“Miles,” Keiko said to her husband as O’Brien tried again to grab Nog, “let him alone. Jake? What’s wrong with him?”
Nog looked from O’Brien’s angry red face to Keiko’s expression of concern. “A—a Ferengest has him!” Nog gasped.
“A Ferengest?” O’Brien asked. “What the devil’s that?”
“It’s a kind of ghost,” Keiko said. “Nog mentioned it earlier today, and I looked it up this afternoon. Nog, is this some kind of trick?”
“No, I swear on my hope of profits! I—I stake my ears! It’s the truth, Teacher.”
“Sit down and tell us about it,” Keiko said.
It took several minutes, but at last Nog was able to tell the story so that the O’Briens could make some kind of sense of it. “And he was standing in front of the Ferengest in his quarters when I last saw him,” Nog finished. “He said to tell someone there was a transparent alien aboard, so I came to you.”
Chief O’Brien tilted his head. “A ghost made off with him, then? Is that what you’re saying?”
“A Ferengest,” Nog said.
The O’Briens looked at each other. “Perhaps you should check it out,” Keiko said.
“I suppose so,” O’Brien agreed. To Nog, he said, “All right, then. Get up and come along with me, and we’ll take care of Jake. But if I find this is all a wild-goose chase, I’ll have a word or two with your father about you. Understand?”
“There are no wild gooses,” Nog said. “Only Jake and the Ferengest.”
“Geese,” Keiko corrected. She said to her husband, “Are you going to call Commander Sisko?”
“I think I’d better see him in person,” O’Brien replied. “Those Cardassians have been raising all sorts of trouble, and he may be in conference. It’ll only take a few minutes. Keep my food warm for me.”
“All right.”
Nog left with O’Brien, but when they reached the Promenade level, O’Brien said, “Now go along home with you. It’s late for a boy to be about. I’ll take care of everything.”
Nog walked away, but as soon as he was sure O’Brien was no longer looking, he turned and darted along the Promenade, following the chief engineer. It was not that Nog did not trust O’Brien, but he knew how fantastic his story must sound to anyone who did not believe in Ferengests. He wanted to assure himself that Commander Sisko would really do everything he could to find Jake and help him escape from the clutches of that terrible, transparent monster.
They were almost to the lift that led to the Ops level when a shouting, swearing mob burst out of one of the shops. Nog danced back as a cursing Cardassian swung a huge hand at a smaller Bajoran. More Bajorans came running to join the fight, and from somewhere more Cardassians arrived. In an instant the brawl swept between the distant O’Brien and Nog. In another instant the fight became a riot as it spread to the rest of the crowd. Odo’s security crew came running from all directions, phasers drawn. Deciding that he had enough trouble to deal with already, Nog darted away, fleeing by an emergency route that only he knew.
The clanky, creaking turbolift shuddered to a halt. For one terrifying instant Jake was sure that the doors had malfunctioned and that he was trapped in this lightless coffin. Then, with a weary hiss, the doors opened, and a little light leaked in. Jake had no idea where he was. The lift had gone down, toward the lower core area of the station. That part was all engineering, power, and systems control, but like the rest of the station, it was not all repaired. The section that he stepped out into was another one that the Cardassians had ruined. Wall plates dangled from wires and tubing, and only a dim orange-red glow from the emergency lights gave any illumination.
As soon as he was out of the elevator car, Jake looked back for his ghostly companion. For a moment he could not see it at all. Then he realized that what he thought was a reflection of one of the emergency lights really was the glow of the creature’s eyes. Jake squinted and half turned his head, looking at the figure from the corner of his eye. That technique worked when he was looking for an especially dim star in astronomy class, and it helped a little here. Yes, there was the barely visible mistiness of the hood and shoulders, the spectral shimmer that marked the creature’s body. The form moved slowly forward. Jake stepped aside to let it pass, and then on impulse he reached out to touch it as it came up to him.
