STAR TREK DS9: WHAT YOU LEAVEBEHIND [065-jgg-dance] By: DIANE CAREY

Synopsis: NOVELIZATION OF THE FINAL TVEPISODE. "I need your help,

Dukat." Kai Winn rose from her chair, crossed the rugthat separated them, and finally stood before him. "It's assimple as that." He turned his hands up. "All you have to do isask." He reached for her hand-amazingly, she gave it.So she was still angry with the Prophets, orperhaps beyond anger and well into bitterness. "comtgr," he said, "we will free thePah-wraiths so that they can tear down the CelestialTemple and destroy the PR-OPHETS." "And their Emissary as well." Dukat tucked his chin. "No. Ben aminSisko will be dealt with by me, and me alone." "Assuming he survives the invasion ofCardassia" the Kai observed cryptically. "He'll survive," DukAt grumbled.

"ButI promise you, he'll wish he hadn't ...... The sale of this book

without its cover isunauthorized. If you purchased this book without acover, you should be aware that it was reported to thepublisher as unsold and

destroyed." Neither theauthor nor the publisher has received payment for thesale of this "stripped book." This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters,places and incidents are products of the author'simagination or

are used fictitiously. Anyresemblance to actual events or locales orpersons

living or dead is entirelycoincidental. An Original Publication of

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"Doctor Bashir The time isoh-five-hundred At least he wasn't alone. "Right.

. . ." Oh, how he hated the garlicityvoice of that computer in the morning.

The light hurt his eyes. "Julian ... we have to get up." A much nicer voice. Julian Bashir shiftedhis arm to cuddle mode as Ezri Dax

maneuveredherself closer. "Are you sure?" he asked. "It's a big day," she told him. There was afaint dose of fearful anticipation in her voice.A week

ago, he wouldn't have noticed it, but thingschanged here every day lately.

"It was a big night," he countered. "It clearedup a lot of questions." She turned her pixie-like face up to him. Achildlike face, framed in boyish

short-clipped blackhair, a permanent flicker of uncertainty alwayspassing

through it. "Such asThat" she asked. He brushed his hand along the trail of melaninspots on the side of her face, the subtlemarkings that identified

her as one of the mostelegantly unique creatures of the known galaxy."How far those spots go down, for one thing' Shesmiled, but not without a sparkle of embarrassment."I suppose you're going to want to tellMiles." "Why would I do that?" "Because you tell him everything?" Without saying that today they'd all have other things ontheir minds, Bashir pushed away the rush of

possibleanswers--he was right, he did tell MilesO'Bnen everything-and how

did she know that about the twomen already? She was wrong, and he knew when

digs betweena man and a woman, or a man and a Trill, or asomebody and a

somebody else were better keptprivate. Rather than blurting what he was

g-my God,you're so young!-he admitted, "True, but this time, I'll make anexception:" "Good:" Ezri murmured. Shedidn't believe him, he was sure of that "Now, were ally should get up. We don't want theDefim leaving without us." "You know," Bashir mentioned, "I've never gone into battle with someone I'veslept with " She smiled. "There's a first time foreverything."

Not making any move to get up, Bashir added, "Now that we're finally

together, it'd be a shame ifanything happened to one of us." Another twist came into her expression, and shedidn't say any more, but Bashir picked up

herthoughts as if he had suddenly becomeclairvoyant. She had been so lonely, sounsure of herself since having seven lifetimes ofmemories thrust upon her

from another person, andanother and another ... her own identity hadabruptly been put on hold, and she was nowresponsible for a cache of thoughts and

knowledge that she hadn'tabsorbed. Not all Trill prepared all theirlives to

have a squirmy receptacle thrust into theirbodies and then take over their

existence. She was,as far as anyone knew, the only Trill never to beprepared for joining. That made her very special. Bashir tried to enpathize, but how could he? Hewas one man, inside one body, with one lifetimeto worry about.

Yet he admired and pitied EzriDax in the same moment, and he questioned his

own reasonsfor wanting the comfort of her touch in these troubled times

indeep space. "Let's make a pact"" she said. "We bothcome home alive." A handshake-simple, but potent. He took the hand. "You've got yourself a deal." She smiled. "I'm going to hold you to thatwas No, no, this wouldn't do. He leaned toward her,and she met his kiss thankfully, with welcome in

hereyes. But then it was over, and before anything else could setin they

had rolled out of bed on opposite sides andmight as well have landed at

opposite ends of afootball field. Ezri drew her uniform on very quickly, as if theblankets had been her protector and now shecouldn't be unprotected.

And Bashir,ridiculously, had yanked on his trousers quite fasterthan

usual-now how was that a way for a grown man andphysician to behave? As if he were dressing infront of a ... all right, she was very young, never mindthat she was three hundred years old. The medical wonder of Trilldom struck

himagain certainly this girl was no three hundred yearsold, yet the eight

accumulated lifetimes and those ofeight hosts all stored within her

unprepared mindreached back all those centuries, racking her withconfusions

he could only guess toward. Sixteenlives bottled up inside that girl over

there, whoyet was pifm in her isolation. As were they all, upon this

turning wonder. As were theyall.... "Aand It's! You're late! Youhave to report in fifteen minutes. It "Coming,dear." Oh, yes, the joy and fliffirment of having hisfamily with him finally! n only there weren't a

war. Every beginning ofwatch was like this now-the laughter of his children, the humming ofhis wife, the clatter of family life-nd heknew too well how

quickly that paradise could crashand burn. He'd seen it before, the war

coming out of nowhereto Deep Space Nine and lashing the station with all

thecomplex agonies and strife caught up in those threelittle letters . . .

w, a, rather... Thank the Lord thebaby couldn't spell yet. But Molly could,

and sheunderstood. That caused pain to Miles O'Brien, as hestepped from

his bedroom, pretending there was no care inthe universe that could shatter

him today. It was only for thechildren. He couldn't fool Keiko. "Now, remember," he told his wife as sheturned to him while feeding the baby,

"Kirayoshi has his checkup tomorrow morning atoh-nine-hundred was She nodded, and he feltsilly for having pretended she didn't remember. By reminding

her, he was also putting aspotlight on the fact that he wouldn't be here

tomorrow.He was leaving, and asking her to go on with familylife as if not

tung were wrong, nothing were happening. "I've already confirmed the

appointment with NurseBandee" she said courageously. "One more bite..."And try to get some rest:" O'Brien pressedon, "and don't stay up too late writing thatpaper on whatever those trees are called." "They're called Arfilhan blossoms andthey're not trees, they're shrubs." He sighed. "All right ...

anyway, be sureto get some sleep and ... oh, yeah, and-""Miles:" Keiko scolded gently, "stopworrying. We're going to be fine." Fine, she said so easily. Back here on thestation, trying to play house on the edge of a war

zone,living in a pretty little cottage made of alienmetal, just barely

managing to keep out the inhospitableness of space with bulkheads that could be soeasily raptu red by enemy fire. Just a few light-years from the

front-was this aplace to raise a family? He had thought being togetherwould

make up for all the risks, for the tortures ofknowing where he would be for

the coming days. He'd been wrong. "I know," he said anyway, and leaned over for akiss. "Just you be careful," Keiko told him. "I always am-MoBy, don't touch that!" His daughter recalled her hand just before it

would'veviolated the sacred space around the model he andBashir had so

lovingly built. Then she realized her hand had come away with one of

theminiature US Army soldiers. Quickly shereassigned the soldier within the

Alamo walls. Only as his little girl's ivory hand dipped overthe adobe

stone partition did O'Brien realize howvery large the model had grown. Now

taking up asignificant portion of the room, the Alamoseemed very real and

consequential to him, its soldierslike shipmates. He and Julian had committed manyhours to this historical problem of siege andconflict, supply and

isolation. One needn't be ascholar to see the symbolism, and how close

hefelt to those trapped men and women, struggling to holdout against

impossible odds "I let you play with my toys"" Mollycomplained. "It's not a toy," he insisted. "It's amodel." Keiko's doll-like eyes teased him as shecontinued feeding the baby. "comMen maybe it belongs in a museum."

O'Brien glanced at her, suddenly embarrassedthat the Alamo had sucked away

such a large portionof their living quarters. Did seem to have taken

over,didn't it? "I suppose I could give it to Julian. . .." "Sounds good to me was Keiko instantly said."Speaking of Julian, have you told him

aboutStarfleet's offer yet?" "I haven't had time," he stalled. Molly wedged her way between them. "I knew it!" O'Brien looked down. "What's that supposedto mean?" "We're not going back to Earth," his daughtertold him bluntly, "that's what it means." "Of course we are:" O'Brien said to her."Daddy's going to teach at the Academy ... assoon as the war's over."

Molly's big brown eyes batted at him."comThen why haven't you told Julian?"

As O'Brien groaned, Keiko smiled. "Outof the mouths of babes." Guilt grazed O'Brien's sense of honor andduty. "I'D tell him ... when I think he'sready to hear it:" To get himself out of this, he duckeddown to kiss Kirayoshi's plump little face. "Ilove you. Be a good boy, now. And you," he said,W'g again to Molly, "listen to Mommy while I'mgone." "I always listen to Mommy." As his daughter pranced away, NU-LESO'Brien found his wife in his arms, a rather morepoignant gesture than his little girl's farewell.He felt

ghastly about Molly's not knowing where he wasgoing today, that this wasn't

an ordinary patrol oryour average mission away from the station. Was she

oldenough to know the truth about where he was going? Should he payher the

respect of telling her? What did the mentell their daughters as they left for NormandyBeach? Protect them with soft deceptions, orgive them the honor of

knowing what their fathers were settingoff to do? Teer them it was nothing,

or that it was moreimportant than anything ever before? Should he spare the little girl, or should he think of thewoman she would be someday, a woman who deservedto be proud, to remember a significant andpoetic moment of farewell

with her father, whomight never return? Why wasn't he wise enough to know

what to do? Keiko held him tightly, not in a kind ofgoodbye, but in a kind

of sorrowful pledge. Every partingwas the last, just in case, and every kiss a promise. "Just you be careful," she murmured. "I always am." He always said that, or something like that. An extrasqueeze-the sure sign that he

could no longer foolher or assure her away from the cold bittertruths of

Starfleet service in these dangerousdays. She knew too well how quickly,

howpermanently, things could change on, and around, and becauseof ... Deep

Space Nine. "How's that?" "It's doing wonders for my head. Except it'smy stomach that's bothering me." "Well, if it helps, morning sickness usuallyends after the first trimester." "That's three months! I don't think I'mgoing to make it!" "You'll make it." That's an order Oh, better not add that part.Still, it so often did the trick-wnce a commander, alwaysa

commander. Don't say it, don't sayit.... Orders came much better from his

low-pitchedand decidedly unfeminine voice. How could herumble out a comfort

without sounding like a foghorn in thedistance? He could no more make her

feel better thancreate wind in space. Always a conmmder, but it had been

twenty-oddyears since Benjamin Sisko had last become afather. Twenty very

odd years, one might say. Tendinga deep space station in upheaval, in a war

zone,with cloaked enemies spinning around at arm's length wasnothing to

tending a woman in the first gap of motherhood. He'd completely forgotten

the whole idea,having had absolutely no plan of getting himselfinto this all over again. Still, he found himself working too hard to press downa grin.

Couldn't let Kasidy think he was laughing ather discomfort. For her, this

feeling represented noreal live baby, not yet anyway, for she had

neverexperienced the wonder of new life in her arms. ForKasidy Yates, this

was little more than arecollection of space sickness, so long agoconquered.

For Ben Sisko, though, it was atiny beacon of hope and joy in a very bleak

void.He longed for the cry of his child, the wonderment in tinysearching

eyes, and as any soldier understands, something morein his life to right for instead of fight against. She lay her head on his shoulder. "Promiseme something, Ben"" she moaned. "Promise you'llcome back to us:, "I promise."

Yet they both mew the power of that promisewasn't in his control. Suddenly

her eyes shot wide, her faceflushed, and she bolted to her feet, rushing for the headlike a phaser shot. The door panel slid open,barely fast enough,

then hissed shut behind her in timeto spare Sisko the joyous sounds of

impendingmotherhood. "I don't believe it...... she said slowly. "I said I promise," he insisted. "It's not that." He wanted to help her, to change things on herbehalf-but he'd learned long ago he couldn't takea hit for

anyone in his crew, and there were certainlythings he couldn't do for the

woman he loved. Mensince time immemorial had been unable to do much,

nomatter what technology they concocted for theadvancement of life's

qualities. Oh, well.... The main door chime spared hishaving to go over

there and mutter comforting sounds into thebulkhead. "Come in," he called.

The door opened and his first claim to empathywraithed in, yawning and

rubbing his eyes. "Glad I caught you." Jake Sisko bumbledto the replicator, apparently thinking about coffee,then changed his mind and didn't order

anything. "I figured I'd walk you to the Defiant." Sisko stood up. "I'd like that." "How's Kas?" Through the bulkhead she answered for herself with a moan. that answer your question?" Sisko said as the headpanel opened again and the light of his life staggeredback to the couch. "Reports of my death," Kasidy complained,"have been greatly exaggerated. But not by much."

Jake frowned. "Isn't there something you can taketo make you feel better?"

Sisko shook his head and waved a quick hand, notwanting that subject opened

up again. He'd beenbitten often enough on that suggestion. "She doesn't believe in takingmedication unless it's absolutely necessary." When Kasidy groaned again, Jake shook hishead. "Sounds necessary to me...... "If you're goingto go," Kasidy snarled, "then go. Waiting for you to leave only makes me feelworse." Sisko moved to gaze down at her, determinedby proximity if nothing else to show her that he wastrying to be supportive. "You're sure I can'tget you anything?" But she was gone again-back to the head. Zoom.

I-Ess. Clack. Heave. Despite his amusement, Sisko's pride ashe turned to

his son got the better of him, and hegrinned. "I think she's sure." "Tunes like this"" Jake commented, "make meglad I'm a man." "The too" Sisko admitted as they went out thedoor side by side. "Damn it, now I feelguilty about it. Well, I suppose that MotherNature in her wisdom put the

betterindividuals in charge of ... of.. ." "The hard part," Jake leered sidelong at him."Are you saying men are wimps?" "No, but I do feel bad lately." "About what?" "Well ... about getting a good night's sleep,for one thing." "Why should that make you feel bad?" "First of all, because it's hard for Kasidy to getone. She keeps tossing and turning. And that

excusefor a goodbye ... she was doing everything she could to avoida real

goodbye. She thinks they're bad luck." "She told you that?" "Not in so many-was "And what else?" Jakeinterrupted. "What've you got to feel guiltyabout? You're in charge of a primary outpost in the flfiddle of a

center of action. Most military men wouldgrovel to get a position like yours!

