. And if you continue to complain, I will charge you two months."
"That's a lot of money," Rom whispered.
Jake leaned in to him. "Do you think Quark will understand now what you feel like when he yells at you?"
Rom shook his head. "The nagus has yelled at him before. It is our way, I guess."
"I guess," Jake said. He sighed. Then he looked at Nog, whose lower lip was jutting out.
"It won't be my way, Father," Nog said.
"I know, Son." Rom grinned. "You are a new breed of Ferengi. You make me proud."
"Me, too," Jake said. "I'm sorry about bashing your uncle on the head."
"It's okay," Nog said. "We decided on that plan together."
Beside them, Rom moaned.
"Father?"
"I forgot about my brother's injury. We had better find something to do for the next few days, Nog. Between the nagus and the injury, my brother will be insufferable."
"You mean he isn't already?" Jake asked.
"I'm serious," Rom said.
Jake was, too, but he decided not to say that. Instead, he said, "If you want to hide, I know the perfect place."
"I'm not going back in those tunnels, hu-man,"
Nog said.
Jake grinned. "Well," he said, "it was worth a try."
EPILOGUE
Two Weeks Later
As CEREMONIES WENT,this was a small one. But it was one that Benjamin Sisko would remember forever.
He and Jake stood outside docking bay three. Dax stood on his left, and Bashir on Jake's right. At the entrance to the docking bay, General Caybe stood a few steps behind Jibet's Supreme Ruler.
The ruler still looked too thin. He wore the same robes he had worn in cold sleep, only they had been cleaned and pressed. He clutched his staff at his side. His hair had grown in the last two weeks, and his stamina had improved. His eyes retained their brightness, but his face had a few new lines.
Sisko remembered the look. He had seen it on his own face after Jennifer's death. But, like the Supreme Ruler, people had counte
d on him. In Sisko's case, Jake had counted on him. And Sisko had gone on.
The Supreme Ruler would to.
Sisko had said as much to him during their long talks.
The ruler had nodded. It was only when Sisko had been about to leave that the ruler said, "Mortal beings know they must get used to the death of loved ones. But not many of us must also mourn the centuries. I am not sure how to do that, Commander."
And Sisko had no answers for him.
"Forgive my presumptiveness," the general said. "But I would feel better, milord, if you rode to Jibet in the flagship."
The Supreme Ruler smiled at him. Clearly this argument had gone on for a while. Sisko just hadn't been privy to it. "For now, General, the Nibix will be the flagship. I need to return home in the same ship I left on. It is important."
Extremely important. Each decision the Supreme Ruler made these days had importance. His decision to imprison Ribe had been one he agonized over. Finally, he took Ribe into custody for his acts against the Federation, not for the sins his ancestor committed centuries before.
"I must put the past behind me," the Supreme Ruler had said.
"This time though," Sisko said, "you will see the parts of space you passed through."
"And," Dax added, "what took eight hundred years will now take five days."
The Supreme Ruler laughed. "Yes, this modern world is wonderful in many ways."
He had been like a child in the infirmary. Each moment he was awake he asked questions. Sisko finally assigned him two around-the-clock ensigns just to answer the ruler's questions about the past. If anyone could catch up, the ruler could, although he had already expressed his wish for a Federation councillor and assistance in his homeland. He wasn't sure if his mind was modern enough to rule Jibet.
Sisko suspected his mind was modern enough for any age.
The ruler turned to Dr. Bashir. "Thank you for your fine work. I have been told that waking me is considered groundbreaking in your medical world."
Bashir smiled. "I'm just glad we succeeded."
"As am I, Doctor. Otherwise I would have never had a chance to see this wonderful future." Then the ruler turned to Dax and bowed slightly. "Thank you, lovely lady, for being the captain of my ship through its first and only battle."
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