His hand plunged through empty air, but he felt something, a sensation of prickly coolness. The creature drew itself up and turned to glare down at him. “S-sorry,” Jake stammered, yanking his hand away. “I won’t do that again.”
After a moment the creature backed away, beckoning. Jake followed it, shuffling his feet in the dark to avoid any unpleasant surprises like loose deck plates or scattered debris. Through the floor he felt a constant humming vibration, and he guessed that he was not far above the fusion reactors. He knew that only two of the six reactors were functional. The Cardassians had disabled the rest before they turned the station over to the Bajorans and Starfleet. Those disabled reactors were potentially deadly sources of radiation. O’Brien had shielded them all, though, and he had made sure there was no direct way to approach them.
“Where are we going?” Jake asked, but the gliding figure ahead of him gave no sign.
Jake raised his hand to activate the emergency homing signal of his locator, but then thought better of it. He was sure that Nog would somehow get through to his father. He was not sure what the creature might do if Jake suddenly summoned help. Jake could imagine all sorts of reactions from the “ghost” if a security crew should burst in, brandishing phasers. Maybe it would attack. Maybe it would disappear. Maybe—Jake could not help smiling at the thought—a few humans would frighten the “ghost” away!
He lowered his hand and followed the transparent figure’s slow progress. It came to a hatchway, one of the ponderous Cardassian gear-toothed security doors, and somehow it activated the sensor, because the door rolled away. Jake stepped through the hatch. He was in a room that once, perhaps, had been a repair or manufacturing station. It was about six meters square, with dim blue light coming from the ceiling panels. In even that much illumination, the “ghost” faded out completely. Jake stood uncertainly for a moment. Behind him the door sealed itself again. With a puzzled expression Jake sniffed the air. It smelled funny, a sharp electrical scent that was a little like ozone, as if he were breathing a mixture slightly adjusted to someone else’s biological requirements.
After a moment the lights dimmed and turned red-orange. Jake looked about him. Was that the “ghost?” Yes, it was: The familiar transparent shape stooped over a control panel built into one wall. It had turned down the light so that Jake could see it. It faced him and beckoned again. Jake started toward it. “Look,” he said, “I don’t want to complain, but this is getting pretty boring. Where are we off to now?”
The specter held a hand up—or at least, the sleeve raised, again bending strangely, as if the long arm had an extra elbow. Jake could not see details well enough to be sure that a hand was sticking out of the end of the sleeve. “You want me to stop?” he asked. He did, standing still. After a moment the transparent shape made a pushing gesture. “Back?” Jake asked. He took one step backward.
Then the figure wanted him half a step to the left, then half a step forward again. Jake began to feel exasperated. “I don’t know what you’re doing,” he complained. “If this is some kind of—of ghost folk dance, I don’t particularly want to learn it. Now what?”
The creature seemed satisfied with Jake’s placement at last. It drew something out of its robe and pointed it toward him. Jake saw a twinkling starburst of light, and then—
An explosion!
He yelped and closed his eyes as a hot flash of light burst around him. The deck seemed to shiver under his feet, and a hot whiff of ozone burned his nose. He felt for a sickening second that he was about to faint, that everything was whirling around him. Then the moment passed.
Cautiously Jake opened his eyes to glaring light.
As soon as it did, Jake yelled in terror.
Deep Space Nine had vanished.
A billion stars shone in fierce, undimmed brilliance all around him.
And in the depths of space, he and the creature were standing on nothing.
CHAPTER 5
The fight in the Promenade was sharp but short. Odo himself came to the scene to sort things out. The Bajorans loudly claimed that the Cardassians had begun the fight, and the Cardassians in turn objected that the Bajorans had attacked them for absolutely no reason at all. In the end the security crew escorted three Cardassians and five Bajorans to Ops. Nog watched all this from a perch on level two of the Promenade, and when he was sure the coast was clear, he set off for Ops himself.