All the newsnetworks are constantly buzzing about activity at andaround Deep Space Nine! The comings and goings, theships in and out, the changes of

control over areas ofspace around here-Dad, WTYX on DevonaFour actually has

a DS9 update twice aday!" "Hen. There's not that much news coming out of here, Ihope:" Sisko drawled. "After all, we do haveour strategic and tactical secretsto keep. There's a limit to the people's right to know."

was "I don't think so:" Jake countered."Freedom of the press" " "Not going to be the firsttopic of this day, of all days, thank you very much. Ialready

tell you too much, if you get my meaning." "And I've put my position as the commander's sonbefore the people's right to know. I understand the importance ofsecrecy too, you know." Jake shrugged. "It's still no reason to feel guilty. Gettinga good night's sleep, I mean." "comThat's not re ally it,"

Sisko admitted."The station's on constant alert status, permanentyellow alert, every Starfleet crewman requiredto be ready to report to battle

stations in threeminutes or less, and every one of us, including

theillustrious commander, required to get rest on painof siccing Dr. Bashir

on you with a sedative. DidI give that order? What was I thinkingt' "You weredimng," Jake said instantly, "that everyone inuniform on this station is just like you-wanting to stand threewatches in a row because you can't get

work off your mindand you know the Dominion or the Jem'Hadar or

theCardassians or somebody's going to come out of thedarkness at us at any

given time. And you alsoknow that the longer the quiet, the louder the

attack. Youknow they're not just sitting out there quietlycontemplating the

stars. They're building up forassault." Sisko drilled him with a glare.

"Who told youthat?" "Nobody. I just know how you think was "Hen . ..

that's what I get for being such an open and forthcomingfellow." "Oh, brother." "Got myself into this," Sisko nserated. "Noweven I can't come back to my office after my watchwithout breaking my own order and setting a

badexample. And even today, of all days, I haveto keep up a sense of order

and not come out of that doorone minute early. I've been up for two

hours." "When everything breaks loose:" Jake said,"you'll be glad your crew is rested." "I know, I know. But weeks of making every morningseem normal-it takes its own kind of toll. Isee it 'm their faces. He nodded as

two youngofficers passed by, offering their commander a curtgood-morning.

"They're not fooled by the illusion ofnormalcy. It's like we're all lying to each othera little more every day, Jake. They know this can't go on, butno

one knows when it'll break. The tension's growing. I know how to fight a

battle ... but there'snothing I can do to hurry an incoming tidal wave thatI re ally hope never gets here. Here we are inthe middle of a war, suffering

from actually not having enoughto do, hour by hour. It's like the Alamo,

waiting to beattacked, unable to prepare any more, and knowing it'scoming."

"The Alamo:" Jake droned. "You've beenlistening to Miles and Julian, haven't you?" Sisko gazed down the long curve of thePromenade, and noticed that the clutter of activitywasn't as noisy as usual. "The irony of theirlittle

project hasn't been lost on me, let's justadmit." "It's only their way of .

. "Coping, I know. That's what I mean. Theycan't do any more to get ready for what we have to face,and we have no idea when we'll have to face the

nextwave. A war of intrigue is a lot harderto fight than a war of battles.

Unfortunately,we've settled into the intrigue stage. There are fewer

casualties, but theprice is stw high. We're being eaten by millimeters

instead of ingulps. Look at them, Jake ... trying to live theirlives as if

nothing's wrong. As ifsector-wide communications blackouts happen

everyday." "They're brave;" his son attempted as theypassed the shops, rounding the bend toward Quark'sbar. "They're lying to themselves," Sisko reminded. "And to each other. There's nothing normal here,certainly not today. They can't even write home to their relativesabout it. We're under a general alert-no privatecommuniques, no advances to the news service, and

noteven a DS9 update. Not today, and maybe neveragain." He stopped wa

wing, and took his son's arm."I don't want you to see me off. I wantto say goodbye right here" was Jake seemed brieflyinsulted, then instantly knew better. "My?" Sisko paused. "Finally the Cardassians and theJem'Hadar are going to have to face all of us-togather-rather than just the Klingons in a

singlegrowly line. This is the kind of thing that makeshistory, Jake. I'd

rather you remember me here, the way we livedtogether. Just in case history

gets a little toopersonal." "Dad. . ." Detemned to keep this on a higher plane,Sisko reached for his son's hand and clasped itrimily, but not

tightly. "Take care of myfamily and my station. I'll be back if I'mlucky, but dying doesn't mean you lost. Understand? Don't follow me." "You're up early today." As Quark plunked a drink in front of him,Worf pretended it was an ordinary morning. Theonly other customer in the pub besides himself

was Mom,over 15 there in his giant slug mode, sittingalone as always, his

big shapeless paw around a mug ofklapri drippings. Here at the bar, Worf

stewed over his drink, butsaid only, "I am always up early." In his periphery he saw Quark lean closer,pretending he could keep a seer-et. "It's a goodday to die;" the Ferengi barkeep whispered. Worf felt andq burn in his eyes. "Every dayis a good andity to cue." "But some days are better,"

Quark baited,"than others. Like today, for instance. The day the

FederationKlingon-Romulan Alliance launches its invasionof Cardassia. The

final push in the long struggleto rid the Alpha Quadrant of the Dominion

...and save my bar in the process." Though he fought to mask his anger, Worf knew hiswithholding was in itself a giveaway. But how could the

Ferengi know? "Who told you that?" he demanded. Quark nodded toward the mulchy figure of Mom. "He did." "Mom? And how does he know?" "He's friends with Admiral Ross. Or maybeSisko told him while they were having

dinner Idon't know how he knows! He just laws." Worf slugged his drink. "I have to go." Without another glance at the clever and annoyingQuark, Worf wheeled full about and beat it for thedoor. The gulp of blood wine had

galvanized him forwhat was to come, on this very important day they were

alltrying I 6 so hard to make appear ordinary. Yet his stomachrebelled

as he headed for the airlock. He was grateful for solitude, but in

thisproximity-a space station that seemed large uponapproach and quickly

showed itself for the small town itwas-soon caved to Odo's appearance. The

shape shifter floated inffbeing at Worf'sside before the Klingon had even

noticed someone waswalking with him. "Mind if I walk with you, commander?"

Odoasked, as if reading his thoughts. "Not at all," Worf accepted.

"CaptainSisko informed me you were joining us on our mission."He paused, then offered a morsel of empathy."I hope that when we reach Cardassia we findColonel Kira alive and well." "So do I, Commander," the shape shifter said withurunasked fear. "So do I. Everyone's taking theblackout with great courage:" he added. "I findit disconcerting-the waves are full of

normalchatter, but it's all a lie." "It is a tactical disguise. We have filledour communications channels with recordings. The enemywould notice a

total blackout. Ourassault would sacrifice its surprise,Constable." "Yes, but it's surreal to monitor the channelsand hear people talking whom I

perfectly well knowaren't even on the station, and others whom I know

areboarding ships to join the Allied Fleet. As thesecurity officer, I still

have to listen. It's like ...hearing ghosts." Worf winced, then hoped the constable was not watchingat that instant. Ghosts haunted his every moment, the dead of his pastconstantly with him. His father, his shipmates, his

fellowwarriors, his wife ghosts all. Today they would create many more.

The two men fell to silence. It was a relief.Worf found himself instinctively leading the way, withOdo a step behind him, as they came through the

airlockand boarded the muscular deep-space endurancebattleship that had been the other half of theirexistence for so long. The Defiant. Latest

descendant of a line ofproud fighting ships of the same name, leading

backinto the past of Starfleet, and even farther back to theplanetary

service from which Starfleet had grown. Not so graceful as a heavy cruiser

norso crude as a fighter, this new Defiant, like thosebefore her, was

something in the middl'uilt exclusivelyfor the hard punches of close combat, without labs orcomforts. The essence of minimalism and survival,she had more weaponry ordnance than any otherprovision, even more than food and engine

power. Shemew her purpose. Today she would fly her finest. Ben Sisko stood

on the upper level,surveying his bridge thoughtfiffly, absorbing thenewness

of this ship, the updates and freshtechnology that his tough old ship

hadn'tpossessed. It was (i" to put some scratches inher hull. Finally, the allied powers would make asingular sa%! Months of preparation, secret

coordinations,meetings, councils of war, spies, trickery,subterfuge-finally!

An assault fleet was movinglaterally across Deep Space Nine,

gatheringstrength as it flowed, plucking grains of sand which it wouldsoon

fling at the enemy. Even now, before they'd left the docking

pylon,Defiant's forward screen bristled with a thousandships passing by in

loose coordination-Federationstarships, Klingon cruisers, Romulan war

wings,combat support tenders and picket ships,supply freighters and

medicalpackets,-vessels from all over the plaguedquadrant swarmed together

before him. A grdin of sandis nothing, but together they make a mighty stone.

Butbeneath his pride in this moment, Sisko feared where thecrack might

appear. Oh, well, that was the adventure, wasn't it? Silently he counted

the crew. Worf,O'Brien, Bashir, Ezri Dax, all at theirposts. Nog at the

helm, Odo standing beside the commandchair. They were pretending to be

powering up the ship, but it wasalready powered up. They were waiting for

him, re ally. "All right, people"" he began. All eyesturned to him. "What do you say we end this warm" O'Briencouldn't quite muster a smile. "Sounds good to me." "To me too. I have something very important for youto keep in mind for the time to come. We've been out hereat Deep Sp'e Nine for many

years, usually onour own, depending only on each other and no oneelse.

We've become a family, and I appreciatethat very much. Today something

different is happening. We aren't onour own anymore. We aren't the

spearhead of the final frontier.Today we have to do something even more

important-we haveto remember what it means to be part of a fleet one ofmany.

The goal isn't to be heroes today. The goalis to be one strong muscle in a

much bigger body.We have to work together with a lot of strangers to

takeback our quadrant. That's not easy for people who'vehad to be pioneers

as long as we have. We're used to defending our own form all by ourselves.

nun a good effort. I'm counting on all of you to have thehumility and

courage to let others be the heroes for achange. We all think we have that in us, but when themoment comes, it's hard to do. I know you're allgrownup

enough to understand what I'm saying. Today, Iwant to be proud of you for

something that might not makeheadlines. I promise you, though ...

it'llmatter." For a moment his words had no effect. Then he sumto notice a sub de change. Worf's postureeased a little. Odo gazed at him more kindly.

Bashir wassmiling. O'Brien closed his eyes briefly. Nogseemed less

afraid. Ezri's eyes shined with embarrassing affection, asif he'd given

them a charm they could put in theirpockets. Yes, they understood. He drew

a sustaining breath and stepped down to thecommand deck. Odo offered a nod of encouragement. Sisko almost paused, but managed not to. Hecouldn't

absorb-never had-the idea that by looking atOdo's homogeneous face he was ac any lookingat the very face of the Dominion, the eyes of hisenemy. Without

breaking stride he slid into his chair andswiveled to face the forward

screen. "Docking clamps released," Nog reported,without waiting for an order. "Ensign," Sisko began, "I believe you know the way to Cardassia."

The young Ferengi gingerly touched his helm. "IfI get lost, I'll just follow the ship in frontof me." With a hum of confidence, the Defiant

smoothlyswam out toward the crowded space lane. There shefell into formation with the largest combined invasion fleet everamassed in the Alpha Quadrant.

And out there, far before them, the enemy would soonawaken. "She's got a concussion. Look at that headwound." "Can't you bind it up and save her?"

"She could be bleeding in the brain, Damar.We've got to get out. Ten

minutes in the infirmary and she'll be fine." "I'm glad you have the problem solved.Colonel! Don't go to sleep. You may not wake up. Doyou

understand?" Colonel Kira Nerys of the Bajoranmilitary Guard moaned and forced her eyes open.Her head swam and pounded from inside her skull.

Theside of her neck was wet. "Am I bleeding?" she asked. "Because ...

it'sgetting on my clothes. Garak, make me some new clothes." Iw, can you see me?" She blinked again, and saw-surprisingly clearly22 the goofy face of Garak bending over her. Thosewide buggy eyes, that funny flat mouth, and

allthat Cardassian gray snakeskin, like bathroomtiles. Yup, that was Garak.

"I see you fine," she complained. "Where arewe?" "We are trapped." The other Cardassian-whywas she lying around with so many Cardassians?-wasdirty

and covered with soot as he climbed ataflus of broken bricks and shattered

wood andmetal support bars. "The whole building has come down on us.

Werrscalculated the explosion." "I didn't miscalculate anything,"

Garakprotested as he put a pad of wet cloth to theside of Kira's head. "My fuses were perfect.It was your calculation of the escape route that fadedus.

We should've gone out from the north entrance, as Ifirst suggested." "If you don't come over here and help me liftthese blocks, the south nice win be your tomb." "You better go help him"" Kira toldGarak. "I'll be right over there in a minute, assoon as I sew my feet back on." "That's right, Kira:"

Garak told hersoothingly. "You rest right here on this plank. Keepsewing your feet and don't go to sleep. I'llhelp our Mustfious leader dig us out of the holehe's gotten us into." Kira let her shoulders sink back against theslab of wood they had laid her on. This was anasty place, some kind of

basement room. They'dfallen right dmugh the ceiling when the bomb went

off.It was a good bomb, big enough to take out half a cityblock. Another ten minutes and BOOM.... Orhad it already gone off.? "Oh, sure," she said. "I remember the sound.Three buildings fell at the same time, and four morein a

row afterward. We're in the fourth one, isn't thatright?" Across the room, Garak and Damar hefted the twofoot-long blocks of conglomerate and metal

barsone at a time-it took both of them to lift a singleblock, and there were hundreds of blocks collapsedin the corridor ... that was a corridor,

wasn'tit? Oh, yes, there was the lintel. Neither of themresponded to her

question. Oh, they were busy. "That's all right," she said. "You're busy.

Justkeep working. I'll sit here and paint a phaser." That was all they needed to get out at the phaser.No hand weapons, though. The Breen patrols

wouldpick them up on scanners. Seemed so silly.Why couldn't she just go out

and talk to the Breen andtell them that she and her team of conspiratorsand

saboteurs had work to do and couldn't be bothered goingto the brig and facing a firing squad. They'd understand. "She's going to die like this:" Garak said, strainingas he pitched one of the blocks sideways. Itsplashed to the

floor with a dull clunk. "She deserves better." "Everyone deserves better.

