"The boy is jealous of his own sister," Kejan Ulli said. "Such ranting!"
"This isn't simple jealousy," Commander Sisko said.
He approached the boy. "How did you know what would convince us that Dejana was the Nekor?"
"Nothing was simpler," Cedra said. "The tricky part was making you see all the signs in her without letting you see them in me first."
"In you?"
"She's not the Nekor; I am."
"May the Prophets grant that your Federation technology has a cure for madness," Kejan Ulli muttered.
Cedra gave him a hard look. "Your true loyalties will be discovered," he said. "The Dessin-ka trust each other's honor, but that does not mean their eyes are closed to treachery from within. There. Is that madness?"
"Why, you little eavesdropping—!" Kejan Ulli lunged for the boy, but Dr. Bashir stepped in front of him, jabbed his elbow back into the Bajoran's belly, spun to face him, slipped a foot behind his leg, and gave him a gentle tap in the center of his breastbone. Kejan Ulli tumbled backward onto the infirmary floor, curled up like a shrimp, and gasping for breath.
"I don't think you learned that by eavesdropping, Cedra,"' Dr. Bashir said calmly.
"I didn't," the boy replied with pride. "There are things I know."
"We're just beginning to learn about Bajoran mystics," Sisko said. "There are more than a few people in service to the Temple who have gifts like yours. Some of them are still children. That doesn't make any of them the Nekor. The Kai Opaka's letter spoke of a healer to come. It didn't give us much to go on, but it was clear on one thing: The healer must be a girl."
Cedra tipped back his head and let loose a howl of utter frustration. "The accord said Bajoran monks must not come to the station! The Kai's letter said the healer must be a girl! The Nekor must be brought to the Temple by the eve of Nis Thamar! Must, must, must! Why don't you open your eyes?"
"Cedra, calm down," Sisko said firmly. He tried to take the boy's hand, only to have his own slapped away violently.
"Listen to me, Commander," Cedra said, leveling a finger at Sisko. "If my sister lives, we can go on pretendng she's the Nekor and everyone will be happy. I'll see to it that she plays her part in the masquerade and does nothing to upset the peace of Bajor. But if she dies"—he let the words sink in—"if she dies, then I won't have any reason left to go on pretending she's the one they're after. I'll come forward and admit to being what I am. And then I'll do more: I'll find a way to escape this station, go back to Bajor, and give myself—body and soul—to any faction there that's willing to work against the Federation and against a peaceful Bajor!"
"How can you say that when you've seen what was has done to your own life?" Sisko asked. He spoke evenly, without anger. He could see that the child's wild talk came from fear and helplessness in the face of Dejana's plight.
"Let them learn what war is," Cedra shot back. "Let the council learn, let the people learn who turned their backs on us and pretended that the camps weren't there! If they had tried to help us, Dejana and I wouldn't have been so desperate to escape the camp any way we could. Let them all learn!"
"You're playing a dangerous game, Cedra," Lieutenant Dax counseled. "Suppose you do convince people that in spite of what the Kai Opaka's last letter says, the promised healer is a boy—what makes you think the leaders of Bajor would let you take them down the path to war? If you throw your support behind one political faction, the others won't just stand idly by. You'll be a symbol, a powerful symbol that each of them will want for their own purposes, and they'll fight for possession. There will be war, but you'll be the battlefield."
"Then I'll have to choose the right allies," Cedra said. "Strong and ruthless enough to protect me from the rest. Even if it means siding with something like him." He nodded at Kejan Ulli, who was huffing as he hauled himself to his feet, holding his middle.
"When dogs squabble over a bone, whichever dog wins, the bone still loses," Dax said. "Be fair to yourself, Cedra. You have gifts—I've seen them—but you have no training. In the Temple, or anywhere you could receive the proper instruction, you would learn to use the full range of your talents. If you cast all that aside for the sake of revenge, what will you be? A symbol—a hollow one—and never the promised healer you claim you are."
"As if—as if that—that charlatan could convince anyone that he is the Nekor!" Kejan Ulli panted, clinging to the edge of a countertop.