He got there just moments behind the security crew and the rioters. Standing against the wall with his arms crossed, Miles O’Brien was waiting outside Commander Sisko’s office. However, Security Chief Odo’s mission apparently was more important than O’Brien’s, because the head of station security escorted his prisoners into the office. A few of the station’s crew watched them go and murmured questions to one another about exactly what had happened. Nog worked his way over to O’Brien and asked, “Did you tell him?”
O’Brien gave him a surprised look. “I thought you’d gone home to bed. No, I haven’t told Commander Sisko yet. He was on subspace communication with Starfleet when I arrived, and then this riot broke out. But I promise I’ll give him your message just as soon as—”
“Oh, oh!” It was the voice of a young ensign over at the Operations table. “Chief, you’d better come and have a look at this. According to the readout, all docking ports just lost primary power.”
“What!” O’Brien’s red face grew even redder as he hurried over and gave the computer status screen a quick, expert glance. “Bloody Cardassian bucket of bolts! I see what you mean. All right, Ensign Jonas, I’m on it. Have a maintenance crew meet me at the main power juncture on the docking ring in five minutes. Probably just the bloody power-relay sensors malfunctioning again, but we’ll have to make sure.”
“Wait!” Nog called. “What about—”
O’Brien shook his head. “Sorry, Nog. I have a job to do. Look, this shouldn’t take long, and that lot in the office will probably keep the commander busy for a little while, anyway. As soon as we’ve repaired the docking port power, I’11 be back, lad. Now, don’t worry, Nog. I’m sure everything will be all right.” To the ensign, O’Brien barked, “This won’t wait all night, you know! What about that repair crew?”
“On the way, sir,” responded Jonas.
O’Brien hurried away, leaving an angry and frustrated Nog. He slyly glanced around. No one was looking at him. He edged over to Commander Sisko’s office door just as a furious looking Cardassian in a captain’s uniform came striding toward it. The door hissed open, and when the Cardassian marched inside, Nog slipped right in behind him, completely unnoticed. He immediately lost himself in a dark corner and became all ears—not a hard task for a Ferengi.
“This is an outrage!” the newcomer roared at once, the huge, ropy tendons in his neck swollen with strong emotion. “Sisko, if your people can’t even guarantee my crew’s security against an unprovoked attack by a vicious pack of—”
“Quiet!” snapped Sisko, his voice raspy and irritated. He looked tired, edgy, and ready to hit someone. “Gul Chok, more angry words won’t help the situation. The fight is over, and no one was injured—fortunately. As to the question of who started it, we are in the process of settling that right now, so don’t be too quick to assign blame.” He turned back to Odo. “Chief Odo, continue your report.”
With a glance at Chok, the shapeshifter said, “As I was saying, Commander, the witnesses make it plain that Barys Kavar struck the first blow.”
“After having been goaded by those bullies!” objected one of the Bajorans. “Commander, their race enslaved mine for decades, treated us worse than animals. To sit so close to this monster, to hear his foul insults was more than I could stand—”
Commander Sisko held his hand up for silence. “Exactly what did he say?” he demanded.
The Bajoran looked defiantly at one of the Cardassians, who smirked back at him. “He called us sheep!” exclaimed the Bajoran. The others murmured in angry agreement. Standing as tall as he could, Barys added, “I don’t have to stand for that.”
With a sigh Commander Sisko said, “And do you happen to know what a sheep is, Mr. Barys?”
“Of course!” sputtered the enraged Bajoran. “Everyone knows that a sheep is—well, a—it’s a kind of—and who wants to be called one, anyway?”
“I thought so.” Sisko turned to the Cardassian captain. “Very well, Gul Chok. I cannot say your crew were blameless in this—this incident, but I cannot find them guilty of anything more serious than childish behavior. In fact, both sides have behaved like brats. I propose that we release all these prisoners, on the condition that they agree to avoid each other.”
“Poor discipline, Commander,” growled Chok. “However, I agree to the compromise. My men will take some refreshment at that Ferengi place. Have these—sheep—go elsewhere.”
One of the Bajorans stirred, but a security man placed a warning hand on his shoulder. Sisko nodded. “Then go now, and take all your crew with you.”