Quit complaining.An invasion tomorrow, and we end up in a stone

boxunderground." "I thought you said quit complaining." "You quit. I'll say what I please." Damar was on top of the pile of bricks, up by

thelintel, trying to stick his arm through to open air.Kira watched him for

a few moments, fascinated by theaction of his belt as it rode on his hips,

and the wayhis boots scratched at the uneven mess he was standingon. What

a funny thing. Here they were, Garak of theObsidian Order and Damar of the

CardassianMilitary, two important natives of thiscondemnable planet who had

both turned against theirplanet and its allies-and they were dying

likesquirrels underground while the big invasion prepareditself light-years

away, unable to get through tenfeet of rocks. Hah. Kira laughed out loud,

then winced when her headstarted hurting again. She should get up and go

help them move the rocksso they could all get out of here and go invade

something.She felt like L'g over a province or subduinga fleet. Of course,

standing up would help. Nope, couldn't do that. No feet. Garak was coming

toward her now. Wow, were his handshuge! They were two feet long! He could

smother herwith those! "Your hands are big"" she commented as he probedher head. "Just he still:" Garak told her. "You've gota cracked skull. If you move, you'll cause morebleeding. I have nothing with which to cauterize the

wound.We should start bringing medikits with us on theseraids." "You always were pampered:" Damar said, withoutturning for a caustic glance. "You enjoy comfort toomuch, Garak. It makes you weak. The ObsidianOrder was

perfect for you. Sneaking and hiding, neverconfronting your enemy except to

lurk behind himand find some way to bring him down before he even knewyou

were there. Even here, in the midst of a resistancesquadron, you want your

tea and biscuits everyday." "The Obsidian order, my primate friend, was theelite of the Cardassian intelligence network,feared and respected across

the entire AlphaQuadrant, unlike, I should mention, the rest ofCardassia's

authorities." Garak's musical tone betrayed an irritationthat Kira

recognized. Was he frightened? Shecouldn't tell that much, but something was bothering him. "Yes Damar droned, "and if you don't eliteyourself over ere and lift some stones, you're going to berespected very deeply. Ten meters

deeply, Iestimate." With a bitter glare, Garak said, "I'm tending to the Colonel's injuries. I haveto lift this board. Prop her up." "Why are you bothering to do that? We have to dig ourselvesout of here." "Damar, that would be futile. Look at the sizeof those blocks. If we are still and

patient, I'msure that soon other members of the resistance will bealong to

dig us out. They've got scanners.They'll be able to find our life-signs and

get us outof here." "It wouldn't be wise to wait, Garak." "Why not?"

"Primarily because the room is filling with water. Obviously the blast broke an alluvial lineunder the buildings." Garak turned and gawked down at the floor. Water? Oh, yes. Kira let her hand slipfrom her side, and it fell

into icy liquid swirlingjust below the ring she was lying on. That felt good.

Sheliked cold water. Bracing! "Maybe we can swim out," she said. "We canbuild a raft and float out. I can knit some oars. Give me a couple

ofminutes. You want yours pink or brown?" "If we don't escape, Garak,"

Damar saidsharply, "then you would be better doing the mercifulthing."

Turning away from Kira, Garak glaredfiercely. Are you serious? What are you suggesting?" "I'm suggesting you stop tending her and let herslip into a coma, rather than tend her untilshe's conscious just so she can be aware that we're aboutto drown or have the rest of this building fall in uponus."

"She can hear you, fool!" "She's unconscious, Garak. Look at her.Her eyes are glazed over." "At least they're open. I'll take care ofher. She isn't your concern." "Get back here and help me! If we're goingto get out, you've got to lift some of these blocks:""Very well, but if you mention-what you just said again,I'll" "Yes, I'm sure you'll throttle mewith a cram per. Get over here' was Kira listened withamusement at their argument. They thought

she was dead, andre ally she was just lying here painting and knitting

andsewing her feet on. "Oh, look:" she said. "A rat." They didn't pay any attention. Over there,climbing out of a metal pipe, was a little

northernprovincial re drat. The re drat bobbed itspointy head up and down,

surveying the rising waterthat was draining into their cavity. As it paused

at themouth of its little pipe, more water began to flow out of thepipe,

preventing the rat from going back up the wayit had come. Desperate and

confused, it clawed around the mouthof the pipe, trying to climb the metal,

but there was noway to do it. Frantic, the rat scratchedfuriously, then fell two feet to a jagged ledgeof broken rock. From there, it scurried down

asingle metal rod, then jumped onto the end of thewooden slab upon which

Kira lay, near her knee. "It's going to bite me:" she mentioned. Garak ignored her. He was back over there,accepting chunks of conglomerate from

Damar and pitchingthem aside. "Have you noticed that wherever you go in the wholegalaxy, no matter what kind of planet you'reon was she muttered, "there are some kind of rodents?You're everywhere. I mean, some of you have

differentcolors or extra feet, or hair that looks morelike feathers, but

you're all rodents. There's gotto be something evolutionarily inevitable

about rodents.There's not that much difference. Look at you, for instance.

You're bright red, and you've got the prettiestblue eyes. Blue? Look at me!

... I'm right, they're blue.And you don't have a tad. All the other rats

I've seen have tails. Theremust be some predator on Cardassia thatcatches

prey by the tail, so you evolved away yourtail and that way it's harder to

catch you. That makessense, doesn't it?" The rat raised its snout and

sniffed around, standingup on its little feet and grasping with its tiny

pinkhands at Kira's kneecap while it had a lookaround. As the water rose

beside her, Kira watched there drat waddle up along her thigh to her

restinghand. It sniffed her hand. "Don't bite me," she told it. "I don'twant to knock you into the water. Truce, all right?" The rat didn't bite her. Instead it climbedonto her hand and moved hesitantly up her armto

sit just south of her elbow. It looked around again,sniffing furiously,

hearing the rush of incoming water.The water was up around Kira's ankles now, makingits way toward her knees. "Here:" she said. "Stay where you are."

Summoning all her strength, concentrating hard,she flexed the fingers of her right hand. Her thumb hadno feeling, but her wrist moved. Closing one eye

with determination, she raised herentire right arm as if it were already

floating. The ratrose too, as Kira lifted her arm. Up, up, finally to a

shelf of brokenwood that looked as if it might have been a piece offurniture an hour ago. "comthere you go:" she huffed, weakened by the effort. "Go on, get off." The rat made a single little jump, and landed on thejut of wood. Kira's arm slumped back to her side, fallingpartly over her body.

"Better now?" "Thank you," the rat said. "What are you doinghere?" "We planted a bomb to harass a clutch ofBreen patrols. We blew up their

barracks.We got caught in our own explosion through. Miscalculated." The fuse or the escape route?" it asked. "Oh, well, that's what those two were arguing about"Kira explained. "They're blaming each other forgetting caught down here." "Do they argue much?" "All the time. Just like they're doing now. Listen." Kira gestured with her limp hand at Garak andDamar, who were now calf-deep in water even thoughthey were standing on the slanted side of

the collapsedpile of building conglomerate. "All the potential glory of an empire, andthis is what it comes to," Garak was complaining. "Subservient to the prancingFounders and the insipid Vorta, and now we're evenlower than

the Breen" was "Look who's talking""Damar snarled back. time Obsidian Order gotthrown out because you spent so much time sneaking about,preparing for a

conquest while never launching one, stabbingeveryone in the back, ring to

gain advantage,avoiding what you were preparing for. Eventually you endedup

even stabbing each other in the back. WhileCardassia was involved in stealth and suspicion,sneaking around, and"...ong to be clever, trying to

gaininfluence and loyalty, and gaining strength, theKlingons and Romulans

and Federation were gainingterritory. When you were finally ready, we were

alreadysurrounded. So much for the wonders of stealth." "We survived,"

Garak argued, heaving anotherstone from the pile. "We prospered, our children werehealthy-we were gaming power Have you ever played thathuman game chess?

Sometimes you can look at theboard and still not re ally see who's winning.

But youwouldn't understand that, Damar. You just count pieces." "How have we done under your way? Struttingand blustering even when you can take an

enemy by stealth,you announce to him you're going to do it, and then you

haveto either completely expend yourself winning, or you lose.If it weren't

for the Klingons, you'd be the biggestfools in the galaxy!" Damar smashed a stone hard into the water with aterfic splash that lanced them all with sharp colddroplets. "At least the galaxy knew we existed! Wedidn't plan and plan and think and hide. We hada chance to win! We came closer than ever before!

Yes, when you dosomething you have the chance to lose, but we won!

Cardassia was in its heyday under us!" "But you didn't win! You got kicked out ofBajor," Garak told him. "If the Dominion hadn't come in and saved you, youwould've been pushed back here to the home planet andlocked in your

rooms. And even the Dominion isonly using Cardassia at "IL'OOK out!" A deafening rumble tore through their basement room.Garak pulled Damar down

from the sheet of talIus. Together they splashed into the rising water.

Lessthan a second later, the whole wall of tall userupted, pushed outward as if swelling, thencrumbled and collapsed into a somewhat flatter heap

ofwreckage. Where the wall of blocks had been wasnow an obstacle of solid

iron in a tangle ofpipes. "What is that!" Garak sputtered, coming up in anoily shek on the water. "It's a furnace boiler," Damar bitterlysaid. "We must've loosened the floor under it." 3 I He swam to the enormous mass of iron andpressed against it with both hand. It budged not acentimeter.

"That's the end of it. We can't possibly movethis. We're finished unless they find us in the nextfew minutes." "Yes, well, if I were in a better moodI'd wring your neck before the water drowns you wasGarak paddled over to Kira's plank, but there wasnothing he could do for her. The water now lapped ather pelvis and she could feel the chill up herspine. They don't like

each other," the rat observed, "dotheyour "Oh, there's a certain commonality,"Kira explained. "They're not all that different. Garak was on thepolitical outside and Damar was on thepolitical inside. If you ask me,

under neither ofthem has Cardassia done particularly well."She paused, and looked up at Garak as heplucked at the padding he'd placed on the side ofher head. "It's funny ... what he said. IfMartok and Worf were here, those words would be stuffed rightback down Garak's throat." "About the Klingons?" As Garak and Damar split to opposite sidesof the wreckage, seeking an

alternative way out oftheir underground coffin, Yira raised herself to a

sittingposition with tremendous effort. This way she could reada long stick

that looked like it might've been achair leg. Now, if she lay back again, she coulduse her right hand-her left wouldn't move atall-to raise the chair leg

onto the crashedfunture where the rat was struggling along, flankedby

lapping water. "There. Climb a little higher," she offered. The rat thanked her again, turned its back, andscurried up the chair leg to the top

of a cabinet.Its ruby red back glinted in the singleelectrical light that

still worked. A light? Until now, she hadn't paid anyattention to the fact

that she could still see down here. Shehoped the light stayed on. Suddenly

the idea ofdarkness frightened her. She shivered. "It's getting cold," she mentioned. "Don'tcome down here again or you'll get wet." "It's nice of you to worry about me. ThatCardassian seems to be worried about you." "Well was Kira murmured, "I have to admit we've become friends over theyears. Didn't start out that way." "Is something wrong, Kira?" Garak slippedback into the water from where he'd been inspecting theupper wall. "Did you say

something?" "She's been muttering all along," Damar saidfrom the other side. "She's delirious." "I'm not delirious:" Kira told him."I'm talking to the rat, not to you. You see was shewent on, "I wanted nothing more than to kill them both for awhile there. Look at us now. Working together to

tryto get out of here before the rest of the block comes down onus:" "Which one of them do you like better?" Kira laughed. Only a rat would think like that. "Well"" she began, "from my point of view,they're both wrong. Look at Garak. He'sspent years on Deep Space Nine and he'sgotten to like the people

there, but he still doesn't realize thatif he gains, someone else doesn't

necessarilylose. When something good is created, everyone gains!That's why

the Federation, without blustering, without threats,without conquering, just keeps moving along and gettingbigger and better-and people want to join it."

"Is that who you are? Federation?" "I'm Bajoran. I'm just trapped here.Temporarily. And don't forget it's justtemporary. I'm sure not staying

on thisCardassian rock any longer than Iabsolutely have to. Sooner or

latersomebody'll break through and get us all off. Untilthen, we're working

to break the Dominion's hold onCardassia. The Federation'll be here

eventually. That's how it works." "Not by conquest?" "Not unless it's re ally provoked. It movesinexorably along and along, not forcing anybody to

comein, and it just works better. If you push and take andjust be a bully,

eventually somebody's goingto stand up to you, you're going to run into

somebodybigger-or three people who are collectively bigger.The Klingons,

Cardassians, Romulans,Breen-even the Dominion-they spend all their

timetrying to figure out the best way to bully. That's theonly difference

between Garak's way and Damar's.Should they bully by walking right up to

someone and tryingto hit him, or by sneaking up and punching him in

theback? Eventually, neither way gets the best results.The Klingons

figured that out, y'know, now that I thinkabout it. They still strut around, and they like their facade ofbullying, but they know that all those years of galacticsnarling just brought them to poverty. Now they go alongwith the

Federation. It's about time. I wonder what'staking the cook so long?" She lay back again, exhausted. The air wasstuffy and dusty, in spite of the water gushing in.Crumbs of broken rock, insulation, brick, andwood layered her

clod-ring and made her mouth dry. She wanted to drink some of the water

crawling upher legs, but her hands wouldn't form into a cup. The rat

climbed higher on the crushedfurniture, ran to the edge to look over at

therising water, then sniffed around the perimeter."I smell fresh air."

Kira raised her aching head again. "What?" 'there's air coming through this hole was the rat said. "Idon't dWill the building is completelycollapsed."

"If it's not, maybe there's another way out!"Kira pushed herself up on an elbow. "Kira, don't move!" Garak called. "Ifyou fall off that board, you'll drown." "The rat found some fresh air. Garak, come overhere! Damar!"

"What does she want, Garak?" Damarappeared around a slanted piece of ceilingmaterial, swimming up to the shoulders. "Something about fresh air,"

the other Cardassiantold him, and also paddled closer. "I don't blame her.

It smells like deadgut fish in this sewer." "I wish it were a sewer," Garak commented. "Thenperhaps there would be a way out." "There is!" Kira insisted. "Look! Therat's climbing through an opening up in that

corner.Look. Well, look!" "She's pointing up there." Garak moved to Kira's side and squinted into thecorner where the rat had disappeared through a ragged holenear the ceiling. "Damar, I see some light!" he exclaimed.

"Stay with her. I'll go." As Kira sank back against Garak and hepulled her higher on the plank, they watched Damarpick his way up the strewn wreckage to the cornerand peer into the nearly hidden hole. Drawing a breaththrough his

nostils, he proclaimed, "That is open air!" "Can you see anything?" Garak called. "I see light ... I can see part of the street!There must be a room that hasn't collapsed, and anoutside wall that fell away! Hurry! Bring

those steel bars and help me tear away thiswall material!" "There's a hammer over there!" Vigorously now, Garak splashed around Kirato the place he had seen a hammer, which would untilnow have been useless to them. He also gathered severalreinforcement rods, then carefully made his way upthe pile

of furniture and crushed buildingwreckage to where Damar was already pulling at thewallboard. "Stay awake, Colonel," he called backto Kira. "Welt have you out of here in a matter ofminutes!" Damar put his powerful shoulders into using a steelrod as a crowbar, causing part of the wall to rip

himpaper. The wall protested, making a terriblesquawk, and for a moment Kira thought her friend the ratmight have been stabbed. "Don't hurt him!" she called. "After all,he's the one who found the fresh air." "Relax, Kira:"

Garak insisted. "We'llhave you in the infirmary in no time. Our unit medic willcure you in a flash. By tonight you'll be back to yourold vigorous self, with a phaser in your hand and agleam in your eye." "And you will be back in your nwmy's amis,"Damar conmiented, "sipping tea and having your feetmassaged:" Garak's eyes gleamed. "Is that anoffer I can count on? I never knew you could be soacconlmodating!" "At least we'll be free in time for the regionresistance meeting tonight, Damar said, typically a'y"by 9 of what had to happen next. "We've got to convince them of our plan. IfI have anything to do with it, we will wrest ourplanet from the fools who would

collaborate with theDominion." "If I recall correctly, not too longago that was you doing the collaborating. Now look atyou-you're a Cardassian

legend. The great Damar,who the Jem'Hadar thought they had killed, but

whorose again out of the ashes of shune to destroy so many of theenemy and

fire an entire rebellion on his homeplanet! You're a born rebel, Damar. You

justdon't know which side to be on at any givenmoment." "Look who's talking: "Damar grumbled back. Kira sanded. They didn't really hate

eachother Necessity had made them compatriots. Nowthey both knew what they

wanted-he Dominion'spaws off their home planet. Could be worse. She'd

fought for the same thing. Except that her fight had been against

theCardassians. Now she was fighting with them. What a silly universe.