"Who are you"—Cedra spoke so that each word was impossible to ignore—"to tell me what I could and couldn't be when not one of you has seen what I really am?"
The child walked across the infirmary floor and lay down on an unoccupied bed. "Dr. Bashir, take the readings," came the soft plea.
Puzzled, Julian complied, initializing the unit. His eyes skimmed across the usual life-sign readouts. All seemed normal. He was about to voice his bewilderment with Cedra's request when he recalled the child's earlier demand:
Why don't you open your eyes?
He followed the readouts across a second time, until his gaze fell upon the line detailing the subject's reproductive capabilities. It was hardly a datum he checked often, in the ordinary course of a cursory examination, but now—
His eyes widened at what he saw. "Good Lord …" he breathed. He looked to Commander Sisko. "I never thought I'd have to say this outside of a maternity case but …" A wry smile touched his lips. "Congratulations; it's a girl."
Cedra grinned up at him. "I still won't wear a dress and you can't make me."
"Cedara!" All eyes turned to see Dejana sitting up in her bed with a look of childish outrage on her face. "You told!"
CHAPTER 17
THE FRAGRANCE OF a myriad alied herbs and flowers sweetened the dusk in the small Temple garden. Commander Sisko walked paths of crushed stone whose random twists and wanderings allowed the mind to wander as well, bringing the seeker after peace closer to the moment of discovery. Chips of rose, white, and gold gravel winked up at him by the light of slender torches carried in the hands of Temple folk who also walked the garden paths as the daylight slipped away. Their voices rose and fell in chant and song as they greeted the coming dark and welcomed the eve of Nis Thamar.
Sisko gazed across the garden to the Temple, its golden domes still burnished by the last violet glow of sunset. We found her, my friend, he thought, the face of the Kai Opaka rising in his mind. I wish you could be here to see the healer of your vision. I think you'd like her. He imagined that the Kai heard, and smiled.
In the center of the garden was a pool of still waters where silver and black fish swam. Here a ring of torchbearing Temple folk stood unmoving, their lights painting the surface of the pool with flame. Secular Bajorans, those in the habits of the Temple orders, and some in Starfleet uniforms, all mingled among the torchbearers, waiting. Sisko took special notice of a group of five somber-faced Bajorans dressed in the same robes that Kejan Ulli favored. The last Sisko had seen of the double agent was his rapidly retreating back as he ran from the infirmary.
I couldn't even send Odo after him, he thought. He hadn't actually done anything wrong—not yet. And he was right: The Dessin-ka wouldn't believe any accusations an outsider made against one of their own. Sisko's eyes searched the central area of the garden. At least he isn't here.
The sun was entirely below the horizon. At that precise moment, the songs of the wandering torchbearers stopped abruptly. They crept from the far corners of the garden to fill the spaces between their immobile brethren around the pool. The massed torches transformed the water into the glory of a miniature sun.
"And as Sisko and the others watched, the waters of the pool began to drain away. The black and silver fish whisked from sight as the shimmering sandy bottom rose up, dry as if it had been lifted from the heart of the desert. The sand itself fell away with the soft pattering sound of rain as the bottom of the pool opened into sections like the petals of a waterlily. Within the blossoming flower of sand and stone Talis Cedara stood alone. The still air
of the newborn night was moved by the softly exhaled breaths of wonder from the mouths of all who witnessed her appearance in their midst.
Cedra—Cedara—looks beautiful, Sisko thought, still trying to get himself in the habit of calling the child by her right name. It's hard to believe that's the same hellion who was tearing through the station with Jake and Nog, biting Lieutenant Dax, wreaking havoc with the holoports, bloodying that Bajoran boy's nose—
He watched as two vedeks stepped up to the edge of the pool and mounted the ramp made by one unfurled stone petal to join Cedara on her platform. One was his old acquaintance Vedek Torin,the other an unknown. She's like a queen, receiving their homage—elegant, imperial. She's every inch the child of prophecy.
Vedek Torin raised his hands over Cedara's head and addressed the people. His voice rose and fell in the cadences of the ancient ceremonial tongue that Commander Sisko had heard only two or three times before, drifting out of the station shrine.