“Only six hours left before the deadline, Commander,” said Chok. “I trust my answer is coming.”
“For the last time, I will not tolerate ultimatums,” replied Sisko. “The question is before Starfleet and the Bajoran government now. I’ve put everything in motion. I suggest you do the same.” The commander glanced meaningfully at the door.
“Come,” ordered Gul Chok. He turned and left the office. Slowly, in single file, the insolent Cardassians strutted out behind him, unpleasant grins on their faces.
“And these Bajorans?” asked Odo, with a gesture at the five remaining prisoners.
Commander Sisko sighed. He rubbed his eyes. “First, let me tell them a little about sheep. Barys, sheep are—uh, noble Earth creatures. They are noted for, uh, their solidarity and their use to humankind as providers of wool, a fabric that protects the elderly and the young from the elements. I would suggest that you Bajorans ignore any such meaningless taunts from the Cardassians in the future, since the Cardassians clearly do not know what they are talking about.”
Barys looked a little puzzled, but at last he nodded. “Believe me, Commander, the last thing we want to do is to encounter those—those unmannered, ignorant, savage animals again. But this space station is supposed to be a joint venture of your people and mine. If you allow our old enemies free run of the place, then my government will be most displeased.”
“Tell it to get in line,” said Commander Sisko with a sour expression. “Go on now, and keep out of trouble.”
The Bajorans headed toward the door, and Nog slipped out from his hiding place—but not fast enough to escape Odo. The security chief said nothing, but he grasped Nog’s arm with a firm grip and escorted him out. “The commander is too busy to speak to you at the moment,” he said.
“Please,” Nog groaned. “This is really important. It’s about Jake.”
Odo tilted his head. He did a good job at maintaining a humanoid form in general, but he tended to let little details slide. His ears, for example, were merely two smooth pink shells—and in Nog’s opinion, far too small to make him really impressive. He said, “What about Jake?”
“He’s in trouble. Chief O’Brien was supposed to tell Commander Sisko,” Nog said.
Odo looked at the Ops table. “W
here is Chief O’Brien?” he asked Ensign Jonas.
The busy ensign turned away from his monitors. “We’re showing a major power failure in the docking ring. Chief O’Brien has taken a crew to repair it.”
With a nod Odo asked, “Before the chief left, did he say anything about Jake Sisko?”
The ensign looked baffled. “The commander’s son? No, sir.”
“Thank you, Jonas. That is all.” With a displeased expression on his face, Odo shook his head. “Nog, I hope this will be a lesson to you. You’d better start planning your tricks more carefully if you ever hope to fool anyone. Now leave. We’re entirely too busy for your pranks right now. If I catch you in Ops again, I am going to be severe.” As if he had just thought of something, Odo added, “In fact, just to make sure you stay out of trouble, I’ll escort you back to your uncle. Now, come along with me before I find some regulation your family has violated and close Quark’s den of iniquity.”
It was an effective threat. Nog tagged along beside Odo, feeling more frustrated than ever. Didn’t anybody believe him? He considered going back to Keiko, but she’d just try to turn things over to O’Brien again. After a moment of indecision Nog made up his mind. He would have to speak with his uncle.
On their way to the restaurant, Nog noticed an unusual number of security types around. Odo’s people blended in, but they nodded as their chief passed, and he gave them curt nods in return. Odo must have warned his crew to keep a sharp eye out for trouble. As the two got close to Quark’s place, Nog slowed his pace. Something was wrong. At this time of night Nog’s establishment was a loud, boisterous den of revelers and gamblers—usually. But tonight everything seemed strangely quiet. “After you,” Odo said as they got to Quark’s place. Nog knew he wasn’t just being polite. The chief of security was all too aware of how quickly a small, agile Ferengi could slip away the minute no one was watching.
Inside, Quark stood behind the bar, looking unhappy. “There you are!” he called out as soon as they entered. “I knew you would come.”
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Young Adult Books #1: The Star Ghost Page 4