Painted feet,talking rats, and Bajorans fighting alongsideCardassians. What

unexpected leap would happennext? Who said wars had to be bad? Look

howmuch good this one had brought. She'd make friends of enemies. She was

part of a whole planet's finding out what itmeant to have to fight for its

identity. "After all," she said, "that's all I wantedto teach the Cardassians all along. Maybe this timethey'll learn." "Hold on, Colonel,"

Garak called as heand Damar tore the wall apart. More and more outside air

piled in through the hole theywere making. Of course, the water was up to

her neck now. Whosebright idea was it to take a bath at a time like this?

"There aren't even any bubbles. Garak, whydidn't you bring me bubbles?"

"Coming, I'm coming. Clear this away, Damar. Youknow your way around garbage, don't you?" "After long association with you, yes." Garak climbed back down in time to claspKira under the arms and haul her up out of the

water."You've lost weight was he commented. "I'll haveto make you a whole new warandobe." "That's all right, Garak, perfectly allright:" she said, grinning as he hoisted her out of thecold wet basement. "I made six new suits while I was waitingfor you. And some boots for my rat. If a planet

could be beauffffl, CardassiaPrime surely must be a jewel in the

randomnight. Like a giant crystal ball, the planetseemed constantly to

glitter in its subdued sun.Though he had been programmed with all

necessaryhistorical texts and the poetry that described them,Weyoun found

hum elf still baffled by the romance with whichmany of the curious creatures in this quadrant seemedto speak of their homes. Yet he had come over the

manyweeks to see some of the attraction of Cardassiaagainst the night. The

Dominion Briefing Room, set well belowthe equator of the planet he was here

to defend, hadmany pi cum of the pkinet from surveillancesatellites and

outposts on the moons. Weyounbroke from his communion with these monitors and wentback to the one that counted With enjoyable hath he glaredat the

incoming swarm. "Founder, the Federation invasion fleet has leftDeep Space Nine. They'll reach the Cardassian border in twelvehours." Seated at a desk near him, theglorious Founder was difficult to look at in theseadvanced stages of her disease. Her skin, oncesmooth as bisque soup, was now cracked

anddesiccated. She had no power to mask the advancementof the plague which

was upon her and her people. The sight madeWeyoun feel ill himself, though he fought to keep fromglancing at her, to keep the disgust and horror from

hisvoice. He knew her intelligence had notsuffered-she would read his glance with all the cunning shehad ever possessed. Yet also it was a relief not to glance that way inorder to avoid looking at the Breen general. ThorPean was

a sickening clod who was better ignored.The Breen were servicers, nothing

more. Weyoun wouldtolerate them for now. "Good:" the Founder quietly said.

She hadtrouble fomng words through her scabby lips, but turnedto the Breen

and added, "Our brave Jem'Hadar soldiers have amotto. . . "Victory is life." was The Breen answered her in his unintelligiblestatic. His voice was nothing more than a crackle ofelectrical noise to Weyoun, but theFounder understood what was being said. "I'm glad you're fandliar with it," she said. "Fortoday, those words have meaning for us all. I have nodoubt," she went on, speaking very slowly, and withtrouble, "that the outcome of this battle will determine theoutcome of the war. Either we destroy the

Federationinvasion force, or they destroy us. There are no otheroptions."

Weyoun overheard without looking, knowing he was notbeing spoken to, and

yearned to rush to her, to extol thewonders of the Founders, the glory of the Dominion,to declare that nothing so petty could pull it down. As heclamped

his lips tight, he listened to the static of theBreen general speaking in his barbaric manner. "Fight well today," the Founder told herminion, "and Romulus will be yours to do with as youplease." How petty! Weyoun tightened his fists indisgust. To have to bribe the fools! To have to give them

aplanet just so they would defend the Dominion!Pathetic! The Breen was

buzzing again. He had better: begroveling! "Yes, yes"" the Founder said now. "And Earthtoo. I assure you, the pleasure is allmine." Apparently satisfied, if such a clod could bemeasured by body language, the Breen

offered one moreburst of sizzle, then went to a monitor and beganclicking

and snapping his troops into formation-at least thatwas what Weyoun assumed

was going on. Bribes! Giving away huge portions of theirconquests to

buffoons! Weyoun bottled his rage. He had no rightto interrupt, yet a

ceffft quiver of insultboiled up inside him. tUs hands trembled. He pressed his lipstight. He glared at the screen in inconsolablefury. "Is something bothering you?" The Founder was looking at him again. With monumental control Weyoun kept the contemptout of his voice. "Apparently," he said tightly, "I was under the mistaken impression that allFederation

territories would fall under myjurisdiction ... including Earth." The

Founder lowered her voice. "And so they shall." He looked at her. "But you just promised theBreen. . . Was she smiling beneath the scales of disease?

"I'd promise the Breen the entire AlphaQuadrant:" she told him quietly, "if Ithought it would help win this war." How fluidly she conjured the future!

What awonder she was! To think of so many things at once,to understand so

much, to know when integrity served and when itstalled He bowed before her.

"The Founder is wise inall things;" he murmured. He was about to say something else, to elaborate onhis opinion about this turn, but was cut off

whenLegate Broca ewne into the briefing room withouteven chiming the door

notice. "Founder," he began rudely, "I've heard a disturbing rumor about thetraitor Damar." The Founder did not look at him. "What abouthim?" "He may be alive' was Now she turnedto Broca. "Is this possible?" "I don't see how," Weyoun attempted."We destroyed his ship, his rebel base-was "But hisbody was never found." "They say he's here," Broca insisted,

"onCardassia Prime. Here in the capital,no less. . . Weyoun stiffened.

Would she be angry? Whataction would she want him to take? The

detestedtraitor Damar-Weyoun could dream of many fateshe would inflict upon

a Cardassian who had turnedon the wondrous Dominion, which had once

againraised the Cardassians to power in the quadrant.How could he turn on

the saviors of his people? The Founder showed no outer emotion at this

news. She seemed, for a moment, not to have heard Brocaat all. Then she

gave him a beautiful gift,charging him with authority that would resonate

far. "Look into this matter," she said. Broca nodded. Weyoun narrowed his eyes. "If Damar isalive." Broca snapped him a bitter glare."He won't be for long." "I smell smoke. Musky ... thin. Acook fire." The Jem'Hadar don't cook. They don'teat either." "Shh "It could be Cardassian, but it doesn't smellfamiliar." "Don't obsess, Garak. You'reletting hunger get the best of you. Keep quiet.For a spy, you make a terrible sneak. Followme."

The alley was dank and slippery with lichenembedded between the bricks in the broken floor. Theyhad been hurrying through these back alleys for

hours,hugging watts, avoiding the main streets, climbingover walls, through

ducts, and under piping. This was aslow way to traverse a whole city, but the onlyway to avoid patrols. Garak was clumsy, toolong separated from

soldiering He had forgotten howto be stealthy. Now they had to move into the mainstreets, for their maze of back alleys had come to adead end. As they

rounded a cold-molded building and movedout of the protection of the alley,

their good fortuneinstantly dissolved in a disrupter strike against

thebuilding that nearly took both their heads off. "Halt!" A Jem'Hadar voice. Familiar enough,by now. And a light-a spotlight, struck the

wall,bouncing to brighten this whole side of the street. Two Jem'Hadar

soldiers blocked their path,if the light were not creating illusions.

Yes,two, with one holding a palm beacon. "Step forward. Slowly." "At last!" Garak tentatively moved towardthe two pale faced demons. "Some friendly faces! We're new to the city andI'm aft-aid we've gotten lost'

"Quiet!"the soldier on the left ordered. Both soldiers stepped closer now, closing thedistance between them. The one who had spoken came farther

forward by onestep, and spoke again, but not to Garak. You are Legate

Damar." Damar clamped his mouth shut, knowing his wideeyes had already given too much away. For what couldhe say? Garak flopped his arms and shook his head andlaughed. "You see? I told you you looked like him!"To the Jem'Hadar he attempted, "andness isn't thefirst time my cousin has been mistaken for thattraitors' "He is Damar," the unswayedJem'Hadar insisted.

"He will be taken to Dominion Headquarters.You," it said then, looking at Garak, "will diehere." Fear crossed Garak's face as heapparently realized there was no way out of this.Damar's mind ran with possibilities, though

eachone fell short. The Jem'Hadar's weaponsnapped up to Garak's frightened

eyes. The final seconds pulsed. A crackle of animate noise burst through

thestreet. Breen! Over there-the Jem'Hadar turned his light downthe

street. A Breen soldier stood at the otherend of the alley from which Damar

and Garak had just come.Had they been followed the whole time? It came

forward now, chittering its staticityvoice. If Damar were any judge, it had

justrepeated itself. Perhaps it wanted one of Garak'samis to chew on. How

could any of them possiblyknow? "I do not understand you:" the Jem'Hadar called. "There must be a malfunction in your communicationdevice:" In answer, the Breen soldierhalted, squared both legs, raised his weapon

andquickly fired it. Damar threw himself to one side,driving Garak out of

the line of fire. They reeled briefly in the blast wash, but theyhad not

been in the line of fire at all! Thetwo Jem'Hadar had been struck instead,

both ofthem! What a wonderful sight! "Actually," the Breen soldier said in perfectEnglish, "I don't speak Breen." It pulled off its helmet. But how could itbreathe? Ah-there was the answer. Kira's short red hairruffled in

the fallen light, which still shined at a funnyangle on the bricks. Her

bright brown eyes werefit with irony and superiority. She knew she'ddone

well to anticipate this, and she was happy to lordit over them. Actually,

Damar was pleased-myen for a moment to havebeen proven un prudent. In that

one instant,Kira had shown herself as the experience-hardenedguerrilla

fighter whose youth had been forged in the ovenof resistance. Though it had

been his own people's empirehe had once served-that had driven her and all

herBajoran people down for so very long, Damar found himselffeeling respect

for her quickness and foresight. He determined to learn from this, to be

better nexttime-and every time after that. With a gush of relief, Garak

blurted, "I hope you don't consider meungrateful, but what are you doing here!" "Watching your backs:" Kira told them, withsome ding less than affection. She looked healthy enough, but they all knew shewas still

recuperating from her head wound down in thatcollapsed building. For hours

they had made herrest, but as soon as the medic announced that hersubdural

injury had been healed she had insistedupon getting up and going back to

their collectivejob as terrorists. Now she had saved their lives. "I

thought we agreed:" Damar said, It'gto her, "it would be safer if you stayed off the streetsand out of sight." "That's what the helmet's for," she told him."YOU should be wearing one too. Every Jem'Hadar andBreen soldier on Cardassia is looking for you." "If I'm going to lead this revolt,"

Damarprotested, "I can't do it hiding in a cellar. I hadto attend

tonight's gathering." "It was a great success," Garak lauded, stillbreathing a little too rapidly from his near encounter withunfrly

fire. Kira gestured them off the street. "You can tellme the details

later." Kira put herhelmet back on, gingerly because there was still

someswelling on the side of her head. "If anyoneasks, you're my prisoners."

Damar bristled, but Garak clasped him by botharms and pushed him forward.

"We're horrored"" theother Cardassian said, and they were off. They made their way this time not through the alleys ofCardassia's capital city, but

down the mainstreets, at gunpoint, courtesy of the cleverBajoran woman who

had gained their respect overthe years. Her versatility was to be lauded.

Herbravery was a given. But bravery is expected ofsoldiers and Damar gave

her no extra credit forthat. He both admired and was jealous of her

abilityto foresee intrigue. He must learn to do that, so asnever to be

humiliated again. Perhaps carrying weaponswould have been wiser, even with

the chance of their beingdetected by energy scanners. He must learn betterto judge risks against each other, or find ways, asthe colonel had, to use the

negatives of hissituation in his favor. Pretending to be Breen hadnever

occurred to him, yet now it seemed sosimple.... They hurried back to their

secretcellar without further incident, other than one quickpass beside the

Cardassian patrols, whofailed to notice them in the darkness. They saw

noother Jem'Hadar, no other Breen. Notsurprising, given how many troopers

had been sentto space duty. The planetary divisions were sparse now, and

that wasa good thing. Once safe-relatively-in their hideout,Colonel Kira

shed her Breen uniform andhelmet as if they were infected. Despite

theirservice, she hated them. Kira hid her feelingspoorly. That which

represented her enemy was also herenemy. Irrational. Damar decided to also

learn fromthat "Well?" she asked abruptly. "Whathappened at the resistance meeting? We have to make aplan, know what to do." They sat together around a small crude table.Garak was fairly bursting to tell it, so Damarmotioned

for him to speak. "comThe vote was unanimous:" Garak bubbled."Everyone agreed that the work disruptions would begin tomorrowmorning!" Damar paused as Mila, Garak's oldfamily friend and the only Cardassian woman here,came

down the steps with a tray of food. "Power, transportation, and

communicationsfacilities all over Cardassia will besabotaged." "The Dominion fleet"" Garak barreled on,"will be cut off from all ground support." "That way," Kira appreciated, "they'll haveto face the Federation alliance invasion force on theirown' was Damar nodded. "And once the Dominion iscrushed' "Cardassia will be free again." Milaspoke firmly, interrupting the men with a confidence shehad rarely shown. Hope shined in her silvery

faceas she gazed down at Garak. "Elim, I haveto admit than when you were a little boy, I was worriedabout you. Always getting into trouble ...

quiet,secretive, so full of deceit. Little did I know you would turn such

distastefulcharacteristics into virtues. More tea?" "You're too kind."

Garak smiled up at her. Damar leaned toward him. "She's right, you know."