Then the vedek spoke so that all could understand. Taking the Kai's letter from his sleeve, he presented it to Cedara, saying, "You are the healer whose coming was foretold through a vision from the Prophets. We entrust the testimony of this vision to your keeping."
Cedara bowed her head over the scroll. Her short hair had been scrupulously washed and dressed so that it curled in a shining cloud about her face. Her earring sparkled with its own galaxy of crystal stars, catching the light of the torches and throwing back a faint, sweetly chiming music.
"If the Prophets grant me the power to heal, I will dedicate that gift of healing to my people," she said.
Vedek Torin turned to the crowd. "As the wisdom of the Prophets welcomes all, the child of prophecy welcomes all. Let any approach who wish to speak with her."
There was a great deal of shuffling and jockeying for place as the secular witnesses formed themselves into a line, but no one pushed or shoved. Vedeks took up positions around the pool, up one stone ramp and down another, in order to guide the line and keep it moving along.
Commander Sisko's admiration for Cedara grew as he watched the ceremony of presentation progress. She had a word and a smile for every soul who came to meet her. She and those who had come to see her spoke too softly for Sisko to hear, but he could see that none left her presence suspicious or dissatisfied.
The Dessin-ka delegation was the last to climb the stone ramp. Led by an iron-haired, leonine Bajoran, they presented themselves to Cedara in a body. Sisko saw the leader's brows draw together in a frown as he addressed Cedara. Whatever his words, they caused the attendant vedeks to wince. Vedek Torin stepped forward, hands raised, but a gesture from Cedara made him withdraw again, leaving unsaid whatever admonition or reprimand that had risen to his lips.
With a subtle gesture, Cedara beckoned the Dessin-ka leader to incline his head to her. As soon as he was within arm's reach, she seized his ear and pressed her cheek to his. Sisko saw her lips move briefly before she released him. He stared at her, awestruck, then fell to his knees. His followers did likewise. His voice rumbled through the torchlit dark, though he spoke too quietly for Sisko to hear the words.
"Rise." Now Cedara spoke in a clear, ringing voice that carried to the ends of the garden. "I will not be worshiped.
"'I have come to heal, not to stand with my back turned to those who most need healing. Your promise is enough."
Shakily the Dessin-ka obeyed, getting to their feet and making a sign of homage. "We will not worship you, if that is your desire," the leader said, and his voice too was finally loud enough to reach Sisko's ears. "But we will live by the words which you have given me this night.
Cedara offered him her warmest smile. "That is all I ask."
As the last of the Dessin-ka descended the stone ramp behind Cedara, the vedeks drifted off the platform, back to the shore of the pool. Only Vedek Torin and Cedara were left standing there. Slowly the sectioned causeways lifted to close over their heads as the platform sank beneath the surface of the pool once more. All that could be heard in the garden was the sound of water trickling back into its bed and the muted splash of black and silver fish leaping for the moons of Bajor.
In an intimate anteroom of the Temple, Commander Sisko stood up from his bench just in time to have the wind slammed out of him as Cedara flung herself into his arms. The barefoot child climbed Benjamin's body like a monkey scaling a banana tree and wreathed her arms around his neck.
"They made me wear a dress!" she wailed.
"And you looked very lovely in it," Sisko said, trying to keep a straight face.
"Oh, I hope not. Then they'll just make me wear it again."
"I have the feeling there's no one on Bajor capable of making you do something you don't like. Certainly not twice."
"Once was difficult enough," said Vedek Torin, coming into the room. "We were fortunate to find a novice who was able to persuade the child to wear the gown for only a few hours."
"I like her," Cedara confided in Sisko's ear. "She's new, but she's nice. When Dejana is all better and we come here to live, I want her to take care of us."
"That should be easy enough to arrange," Benjamin replied. "Incidentally, while I was waiting for you here, I contacted Dr. Bashir. Your sister is recuperating at a fantastic rate and he reports that all traces of the virus have been wiped out of her system."
"Does that mean she can come here right away?"
"Soon enough—if she's forgiven you for telling the secret yet."