"About me?" Garak asked. "About Cardassia. We will be free again. we willrid ourselves of the Dominion once and for all." Never again, he held back from saying, would theyallow themselves to be turned into stooges

ofanother power. No, he couldn't say that aloud! Therewas too much

bitterness. It hurt too much to think howthe Dominion had embraced the

Cardassians, thenshunted them lower than the Jem'Hadar, then lowerthan the

Vorta, and now once again even lower than theBreen. A proud nation could only stand so much, nomatter how much was promised. Some victories weresimply not worth the price paid. He turned to Kira before those unfortunate wordscame

out. "How ironic:" Garak added, "that the famousBajoran of Deep Space Nine should cometo Cardassia's aid." Damar nearly struck him for his foolishness inreminding her of what she was doing, and for whom she wasdoing it, the

strange bedfellows created by conquest andnecessity. Here he was fighting

against the officialCardassian allies, and she, a Bajoran, was inher way

fighting for the salvation of the Cardassian nationwhich had so long

tormented her and her people. Oh, ironyand its many winds. Though a flint

of insult sprang in her eyes,Kira smiled. "tonight is going to be a long night.A lot can go wrong." "Nothing will go wrong," Damar told her."too much is at stake." No one responded to that. It fell with a clunkto the stone floor, and he was sure it echoed. "Have you assigned duties for the assault teamt" Kira asked. Her question was innly pointed-ifhe hadn't, he should have, and if he didn't, shewould. "We have a schematic of the city,"

heresponded. "I'll lay it in a grid pattern andassign one commando to each grid. Whatever targetfacilities fall within a cent grid will detemnehow many resisters are assigned to each commando' was "canlay the grid:" Garak volunteered. Kira added, "I can brief the teams." Damar agreed, then asked, "Do you have any information about when the invasion fleetwill

arrive?" She sighed. "Well, it's hard to keep a thousandships a secret, but the allied force has done afair job of distracting and confusing the

Dominionspies. ours right along with them. We know the fleetis coming soon,

but if it were me I wouldn't pun thesquadrons together until they all

rendezvoused atDeep Space Nine. Until then, noone would be sure how many

ships were involved." "You saw how empty the streets are:" Damarpointed out. "Significant portions of theplanetary forces have been depleted. That means theJem'Hadar and Breen are being put back inspace. That is why we must act tomorrow, whilefacility guards are at a minimum." "Wo fronts, gentlemen," Kira said. "Thefleet in space, and us down here. Both had bettersucceed, or everything will collapse faster than you cansay "labor camp. Damar stood up, signaling that the talk was overand the action must

begin. "Either way, by noon tomorrow ourresistance movement will either be famous or we will allbe dead. I'm looking forward to it." Through black open space, the massive FederationKlingon-Romulan offensive fleet moved like agreat shoal of herring seeking a spawning ground. Theywere many, but with a single purpose. When a thousand shipscome together, the logistics of not

knocking into one anotherbecomes a moment by moment obsession for a

thousandcaptains, a thousand engineering chiefs, and a thousandhelmsmen.

Space, normally wide enough forgalaxies to pass through each other without

collision,suddenly becomes very crowded and limitedindeed. They knew they

couldn't hide anymore, and thereforespeed and organization became the primary factors.Who would be the vanguard? Who would flank? How much strength would be committedto a first wave and how much held in reserve?Commodores from

each allied division pow owed through thenight, causing reports and rumors to chitterconstantly despite the reduction of generalcommunication. And each

ship had its private problems.Systems were imperfect in general-on a ship,

it'snever a matter of whether something will break down, but whenit will.

Mechanics had no loyalties, no stamina inadversity, no idea that today was of particularimportance. If the last molecule cracked,something would break and would have to be fixed. Between the captain's chair and the helm on board

thenew Defiant, Ben Sisko was listening to something thatonly long

experience allowed him to perceive. "You hear that, Chief.?" At his engineering console, O'Brien frowned. "Sounds like the Doppler compensators are out ofphase Sisko looked at Nog. "How'sshe handling, ensign?" "She's not quite as smooth as the old Defiant,sir," the young Ferengi said. "Feels a bitsluggish." "Chief?" "I'm on it:" O'Brien said, annoyed."O'Brien to engineering. Recalibrate the inertial dampers and check thelas ma flow

regulators while you're at it." "Right away, Chief was Sisko understood how thesenior engineer felt. The ship might or might not be a good

ship-theydidn't know yet. She hadn't even had time for ashakedown cruise at

high warp, or a sustainedcruise at impulse to weed out her problems.

Therehad throughout history been beauffw ships, powerfulships,

bigger-than-ever before ships that had proven veryquickly that they weren't

among the "good ships." Some hadbeen lucky enough to survive the discovery of their innerweaknesses. Others fell apart, sank, failed, or couldn'tstand

up to trouble on their first or second voyage.Until a ship was tried by real use, there was noway to know how well all the engineered parts wouldactually work together no matter how tight, nomatter how exactly manufactured no way

but workto find the flaws. Time was the only saturationtreatment for a ship.

Sail out, see how shestresses, see what breaks and replace it, seewhat bends and strengthen it ... only time and troublecould hammer a new ship into a

good ship. Defianthadn't yet been given that time. He tried not to resent

the new ship, even as hewished for the security and familiarity of the old

ship. The old Defiant had hammered through every test. They'd repaired her themselves, with their own hands, nothaving to take anybody else's word that fixes hadbeen done and done well. They knew her weaknessesand could

circumvent them. They knew her strengths andcould use them. Going into an

invasion scheme with a brandnew untried ship-it demanded a trust he just

couldn'tgive yet. At the engineering console, Miles O'Briengrumbled at the

acknowledgement from engineering. His moodcould stand improvement. Beside

him, passively watching the fleet on themain screen, Julian Bashir just had

to be sittingright here on this side of the bridge-why couldn't he bedown in sickbay treating a hangnail or something? "You'd dWill someone would've come up with abetter inertial control system:" O'Briengrumbled. "Just because a man has plans to returnto Earth and teach at a nice quiet academydoesn't

mean he's not ... oh, the devil with it... what idiot changed the color code on thispanel?" Bashir finally turned and asked, "What's that you're saying, Miles?" "said, could you please wipe that grin off your face?

You're not the first person to ever fall in love, youknow." The grin fell away. "I thought you'd behappy for me" "I am happy for you. O'Brien to engineering. Try realigning theinduction coils." "Aligning the induction coils now." "You do that ... look, Julian .. ." Heforced himself to swivel halfway around. "There's somethingI have to talk to you about...... Bashir gentlybridged, "You're getting pressure from Keiko, aren'tyou?" "How'd you know!" "It's a big decision. I'm surprised itdidn't come up sooner."

Sunken partially by relief and partially becausehe'd been so easy to read,

O'Brien felt hisshoulders sag. "Actually, we've been talking about it for quite awhile." "Well, you can stop talking about it was the doctoroffered.

"You can put the model of the Zamo into myquarters was "Oh. . . model. . At the helm, Nog turned toward port. "Icould still use a little more

equalization on the torquebuffers." O'Brien flinched. "Oh-right. I'll tryto compensate with the impulse response filters." That way," Bashir accommodated, "your quarters54 won't be so cluttered, and you can still use itwhenever you want." He worked a moment or two, forcing himselfto

concentrate. There had to be equalization, or Nogwouldn't be able to hold the ship laterally in this crowd.Usually it didn't matter so much, when all

ofspace was there for moving around in, but in the middle of afleet "I wasn't tafidng about the Alamo modelhe suddenly said. "Besides, it's too big for yourquarters." "You let me worry about that;" Bashiroffered. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Ouch-he knew there was somedling else going on. O'Brien surveyed his own reaction to movingto Earth, leaving his

long-time post, and recalled that whenhe'd first worked with Bashir he hadn't re allyliked him much. Strange how completely things couldchange over the

years. He'd never expected to findso much in common with the young doctor,

never mindulumtely budding models together and playing outhistorical

problems of battle-and re allylilting it. "It's nothing that can't wait:"

he finally lied."Is that any better, Nog?" "Torque buffers are stable" Nog said from thehelm Bashir nodded in silent agreement. Hemew he was being put

off, and it worried inm. Why wouldn't Miles tell him what was theproblem?

He watched as his friend disappeared into the aftlift and was swallowed by

the ship. Why did happiness and problems have to balance eachother? Why

couldn't ever'g just go well for once? He swiveled wound forward again, and as he (riddw tUs eyes fell upon Ezri, sitting at herstation beside Worf.

The two of them were as different as feathers fromstone, yet it disturbed him to see them together. They werespeaking to each other now. If he watched, he mightbe able to know what they were saying. They were keeping their voices

down a trick forWorf. No, he shouldn't watch. He re ally shouldn't. "The color coding on the weapons display panelis different from that on our

Defiant." Worf's chunky declaration was a poor effortto avoid the problem between them. Ezri watched hisface, and she knew he was aware of her, very

much tooaware. She remembered how his eyes changed when theykissed. So many

lives were roaming within her mind, butthe one she could focus most easily on was the one thatmade the two of them most uncomfortable. The mostrecent life

... his dead wife. Yes, Jadzia was dead. There was undeniablefinality even

for a Trill, though the essence livedon in the next host. The Dax symbiont

withinEzri was a swinger in many ways, having invaded agirl who had never

prepared for symbiosis. That wasstrange for him, too. An the other hosts had beenready, even eager. Ezri continued to struggle, hermind cluttered and

disorganized. Controlling the impulses of the Dax'sformer lives, and all

the memories, was like tryingto conduct an orchestra when she had no idea

howto hold the baton. "You sure you're not angry?" she urged,

insistingthat the panel's color code would not be the subject. "About the weapons display?" Worf toyed. She tipped her head. "About Julian." Worf's face hardened visibly. "Why should Ibe angry? I've been asking you to tell the doctorhow you feel about him for the past month." "Well, now that he knows how I feel-was "Iam happy for you." In a mountainous kind of way.

She smiled. "comThat's a relief "But I am going to kill him." Ezsi tilted forward a little, trying to read hiseyes, and rewarded him with half a

giggle. His eyes bothered her. "You're kidding, rightt" she asked. Worf made a grumble in the bottom of histhroat. "And Jadzia complained I had no sense ofhumor." On the main deck, Captain Sisko listened infrustration to the imbalances of his new ship andalso noticed the sad imbalance among his

crew. Heheard the rumblings of Worf and the musical lilt ofEzri behind him,

though he consciously refused to payattention to what was obviously a private conversation.He missed Jadzia almost as much as he had missedCurzon Dax

before her. Yes, it was a littleprejudicial, but Jadzia hadn't re ally

beenable to take Curzon's place. She'd become aspecial friend in her own

right. Now, Ezri was doingher best to take Jadzia's place, and shecouldn't.

Not for Sisko, and certainly not for Worf.No essence of memory could replace a living,breathing person, and no other person could slip into ahaven of

special affection. That was asking andexpecting too much. Both men were

dealing with the handicap of not being Trillthemselves. Both Sisko and Worf

were singleindividuals, living out their lives as one and onlyone. He knew

in his mind that all the Dax's andhosts were in there somewhere, and yet his heart wantedto grieve. He could only imagine what Worf mustbe feeling behind that armered personality. Beside him, Odo gazed up at the tactical

stationwhere Worf and Ezri were talking. Sisko watchedhim without really

looking. Another crackedsoul. "I wish she was here, constable," he offered.Odd-he actually meant two different women with that"she." Odo averted his gaze from up there, a little selfconscious now. "Actually, captain, I wasn't thinking aboutKirajust then." He paused, and Sisko had the sense notto pointedly ask what he meant. If Odo wanted to talk "For years now," the shape shifter begantentatively, "I've been ashamed of my fellow Changelings... knowing about the races they've enslaved ...

theatrocities they've committed ... but now, knowing thatit was Section

Thirty-On'at it was a hand ofrogue Federation citizens who'd infected my

people with theChangeling disease ... an act of genocide ascold and

calculated as anything the Dominion everdid' "You can't help but feel some sympathy for yourpeople:" Sisko completed. Odo nodded. "It makes a difficult situationeven more complicated. This war, Captain ... it has to

end." "One way or another," Sisko agreed. "Itwill, and soon. Wars always at do? Odo? Issomething wrong? You looks" Why was Odo's heart beating

soloudly? Why had a spotlight come on at thebridge ceiling? Sisko flinched

and squinted into thelight. He wanted to turn and order the light

off.Malfunction, obviously. O'Brien? What's going on? More), . . . son."

The heartbeat grew louder. He could feel itphysically now. Was it his own?

Odo had noheart.... Before him a physical form began to takeshape. A

building. Pillars. A shrine. A Bajoran shrine. Instingtivelyhe recognized

it, though the lines were muddledby brightness. And another form. A pillar

changing shape, movingtoward him. "Mother?" he began. What a bizarre thing. His natural mother, not themother he knew in childhood, but the one

who hadabandoned him to grow up human, to dunk he wasnormal, ordinary, fit

to face thechallenges of humanity. The Prophets were caumgto him through

tins woman of non essence, this ethereal beingwho had ceded him to his place so long ago, forcinghim to live two lives now. "Why have you brought me herer' he demanded. "This is the last time I will ever speak to you like this,"the Prophet said in her musical voice. "TheEmissary's task is nearing completion." What was that supposed to mean? Was he out of aspiritual job?

Day after day, he'd managed to putaside his mystical assignment and do the

duty heprefeffedand now, right in the middle of trouble, this. "You mean the war is coming to an end?" he asked. "You have walked the path the Prophets have laid outfor you, Benjamin. Do notfaiter now." "I don't intend to." "Know this, my son. Yourjourney's end lies notbefore you, but behind you." Oh, fine. Sisko felt a very tangible groanrumble through his chest despite the dreamy circumstance.Why must highly advanced super beings

always speak invague riddles? Why did they have to be the wind? Justonce

couldn't they say, "Go over to this specific place and kickthe behind off this specific person and come home and have abrew?" "Captain? Captain?"

"I hate poetry," he muttered. "I'm aStarfleet officer. Why can't you just give me a direct order? AndI refuse to look backward. The future isn'tset or I wouldn't bother to get up in the morning.Do you hear me?" His

prophet-mother lowered her hands, and the fight wentaway. The bridge filtered back to solidity beforehim. "Captain, are you all right?" Odo was watching him, his plastic face tight withconcern. Sisko thought about

explaining, describing the visionforced upon him by his mystical connection.

He thoughtabout voicing the frustration of living two live at theas a

Starfleet captain with a real slip and solidcrew to handle, the other as a

mysterious floaty beingfrom the Womihole Collection, without awareness

ofconcrete purpose. He'd come to realize that hedidn't like talk of destiny.

He had defiedprophesy before and was ready to do it again. He'd rather

havefree choice and make the honest wrong one. "The Prophets just came to me in a vision," hesaid bluntly, hoping it didn't sound as silly inthe

receiving as it did in the saying. Odo seemed cautious. "I take it

theyweren't bringing good news." "I'm not sure:" Sisko muttered. "Isuppose only time will tell." "Hello, Adam!." Dukat didn't wait for the Kai to turn at hisgreeting before walking right in on her. In fact,Kai Wren didn't

even look up from her readingof the Kosst Amoian. So she knew it was

Dukatintruding upon her and was determined to let him know she

wasunimpressed. Ah, well. "You're back" was her manner of greeting. He wanted her to look up. He wanted herto see him as a Bajoran, a surgically

alteredCardassian quite insisting upon looking like one of thenative people

on this planet. His clothing was ragged,caked with dust from the streets of

Bajor. Somehow hewas proud of that, proud that he had survived being

thelowest of the low, the condemned, the downcast, and had yetsomehow kept

his identity dmugh the great wringer ofadversity. All his years as a

Cardassianofficer, eventually as high commander, leader ofplanets, and

leader of fleets; through all the dozenchanges of circumstance in the

struggles between theFederation, the Alpha Quadrant Empires, theDominion,

and the Cardassians, through the many shiftsof power-somehow this latest

incarnation satisfied himmost of all, for it proved he could go low and

stillreturn. Would she speak to him? Was she still sufficientlyinsulted by

the Prophets" choice of Sisko astheir Emissary instead of her, or had she repented inthe time Dukat had been banished to the streets? He wanted to

know, but he stayed back, on theopposite side of the room, near the door.

Hewould never again go near that forbidden book. His eyes still stung with

its vengeful magic. "Is that all you have to say to me?" he

askedeventually. Kai Winn dawdled over her book, then finallylooked up. "I see the Pah-wraiths have restoredyour sight." A warning triggered in

Dukat's head. Blindnesshad given him insights he never expected. Heneeded

the Kai's good graces. Resentment must becontrolled. If she still resented

theProphets, if she would still help him free theanti-Prophet Pah-wraiths,

then Sisko and theProphets could be overthrown with a power that matched

theirown. He hid his anger behind a smile. "ThePah-wraiths have forgiven my trespasses. They haveaccepted that my attempt to read the Kosst Amojanwas a desperate mistake. I hope you can find itin your heart to do the same."

The Kai leaned back in her chair and eyed himcoldly. "Forgive you? I don't forgive Cardassianwar criminals." Dukat remained silent. Might as well takewhatever she had to say. Hereafter they would both know the wound had

been purged,that she had said what needed to be said. "All you've ever done," she continued after amoment, 62 "is he to me. Pretending to be apoor farmer from Bajor when in actuality you're aCardassian war criminal. To." I tookGul Dukat to my bed, one of the most hated men inBajoran history' "I wasn't lying when Ioffered you my heart:" he claimed bluntly. "Of course not!" her scorn painted theroom. "Well, you'll be happy to know that I havecompleted my study of the text of the Kosst Amojan. Its secrets are now my secrets That didn'tsound very hopeful, did it? It meant she had more

power than he could have, andinfluence with the Pah-wraiths, which he had

failedto acquire. She was the Kai, the religious leaderof Bajor, and the

Pahwraiths had let her read theirbook without blinding her, while the

Prophets hadnever even let her have a single vision and had chosenan

offworlder as their representative. He would have to find a way to make her work with him,and definitely not against him. She had banished lum,blinded,

to the streets, and now he had returned. Checking his own bitterness might

be the best path. "You've learned how to release the Pah-wraithsThat" he asked, unable to hide his real thoughts orhis admiration for her obvious

spiritual stamm, which hadbeen ignored by the Prophets. "I have" she claimed proudly. "Men why haven't you gone to the Fire Caves andfreed

them?" Offering only a beguiling smile, Kai Winnleered at him. "I was waiting for you." Relief poured through Dukat. "Then you haveforgiven me!"

"I need your help, Dukat." She rose fromher chair, crossed the rug that separated them, andfinally stood before him. "It's as simple as that." He turned his hands up. "All you have to do isask." He reached for her hand-amazingly, she gave it.So she was still angry with the Prophets, or

perhaps beyondanger and well into bitterness. "Together," he said, "we will free thePah-wraiths so that they can tear down the CelestialTemple and

destroy the Prophets." "And their Emissary as well." Dukat tucked his chin. "No. BenjaminSisko will be dealt with by me, and me alone." "Assuming he survives the invasion ofCardassia:" the Kai observed cryptically. "He'll survive was Dukat grumbled. "ButI promise you, he'll wish he hadn't." Bad hand. Figured. "Do you have any threes?" Quark surveyed his cards again, but they hadn'tchanged. He kept them close to his face, as ifthe computer in the holosuite didn't perfectlywell know what cards he was holding. "Go fish." The computer-generated lounge lizardof the hololounge eyed him from his seat across the table. Annoyed, Quark sighed and dumped his cards onthe table. This just wasn't working. "Don't tell me you're quitting"

VicFontaine challenged. "It's just not my game," Quark complained. "Want to try pinochle again?" Quark shook his head. If the computer couldn'tcough up somedting more interesting than these games, howcould he possibly offer

something new to his customersin his real bar, down the real stairs, with the realmoney? "How about rummy?" Vic offered. "Or ginrummy? Five-card stud?

Canasta?" Quark kept shaking his head. There just wasn't enoughzap in any of those to distract the denizens of DeepSpace Nine from what was going on

way off inspace. Not enough to get them to come in and start

spending,anyway. "How about some Tongo?" he countered snidely. Vic eyed him. "Did they play Tongo inLas Vegas in 1962?" A smart-ass computer.

Great. "How couldthey?" he bothered to answer. "It's a Ferengigame." He thought about shutting down the program, but for someodd reason he liked

Vic's company. Wasn'tthat pathetic? "Right," Vic said. "Which is why myholographic program can't create it." "I know, I know, this place isperiod-specific . . . but for a hologram, you'renot very accommodating.

Ich-he'd been trying to be friendly withnonFerengis for way too long. He

was starting to be like them. He'd be humiliatedto admit it to a fellow

Ferengi, that the people aroundhere-even the holopeoplewere more like friends thancustomers. A moment of sadness and worry pushed inon his fantasy. He did want them all to comeback safely-even if it didn't make him abit richer.

What if they lost? What if the Federation fleetwere defeated and the

Cardassians reclaimed DeepSpace nine? He didn't like that idea at

all,and-shamefully it had nothing to do with the change ofbusiness. The

Cardassians had been a loteasier to snooker than the humans andBajorans, but he still didn't want them back. "Is that why you came by?" Vic asked."To insult me?" "I stopped by because I had nothing else to do,"Quark admitted.

"My bar hasn't had half adozen customers all day. Seems like everyone's offfighting this stupid war." "It's not easy to stay behind, is it?"

Vicasked. "Knowing your friends are out there risking theirlives?" How could a computer-generation possibly see throughhim like that! Had the

hardware grown intuition? He shrugged. "They think they have it tough. They shouldtry living my life for a day. The hospitalityindustry isn't for the

faint-hearted." Vic nodded. "A bartender's life is alonely one." "That's right. But few people understand that. They think it'sone big happy party.

They forget that the persongiving the party never has any fun. He's

busymaking sure everyone else is having fun. AllI do, all day long, is give, give, give-was"Bartending is a very noble profession:" Vicagreed. "And you do it well. Under some very difficultcircumstances, I might add. You should

be proud." "You think soThat' "I know so, pal lie." Quark sighed, then muttered, "I just hope Nog and the rest of those heroicidiots come back in one piece.... Just then, thegirl called Ginger snaked up to Vic dressed for

anight of questionable morality and puffed, HI'VIC,sweetie, are you ready?

Jimmy and Petey are about to go on." Vic got to his feet and let Ginger slip underhis arm. "Sorry, palue:" he said to Quark, "gottarun. Durante and Lawford are at the Sands.Can't miss that was "I thought you said a

bartender'slife was a lonely one," Quark challenged. "It is-but I'm not a bartender." So much for a friendly ear. Quark watched as thehologuy and gal slithered away into their own world. "Go fish:" he grumbled. This must be the computer's way of telling him he hadto five a real life, deal with the

lack of personnelon the station, and accept where they had gone. Strangehow

lifelike the holoprograms could be, howfeeling and understanding, even to the point of forcingthem to think about reality in the midst of fantasy.He'd

tried to escape his real situation by coming to afake bar at a fake den, and it hadn't worked. Of course it hadn't. The station knew it was onalert, and it knew perfectly well why. Could amachine progrannned to connect reactions

andresponses to appropriate information--could itcomprehend fear?

Anticipation? Could it sense that things were notnormal today? Would a

station on yellow alert warn a hologuyand a hologal not to get too involved?

"Yes, it could:" Quark muttered. "Why not?It's the age of miracles, isn't it?

The time of theProphets? The eon of starships and like wonders?All right,

then, you win. Hear me? I've had myhand slapped. Back to reality. Program

off." The Fire Caves were well-named: hot andmoist, walls dripping with condensate, shots of steamspurting from cracks in the rocky floor. The

climb up to them was no easy jog either, yetsomehow Dukat felt more

invigorated thanexhausted. Behind him, however, he knew Kai Winn

wassuffering from the excessive heat-which did notbother him much, as he was Cardassian under the skin.His heavy backpack, filled with artifacts

andceremonial relics, was a good burden. Because hewould not touch the Kosst Amojan, though, Kai Winnwas charged with carrying the heavy book all the

wayby herself. She sank against another stone outcropping,looking as if she

were about to melt. Dukat paused. "Is it re ally necessary to restevery few minutes?" She heaved a series of breaths, obviouslytroubled by the altitude as well as the heat. "Idon't need ... you ... to wait for me.... Go onahead

... wander around aimlessly in these caves for... the rest of your miserable life." Ah-pushed the wrong buttons that time. He settled back on a rock that almostprovided a seat. "I'm in no hurry." Around them, the caves seethed and dripped, creatingfor themselves a mystical voice that had over

the agesgained a reputation. The caves sang, some said.They cried, said

others. They cursed, wept, orwhispered. The caves were sorrow, some

villagersthought, or threat, thought others. There were mystical

injunctions againsttrespassing, or compelling charges to come here-perhapsto die as a sacrifice to the Pah-wraiths, spiritswho claimed to be the true

Prophets of Bajor.Some thought that the caves were the throat of hell.

Amazing. "You know, during the Occupation my people found theBajorans" fear of these caves amusing. Yetsomehow none of us ever found the time to visit

them. Andnow, here I am. Ironic, isn't it?" comI don't carecc"...Winn heaved. Dukat looked at her. "Excuse me?" "I'm sure you have many interesting anecdotes aboutthe Occupation"" she dismissed, "but I have nodesire to hear them" was "I meant no disrespect,Adan at "And stop calling me "Adam!." That privilege is no longeryours." Temper boiled in Dukat's chest. Though hemight appear Bajoran, he was Cardassian to thecore and this

was a severe lowering of himself, to coddle aBajoran woman, to be forced to

show her respecthe was disinclined to give, to bend to her wishes, and nowto be denied the right to call her by her primary name. He held his rage.

comI see , he allowed. "comMen howshould I-?" Though he had some ideas about what to call herinstead, Kai Winn said, "From now on, you willaddress me as "Eminence." Is that cleart' Some day ... someday... Dukat gritted his teeth. "Perfectly,"he said. "Your Eminence." How far must they go? How deeply into these caves,how far into the belly of the planet would they have to trekbefore they could find the prison of the Pah-wraiths anduse the power of the book to free them? Nothing ever came easy, it seemed. Once hehad

been stripped of all past glories, he hadbeen given another chance to defeat the Federation and theProphets and everything that had worked to humiliate

himin his life. Now he would make yet another pact with power inorder to

rise up again, yet it seemed he would haveto travel into the pit before he

could free that power. Very well. He would no longer be driven down.The

time of reckoning was here. If he had to walk throughthe molten core of Bajor in his bare feet, hewould succeed. "I see your point, general, but for twomillennia the Jem'Hadar have always been theDominion's first line of

defense. It would damagetheir morale to take a back seat to the Breen'

wasThe Founder shuddered against her illness, hoping theBreen general would

not see her weakness. She was,in fact, not sure exactly what the Breen were

ableto see through their life-sustaining helmets. Perhaps hisfrosted

face-shield blurred the crackling scabsof her face and hands. Perhaps he saw her only as ablur of humanoid form, but did not realize she wasstuck holding that form, without the strength to revert to hernatural shape. The sickness had made her a solid. Is static-voice erupted in a tone she hadcome to

recognize as anger, impatience. Shelistened to his argument-that the

Jem'Hadar had servedfor two millennia without managing to carry theDominion

to preeminence. Only since the Breenforces had become aligned with the

Dominion hadvictory been within grasp. True enough; it was certainly

possible that theJem'Hadar had outlived their collectivepurpose. Sun, how

would it appear to give intotally so soon? A compromise might serve, and

she would not haveto give all her advantages away atonce. "Very well:" she told him. "In the spirit of ournew alliance, I will inform the Jem'Hadar that theBreen forces will be positioned alongside them on thefront lines. He

chittered again, not entirelysatisfied, but at least put off for now. The

Founder pressed painfully out of her chair.Her skin cracked and withered as

she moved. She couldbarely hold the human form and had to pause to

gatherstrength-or more accurately, to fend off weakness beforeleading the

general to one of the access monitors. "I'm glad that pleases you,- she told him,even though that hadn't been exactly what he'd said. They turned their

attention to the strategic layout,where Weyoun was studying the distribution of ships. "Ifear," he said, "our fines are spread too thin,especially here at the center." The Founder pahffly rose from her chair andstruggled to the monitor. "Do you agree?" she asked the Breen general. He scrambled that he did agree, and thus theFounder told Weyoun, "Notify theJem'Hadar. Order them to reinforce the center of ourlines. The Federation fleet usually begins

theirassault by sending the smaller attackfighters to create distractions

and weaken the As shetouched the controls, the picture on the screensuddenly flickered and went black. In the room, thelights dimmed, wobbled, dimmed sin more and did notcome back to brightness. The computer screen flashedonce,

then died. "Now what?" she complained. Seconds crawled by. What was happening? Shehated lack of control. Surprises were almost always bad. As

she was about to call for Weyoun, the lightsburped back to life. The

monitor also regained a picture, but it wasonly a screen pattern.

Connection with the strategic mainframe had beendisrupted. Before the

Founder could curse the darkness, the dooropened and the newly appointed

liaison from theCardassian force, Legate Broca, rushed in. "Founder! I'm relieved to see you're allright:" She andM on him, bothered that he should usethe term "all right" when she was so obviously ill andcould no longer disguise the dessicating malady that wasslowly debilitating her. "What caused the power outage?" shedemanded. comSabotage," Broca dutifully told her,without fixing up the bad news. "Almost every Dominion installation on CardassiaPrime has suffered some form of damage!" comDamar!" the Founder gritted. "I thought you saidyou had effiftated his rebel forces." "We captured some of the terrorists, but-was "Butwhat?" "These acts of terrorism," Weyounattempted, "they weren't carried out by a smallgroup of disgruntled Cardassian soldiers. Theculprits were ordinary citizens." The announcement embarrassed Broca, she couldclearly see-in fact, he was

completely ashamed. And rightly so. Why hadn't he seen this coming? Shehad

charged him with keeping order on the planet. She raised her hand, much

faster than sheexpected herself capable of, and clasped him by thethroat.

"Are you telling me the Cardassian people arerising up against us." Broca choked, but did not fight her. "I'msure ... it's only ... a small number ofmalcontents...... "We have no way of knowing that,do we?" It was an enraging revelation. People who had beencontrolled, finding a way to rise up?