Cedara sighed. "I'll have to go back and explain to her that we're going to play a different game from now on." She disengaged her arms from Sisko's neck and slid to the floor. Her hair was still elegantly coiffed and her earring twinkled, but she had managed to get her hands on a common worker's tunic and trousers—grubby ones at that. Talis Cedara, child of prophecy, had reverted to being Talis Cedra, child of mischief.
"You know, Cedara, now that you're the Nekor, you may have to wear dresses now and then," Sisko teased her.
The girl twisted her mouth. "And I told Dejana that the best part of being the Nekor was that no one would ever be able to make her do things she didn't want to."
"Alas," said Vedek Torin. "Even the Kai Opaka was often compelled to assume roles not to her liking." He patted her shoulder gingerly. It was more like touching a holy relic than a simple gesture of comfort.
"Dress or no dress, you behaved very well in the garden," Commander Sisko said. "I understand that it's no easy thing to impress a member of the Dessin-ka, even if you are their promised Nekor."
"Was it not a wonder?" Vedek Torin concurred. "She secured the loyalty of the Dessin-ka to the provisional government before witnesses. Not even the Kai Opaka was ever able to do that."
"I couldn't hear everything that was said in the center of the garden," Sisko said. "I didn't think the obvious presence of a nonbeliever would be appropriate, so I kept my distance. Did she?"
Cedara shrugged. "It was easy. I gave him a present and he gave me the oath of loyalty in exchange."
"What sort of a present?" Sisko asked.
"A few secrets about himself that weren't secrets to me," Cedara replied. "And the name of a man to watch out for. I don't think Kejan Ulli will be able to get by on his word of honor among the Dessin-ka much longer."
Commander Sisko threw his head back and laughed. "Good girl!" He offered her his hand. "Are you ready to come back to DS9 now?" Cedara nodded eagerly.
Vedek Torin looked pained. "Is this necessary? I do not like to have the child removed from the Temple precincts. There is so much to do, so many arrangements to make for her upbringing—"
"And my sister's," Cedara prompted him. "We're not to be separated. You can make me wear the stupid dress, but you can't split us up."
"We would not think of it," the vedek promised her. "You have my word. I have already conferred with Commander Sisko: Your sister is to join you here as soon as she is well enough. Do you not trust my oath on this?"
"She's not coming back with me be
cause of Dejana," Sisko soothed Vedek Torin. "It's only to say gooodbye to her friends."
Cedara clasped the vedek's hand and looked him in the eye. "I'm not going to run away from my duty anymore. You can trust my oath on this."
The farewell party for Talis Cedara at the Replimat was one of long, uneasy silences and sudden, awkward bursts of conversation. Jake sat toying with his ice cream sundae until it was a bowl of brown sludge, and Nog kept giving the Bajoran girl sideways glances that seemed to say, You're not really a female, are you? Yes, you are. No, you're not. How could you! As the lone adult overseeing all this, Commander Sisko was honestly thrilled when he recognized Dr. Bashir passing by and energetically hailed him.
"Commander!" Bashir cried, joining the table with alacrity. "I've just had the most marvelous news. I transmitted my findings on the Bajoran camp fever in all its manifestations to Starfleet Medical. My old professor, Selok of Vulcan, did some additional intensive studies on the data. He's just sent back word that the physical configuration of the virus itself is incompatible with non-Bajoran hosts. There's no need to fear an epidemic off the planet." He rested his elbow on the back of his seat and turned to Cedara. "You know, your sister's been showing me how to do that private sign language you two used to fool everyone."
"Sign language?" Jake suddenly forgot the shock of having learned that his former best friend—and roommate—had turned out to be a girl. Nog just snorted.
"We made it up on the road," Cedara explained. "Sometimes, when we had to hide, we had to keep absolutely quiet but we still needed to talk." She giggled. "I told you: People don't use their eyes. When I wanted everyone to think that Dejana was the Nekor I just stood behind anyone who questioned her and I used the signs to tell her what to say. That's why she sounded like she knew so much. We even fooled Lieutenant Dax, and she's old inside!"
"Your masquerade almost turned a world upside down." Sisko could speak with equanimity now that the crisis had passed. "Couldn't you have found another way to secure Dejana's future?"
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