Averagecitizens with no military support? Rise againstthe greatness of the

Dominion? The Cardassians? TheJem'Hadar? Even the Breen? The Founder cast a glance at the Breen general,and briefly entertained the idea of blaming him

for notseeing this coming and assigning troopers to stop it. Shecould use

that to deny him superiority over theJem'Hadar and force him to struggle

harder on theDominion's behalf ... Ultimately, though,she decided to keep

using Weyoun, for he was the onewith a stake in control on Bajor. She would

wait foranother time, when upsetting the balance would serve evenbetter.

"Founder," Weyoun began, "may I make asuggestion?" Still strangling the Legate, the Founder said, "I'm sure Broca is most interested in whatyou have to say." The Vorta attache nodded elegantly and letan extra second or two pass before saying, "If the Cardassian people are responsible for

theseacts of terrorism ... if they've allowed Damarand his fanatics to turn

them against us, thenit's the people who should be punishedcc"W hat do you sayto that?" she asked Broca. Only his lips moved. "Severely

punished...Nearly exhausted herself, she dropped himabruptly. "I'm glad we're all in agreement." AD the lights had been cut off Anybuildings

without emergency backup generators were stillshut down and even some of

those generators had beendamaged. The whole capital city was in blackout,as

well as almost every industrial center planetwide. Wonderful....

Unfortunately, that alsomeant there was no power in the resistance's

cellarheadquarters. Damar reviewed with satisfaction the success of avery

long night's coordinated efforts. He hadto give Kira and her rebels credit.

They haddone everything he had told them to, and with greatdefibemtion and

purpose. He had laid out everyindustrial and tactical center on the planet,

andthrough clever coded messages they had organizedthemselves and carried

out the night's assault. If theinvasion fleet failed, it would not be because the planetwas in too good order and provided too solid asupport for the

Cardassian fleet. Aplanet in turmoil could do no fleet anyfavors, and that

was all he meant for Cardassiato offer. No longer after this week would

Cardassia beminion to the arrogant Founders. Lower than theJem'Hadar, lower

than the Breen-finallyCardassia would be driven as low as anycivilization

could go, and would have nowhere to travel but upagain, up to greatness and

power and dominance in an AlphaQuadrant free of the interloping shape

shifters. If only they could see.... He peered through thedarkness to the

circuit box, where Garak was fussingat the junction, trying to trim off

enough power to givethem a monitor, even just one. The only source of light was a single strugglinglight stick near Garak, not enough to prevent Garak

frommaking some sort of mistake and getting his fingerszapped by a rogue

are. Frustrated, Garak muttered, "I could use some more light over

here......Hardly more than a silhouette as she stood guardnear the doorway,

Kira accommodated, "Mila's looking for some upstairs-here shecomes."

"Twenty-four minutes," Damarfinalized. Kira congratulated him with a "Not bad." "If the Dominion hasn't been able to restorethe power in the capital:" Garak observed, "then theentire planet must be in chaos." "Let's hope so," Damar said. The old woman Mila appeared down the sum withtwo more light sticks. "I'm afraid I could only find two lightsticks," she apologized. "I know there are othersin the house somewhere." "Stop dawdling:" Garak snapped, waving ahand, "and bring them over to me!" The old Cardassian woman did as instructed."Ah, how well I remember that tone of voice... it reminds me of the demanding and inconsideratelittle boy you used to be." On his side of the cellar, Damar chuckled.Only a Cardassian woman could look back withreverie on a nasty child. Garak gazed up at her. "I haven't changedmuch, have IT" he asked. "Enough reminiscing"" Damar chastised. "We haveto get the power back up. I need to know howmuch damage we have caused the Dominion." "If this part of the city is any indication", Milacommented, "I'd say a lot." Damar squinted at the padd. "I'd loveto see the look on Weyoun's face right now." "Let's not fool ourselves, Damar,"

Kiracautioned. "At best, we've won a skirmish.We have to hit them again harder this time." "That won't be easy," Garak said. "They'll havetightened their security." "It doesn't matter. We can't lose ourmomentum." Damar offered her a smile. "The commander is right. We can't rest until we've rid ourselves of theDominion once and for all. And when we do, we'llhave you to

thank. This rebellion would've died ininfancy if not for you." "How ironic

, Garak added, that Cardassia'ssavior should be a former Bajoran

terrorist:"77 "Don't canonize me just yet," Kirademurred. All at once, the lights came back on. Sotheir work had come and gone now. "IW-ENTY-SIX and a half minutes,"Damar concluded. "Let's see what the Dominion has to say foritself." As he went to the monitor and tried to get itback online,

Garak added, "One thing's forsure,-we've inconvenienced millions

ofCardassian citizens." Kira moved impatiently toward him. "Don'tyou think it's a small price to pay if it helpsto bring down the Dominion?" Garak opened his mouth to shoot back a remark, buthis own success cut him off as

the power was suddenlyrestored, at least to this one room. The stairway

remained dark, and there was no lightshining from upsLininm. That could be

for the good. "I always said you were a smart boy," Afilalauded. Ignoring their self-congratulating, Damar wasconcentrating on getting the monitor to

operate.Finally it did, flickering to life just as Weyounappeared on the

screen, the hated face of thatobsequious clown on the planet wide

addresssystem, cooing his pompous opinion around the world. "Citizens of Cardassia ... Ispeak to you tonight with a heavy heart. This latest wave of vandalism directed against yourDominion allies must stop." "I wouldn't count on it:" Garak muttered. "The Dominion views these acts of vandalism asnothing less than a eniel betrayal by aonce-valued ally. Let me assure

you, we know that these disgracefulacts of sabotage were carried out by a

there handful ofdisgruntled extremists who alone are to blame for

thistreachery...... "comThat's us," Kira muttered,"disgruntled to the core." "And extreme," Garak tacked on. Damar waved a hand. "Quiet." "But these radicals," the picture of Weyouncontinued, his violet eyes, bitter and concerned, setin a face abnormally pale even for a Vorta,"must come to

realize that their disobedience will not betolerated ... that you, the

Cardassian people, must sufferthe consequences of their cowardly actions."

"Uh-oh"" Kira breathed. Damar couldn't remain quiet this time. "Idon't like the sound of that...... "comThat's why," themonitor continuedea"...a few moments ago, Dominiontroops reduced Lakarian Cityto ashes. There were no

survivors ... two million men,women, and children ... gone in a matter of

seconds'was Mila sank into the nearest chair. Disturbing, since at her age

it was she who hadseen more atrocity and barbarism than the rest of themput

together. Kira folded her arms in visibleanguish. Even Garak had no words to ease theastonishment. Damar was also appalled, the more so because he

thought heshould have seen this coming. Still, the Vorta had been

cunningbefore, while not openly brutal. Weyoun had stopped talking for a

few long painfulseconds, as if allowing the news to sink in allover the

planet. WW were the other millions ofCardassians thinking, hoping, feeling,

wishing? For thedeaths of the Vorta? The Dominion? Or the deathsof the

rebels? "Appalling, isn't it?" he cooed. "Lifeis so precious ... now all that's left of thosevibrant, precious people are cinders in the dust.

Andthat's just the beginning." "Damar," Garak began. "Quiet!" Damar shot back. "From now on," Weyoun said, "for eachact of sabotage committed against the Dominion,another Cardassian city will be destroyed." In each mind flimughout the cellar, perhaps throughoutthe planet, each man and woman calculated howmany acts of sabotage must go by before there was nothingleft

of Cardassia. Hardly anyone lived in thecountryside ... everyone else lived

in a city.It was a planet of cities. There was nowhere elseto hide, no way

to live without the comfortinginft-astructure of civilization. Even their

farmed foodstuffs were imported. Such a system had laid itself bare for

slaughter.Weyown had apparently found that out-Cardassians werecreatures of

modern times, and could easily be herdedto the butcher's block. No one else had ever figured that out before. Inall of Cardassia's conquests, never

before had thebattle come to their planet itself. "I implore you" the false sympathy ofWeyoun continued, "not to let that happen. Let uslook beyond the mistakes of the past and return to the spiritof friendship and cooperation

that existed between the Dominionand Cardassia. Together we can accomplish

what weset out to do-defeat our common enemies ... theFederation, the

Klingons, the Romulans, andall others who stand against us. Thank you." The screen went blank. No one spoke. Only the sound of Mila'ssoft weeping

disturbed the blanket of horror. "I knew there'd be reprisals,"

Kirastruggled, "but I didn't think they'd go this far. .. ." Damar swung away from the monitor as ifdismissing it and Weyoun with it. "Do they re allythink this is going to stop us?" he Wwatened. "Doesn't it?" Garak challenged. "How manycities can we afford to lose?" "We can't afford to lose any," Damar toldhim, "but we have to be willing to lose them all.

Wemust be free! Even if it costs us everything." Would they accept his charge? were they as committed ashe was to throwing off the yoke of the

Dominion? He looked at Garak, then Kira. Oddly, theone who gave him support was the one he didn'taddress. Nkla. The old Cardassian woman whoseemed the

weakest among them, reduced to bringing teaand fight sticks, now turned her

tear-streaked faceup to him. She was no longer crying, though.She had passed through that, and now drove them onto something far more moving. "We must be free," she said. Damar gazed at her in gratitude, the firstgaze of

credibility he had ever offered her. Shedeserved recognition for her bravery, for being willingto stand behind his rash words, indeed words that might

resultin the utter eradication of their race. Seeing what was happening,

and that there was no goingback, Kira unfolded her arms and straightened

hershoulders. "Then we have to hit them again. Right away. They won't be expecting that." Shoring up his own posture, Damar took asingle step to the center of the cellar. "I should'vekilled that Vorta jackal when I had the chance." "You night get another chance;" Kira toldhim. "We have to attack Dominion Headquarters." Garak stepped into Damar's periphery. "Chopoff a snake's head and its body dies." "Damar," Kira said, stepping closer, "for thepast two years you practically lived in thatbuilding-was "If You're

asidng me whether I knowa way to get us inside, the answer is no," hetold her irascibly. "Not without valid securityprotocols" I Tkn we'll have to forceour way in. Garak, we'll need some kind of explosivedevice." "I'll get right on it:" Mila stood upslowly. "What you're proposing ... issuicide!

"Mila;" Garak snapped, "if youdon't have anything positive to say-was The oldwoman looked at him with an expression that causedeven the gregarious

Garak to fall silent withrespect. She had been through more in her life than thethree of them could claim in their combined lives.Something changed for

her in that moment, and for them because of herexpression. Though her words were simple and pedestrian, hermeaning was profound. "I'll prepare you some food. No one should dieon an empty stomach." Ben Sisko felt his pride

buffeted by what hesaw on the new battleship's wide forwardscreen. Yes,

the combined of lied fleet must be animpressive sight-he could only see part of it fromthe port- and starboard-side auxiliarymonitors-but what was coming at them out of the night waseven more formidable in its ruthlessness.

Before them the combined forces of the angry, insultedDominion, Breen, and

Cardassian fleets werearrayed, fully armed, shielded, and ready for this

lastgreat battle with the civilizations they had decidedto conquer. While

Starfleet, the Klingons, and theRomulans were defending their very homes and had muchto lose, the Dominion armada had nothing hereto protect and could

afford to be bold. Sisko would belying to himself if he hadn't admitted to a coldball in the pit of his stomach at the sight of the enemyarmada. It was

downright intimidating to see them coming. Emissary or not, Prophet's son or not,commander and captain or not, Sisko was stricken with anall-too human

instinctive shudder at the sight ofRomulan war birds and

Cardassianbattleships left over from the days when theRomulans were enemies.

Those ships carried with themechoes of two brutal civilizations that

hadvariously targeted human beings and Earth as theirultimate enemy in both

spirit and cause. In thepast, Starfleet had been forced to fight for the

lifeof the Federation against both those mighty organizations, andmore

lately against the Dominion and those pesky,purposeful Jem'Hadar who did

theFounders' bidding. How many more times in history would theFederation

have to come up against determined conquerors? Andcould they prevail one more time? This was an old song, and no one yet knew thelast verse. "Sir?"

Ezri shook him out of his doomful thoughts. He looked toward her, but

couldn't sunn non asimple response. "Admiral Ross would like to speak to you:" shesaid. Well, he had to find his voice for that, didn'the? nOn screen," he managed. The forward view screen changed away from theominous view of the distant and closing enemy armadato the somehow less heartening

vision of AdmiralRoss on the bridge of his flagship, the StarshipFarragut.

"I'd say we have our work cut out for us,Captain," he simply said. No point being formal or particularly mysticaleverybody could see the armada by now.

"Looks that way," Sisko bluntly said. Ross offered a non regulation shrug."Good luck." That was it? Just good luck? Sisko suddenly empathized with the admiral-whatelse could he say? A rousing speech of hope andglory,

or just a simple exhortation, like Nelsonbefore Trafalgar ... we expect every man to do hisduty ... "Sir," Ezri interrupted."Chancellor Martok is requesting a three-waycormnunication with you and Admiral Ross." Whynot?

Baring any more bright telegrams from his mother, howmany more surprises

could happen with the enemy in sight? Should ask Ross, though, just to be

polite. "Admiral?" he offered. Ross paused, then said, "Put him through." The screen split into two halves, one withRoss, the other with the famous and deserving Klingonwarrior Martok who had been so true a

friendto Sisko for ... was it almost a year? "Gentlemen!" Martok looked invigorated ashe raised both amis in greeting. "A gloriousvictory lies

before us!" "I trust those are prophetic words,Chancellor." Admiral Ross said, not seemingto want to commit just yet. "They are:" Martok apparently read thesubdued admiral's tone correctly, and lowered hisown voice. "I

haven't forgotten the promise Imade to both of you." Sisko smiled. "That the three of us would share ahottle of blood wine on Cardassia Prime." "A bottle! I brought a barrel of 2309!There is no finer vintage!" Ross nodded resignedly, obviously not in thespirit of this at all. "Then I'll meet you both on Cardassia." "Let us see who gets there first!" Martokraised a fist, and instantly cut off histransmission. Without ceremony, Ross cut his own

off, andonce again Sisko was alone with his own ship and crew.He had to

admit admiration for Martok'sold-fashioned Klingon spirit, for which the

battle gaveas much satisfaction as the victory, if any. Thethere act of

fighting held its own kind of honor.He understood that, in its ancient

klingon way, buttoday he also clearly saw the results of failurelurking in

their dim future. They wouldn't get asecond chance against a force as

determined andprovidential as the Dominion. Perhaps itwas all the years of

close proximity to Odo,discovering and later depending upon the shape

shifter'sstrong personal resolve, his versatility, and thedepth of his

conviction. To come up against a whole race of such mysticalbeings-so

physically advanced, so intelligent, andyet deteriffined ... this was a

frightening thing. TheFounders were advanced in many ways, yes, but

theirbackward sense of superiority and lack ofrespect for other life forms

made them very dangerousindeed. At the helm, Nog broke the silence.

"Thechancellor makes it sound like an easy victory." Maybe the ensign wanted somebody to agree withMartok. Sisko couldn't offer him that. "He knows it won't be:" he said instead. Thiswas it. He struck the comm unit on the arm of his commandchair, broadcasting his voice directly to everydeck.

"Sisko to all hands. Prepare to engage theenemy." The Federation fleet was made up of sixsquadrons of Starfleet vessels, each ledby two heavy enser

star ships, van guardedby four assault ships and twenty light ex-s, andrear

guarded by two destroyers charged not to let theenemy get past them. Sisko

remembered picketduty-it was critical and frustrating to lag behind,to be

the last line of defense, waiting to swat downany enemy ships that punched

through the primary line.Here there were no home planets to defend, but

thedestroyers were charged with making sure that anyCardassian, Breen, or

Jem'Hadar ships thatruptured the Allied lines couldn't turn around andattack unsuspecting ships who might be engagedto forward and not expect attacks from the rear. Starfleet flanked the main body of the Alliedfleet to port side.

On the starboard were theKlingon heavy cruisers and their support wings. In the middle, making up the biggest portion, were theRomulan warmings, moth

erships, and a phalanx ofbirds-of-prey in front. Over the past ten yearsor

so, the Romulans had been at war least of anyof the three civilizations, and simply had more ships inbetter condition than either the Federation or

theKlingons. Sisko might have been bothered by theprimary position of the

Romulans, except that it washis own idea to put them there. He'd suggested

thisformation to Ross when they'd first discussed theidea of a mass assault.

Unlike the Klingons,who could be rash, 87 the Romulans wereunflappable,

fearless, calm, and calculating. Theywould make a very firm trunk for the

Allied tree.Bristling with a hedgehog of Klingon fighters alongthe whole

vanguard of all three battalions, theAllied fleet was as well organized and

positionedas Sisko could ever have hoped. Soon, he knew, the beautiful

formation would smashheadlong into the ovoid cluster of enemy ships, makeits best first assault, then dissolve into a hundredindividual dogfights. At that moment, theglorious painting of martial wonder would turnbloody. He was

ready. They all were. In fact, they wereimpatient to get going, to lance the wound that had so longfestered. There go the Klingon advance fighters!"

O'Briengasped. On the forward screen they watched as the pricklyKlingon

line suddenly surged forward, gaining speedin a shocking rush, firing as they went, not waitingto be fired upon. In the distance, the egg-shaped enemy

formation spreadapart suddenly as if to engulf the approachingfighters. A

fireworks of ice-green bulbs oflight erupted across open space, as

KH-NGONstreaks of yellow disuptor fire encounteredJem'Hadar shields. Then

the Jem'Hadarreturned fire and advanced to meet the fighters. "Hold

formation"" Sisko ordered, sensing therush of adrenaline getting the better of his crew."Let them come to us." To their starboard, the Farragut and Nelsonsurged forward suddenly, and before them the line ofStarfleet fighters broke formation, parted like amelon cut with a knife, and peeled off in

twodifferent directions. "When we engage"" Sisko began evenly, "I want to concentrate on one enemy ship at atime. That's going to be hard. They'll be

all aroundus. Unless we're being fired upon, don't respondto any passes.

Keep your eyes on the one shipwe target and stay on its tail. Understood?"

"Understood:" Nog answered, echoed by Ezri andWorf behind him. "They'll be expecting us to try fighting whatevercomes within a certain radius of us:"

O'Briencommented. 't's my point:" Sisko told him."They'll be caught off guard if we act asmechanically as they will. The Jem'Hadar, theBreen-they

haven't got much in common, but one thing'sfor s (i that's their collective

lack ofimagination. They've no doubt been told to expectsurprises. It'll

confound them completely if wedon't give them what they expect. So let's

beas tenacious as pit bulls and see how far weget. One ship at a time-that's the trick." "No glory," Bashir continented with a noblesmile. "No heroes"" Odo agreed. Sisko nodded. "Shields up. Red alert.Battle stations." Ezri's voice quivered just a little on the PA."Battle stations.

All hands to battle stations.General quarters, all hands. Full red alert."

They'd been wondering when he was going to order that.He had deliberately

held off until the lastsensible second, so they wouldn't be poised for so

longthat the rush wore off. He needed that rush right now, notan hour ago.

The turbo lift hissed open and spilled six morecrewmen onto the bridge,

backup andsupport teams for engineering, sensory, andtactical stations.

"Mese were the men who would'vetaken O'Brien's, Ezri's and Worf's postson a watch rotation. Now it was all hands ondeck. Everybody had plenty to do.

Every monitor now hada crewman manning it, spreading the duty out andletting each of them concentrate on specificreadouts and breakdowns. On the screen, the enemy formation continued to breakup in an organized fashion, typical

ofprogrannned soldiers all taking orders from afew key brain cores. That

could work in the AH-IES" favor-they weren'tre ally fighting dozens of smart, quick-flimngcaptains; instead, they were fighting only a handful

ofmasterminds, perhaps Vorta, or even a Founder ortwo. That was the problem

with central control-novariety. Sisko saw it immediately in the way all

theenemy lines of ships moved in the same order, onboth sides and the top

and bottom of the egg-shapedassault formation. The Allied fleet, though,

was made up of athousand time-tried captains, each clever in his way,each

with different tactics and differentexperience. Every Jem'Hadar or Breen ship wouldfind itself facing a completely unique set oftalents. They wouldn't be

able to distill whathappened, then carry that experience to the next ship and thenext: what worked once wouldn't necessarily worktwice. "Put some

distance laterally between us and the starships,"he ordered. "Aye, sir,"

Nog nervously responded. The Defiant hummed purposefully about them,

andpressed off to port. Before them now were at least two dozen

Breenfighters on full-impulse approach. The distancewas closing fast.

"Pick one, Mr. Worf," Sisko offered,"and fire when ready. Ensign, plot an interceptcourse, then be prepared to bear off on a pursuitvector." "I'm ready," the helmsman claimed with falseboldness. Sisko didn't say anything.

Once they wereactually shooting, actually chasing, something else

wouldreplace the fear he heard in Nog's voice. Despite his preparation,

mentally and physically,Sisko flinched a Httle when he feltthe energy of

phaser fire blast through the coils andinto open space from the Defiant.

Their first shot in thisship-would she stand up to the pressure? In the

herd of rushing Jem'Hadar and Breenfighters, one Jem'Hadar ship heaved and

crumpledinto a ball of yellow fire. "Good girl"" he murmured.

"Excellentshot, Mr. Worf, pick another one-was"Incoming!" someone shouted, and the ship rocked up onher starboard edge. Emergency klaxons erupted.

Hull breach! "Plug it up, Chief," Sisko said, chargingO'Brien with making sure himself that their first hitwasn't their last. "Aye, sir!" O'Brien dodged for the forwardlock down, shoving an ensign out of the way.

"Pursuit, Ensign. Don't let him getaway with it." "Pursuing, sir!" The ship surged trtightily, still possessing allher power despite the hull hit.

There wasn't asense of sluggishness now, that was for sure! Nog spun them

off in pursuit of a Breenfighter, and off the two ships went into space in

afurious dance, as if held together by a string. "I'll say one thing for the Breen:" Nog saidthrough gritted fangs, "they know how to pilot aship."

"So do you, Ensign;" Sisko told him."Stay with him." "I'm trying, but he's slippery!" mr. Worf?" "Unable to lock target"" Worf reported,frustration showing in his tone. Suddenly, as the Breen ship ducked abruptlybelow the

screen's fine of view, the Defiantjolted twice, hard, and the bridge filled

withbitter smoke. One of the ensigns at the engineeringdeck went down in a

cloud. "We have two Jem'Hadar ships coming in behindus"" Odo reported over the whine of the vents,"bearing oneUs equals comsix mark four!" "Evasive action, pattern Delta:"Sisko order, breaking his own advice to

ignoringwhatever came around behind them. One, yes. Two,no. "Hang on!" Nog leaned into his hehlm. "Worf, get one of those bastards!" Siskocalled.

"Targetingcc"...Worf answered, andinstantly opened fire, laying down a scatterpattern that smeared one of the Jem'Hadar and skinnedthe other.

They watched as one of the enemy ships spunhideously, then blew itself to

bits, sprayingdebris and energy wash over them and over the

wobblingJem'Hadar ship that had veered off in hopes ofstaying alive long

enough to repair its damage. "Well done, Ensign," Sisko offered. "I lost the Breen ship we were after," Noghowled. "I wouldn't be too worried about it. There areplenty of others to choose from. Pick another one andadvance.

Damage control, to the bridge. Engineering,what's the status down there?

Report to ChiefO'Brien. Worf, let's have tactical displayon both beams. Nog, full about. The battle's back there!" "I don't care how many of their installations youtarget. You have to strike at their headquarters, orthey

won't be crippled enough for it to have any realeffect." Kira huddled over their one monitor and madeher comments as if speaking directly to the

littlemap of Cardassia City that showed on the flickeringscreen. Damar

appreciated her boldness as he scannedthe map from her side. Now that they

had decided what to do, they wereseverely stalled over just how to do it.

"comThat would be suicide," he eventuallyconcluded. "Besides, without the security protocols, we'llnever penetrate the outer defense perimeter.

"Damar," Kira protested, "you must have some knowledgeabout their security protocols-something you haven'tthought of." "It's not complicated enough to have forgotten much. I assure you, my personal codes are nolonger valid."

She sighed. "There has to be another way in.A back door, some weakness in their securitysystem that you noticed...... Think, she added withoutactually saying it. Damar sifted through his years coming and going freelyat

Dominion Headquarters, a trusted aidedecamp. He had never had to dWill about sneaking in orout or breaking in. In fact, he had never hadto break in or

out of anything. He'dpursued criminals in his time, recaptured otherswho'd

done the breaking, but he had always arrived after theCardassians already

held a particular facility. Now he had to learn to think

differently-mKira's fire like eyes were now charging him. Overthere, Garak

was watching him with his wide-eyed glarealso, expecting him to fail the

task. Think ... what were the headquarters"priorities? How would they change if there were a battle inspace to pulling away the warders who

normally stoodwatch around the perimeter? How would the troopsinside be

reassigned to make the most of theirdepleted numbers, if there were trouble

on the planetand insufficient forces remained inside headquarters?What would he do if he were in charge? What entrances would he assume the

citizenrymight target, and which would he assume they knewnothing about? And which of those lesser temptations might gounprotected? Something a civilian

would never thinkof.? "As I recall:" he began tentatively,"there is a rear cargo door that wasn't heavilyguarded. . . Kira instantly turned to Garak,

whowas saying, "We'll need some kind of explosive device.I'll get right on it was Before he could stand, Milareached past him to his plate of half-eaten rations."Elim, I remember when you used to love mycooking." "I still do""

Garak placated. "You have a strange way of showing it. You'vehardly touched your meal. No wonder you don'tlook well." "Of course I don't look well!

I'vebeen living in a cellar!" Mila picked up Damar's empty plate."So has Legate Damar." "What about him?" Garak snapped. "He finished everything on his plate, and it shows. Vftch explains why he's fine handsome figureof a

man." "I'm not sure I follow you." "I do," Kira said with a catty smile."Nfila, I believe you're falling in love' wasNfila actually blushed, her gray faced turninga distinct purple. "I'm old enough to be his mother."

"Nonsense," Damar spoke up. Mila smiled at him, charmed by hisfavor. "He's such a politician!" Damar started to say something more, but the warning lightfrom the upstairs alley enhince clicked on. It wasMila's house-for

anyone else to answer the doorwould be to give themselves away. "Who could that be?" Garak explored. Mila held up a hand. "I'll find out was Shetrundled up the stairs and disappeared around the bendof the landing.

"One of our informants, maybe?" Kirawondered. "They're all waiting for orders. We've putthem on alert." "And I contacted all my tonner

shipmates,"Damar said. "The ones I trust, in anyway." "You did what?" Kira rounded on him. "Didyou tell them where we are? What we're planning?" "I told you, they were men I trust," heinsisted, angry that she would challenge him and yet notparticularly surprised that she had. "We cannotpossibly act alone, with only a few clusters ofcivilians moving with us, Colonel. We must havemilitary backing if we are ultimatelyto succeed." Kira's ink-dot eyes flared. "I think youoverestimate your friends, Damar." "That is my decision. I am Cardassian ,he told her with sudden pride. "We

understandconquest, and whatever you think about us, we understandstruggle

too. We never engaged in wholesaleslaughter like the Dominion did today."

Kira raised a warning hand. "This is a badsubject:" "Yes, let's change it""

Garakquickly agreed. "I'd rather worry about the actions wehave to take tonight. I hope our regionaloperatives all have the nerve to go Mmugh with

ourplan, even if it means sacrificing anothercity." Damar drew a breath and slowly let it out. "Iknow it's a grim plan, but we cannot allow

ourselvesto fall back because of a threat from Weyoun!" "It's hardly an idle threat was Garak pointedout. "Weyown is not one to play games,

despitethe sickening sauce of his manner. After all, hedid wipe out a whole

city of innocent civiliansjust to teach us a lesson. I have no doubt he'll

doit again." Damar ignored him and went to the foot of thestairs.

"What's taking her so long?" Garak peered up the stairs. "I'm notsure......

At the top of the stairs another dooropened. Light flooded the stave

fl-outdoorlight! Kira drew her sidearm. Some instinct hadtriggered her

reaction. Damar pulled Garak back a step. "Nfila!" Garak's shriek was bloodcurdling. For aninstant Damar almost scolded him for

bellowingneedlessly. Then, he saw the need. NE-LA'S lifeless body came

rolling down thestairs like some kind of hideous sponge falling off aledge.

"Mila!" Garak shouted again, and plunged for thebody of his old nanny. Kira bolted, "Garak, look out!" As Garak reached Nfila's body, a smallmetal device came looping down the steps. "Concussion grenade!" Damar shouted, and dove forcover. Kira grasped for Garak. That was thelast thing Damar saw,

as a flash of detonationengulfed the small quarters, punching them

allbackward in a blur of energy. Flat on his back in a place that had no

coverto duck for, Damar tried to roll over, but hisparalyzed limbs mocked

him. Even his eyes layopen, unable to blink. Kira was moving a few steps

from him, her clawedhand crawling for her weapon, which lay somewhere over

there... when a booted foot kicked away the weapon. Motion flurried through the room. Kira seemedto float up into the rmddle of the air, then

collapseinto a chair. Now Garak was floating by. A bulging white face

appeared in Damar'svision, blocking everything else. Jem'Hadar! Damar tried to raise his arms, and there was somegroggy movement, but his body was still stunned and not undercontrol. He was dragged to his feet, moved across

theroom to Kira and Garak, and deposited with them, asthey too began to

shake away the daze of the stun. Captured! "I congratulate you, Thor Pran.

TheBreen's worthiness in battle proves itself onceagain." The Founder

looked with appreciation at thesuccessful measures being taken in space,

asbroadcast to them by their forces now challenging theAllied invasion

fleet. "Founder," Weyoun said from the other side of themonitor system,

"more good news. Our was havecaptured the traitor Damar." "Excellent!"

"That's not all. Colonel Kira and Garak havebeen apprehended with him."

"Even better." "Shall I have them brought herer' She considered that,lingering briefly over the possibility of witnessingtheir execution

herself and how much satisfaction that wouldprovide. Also, though, it

provided a chance forescape. "Mthat for?" she told him. "Have them executedimmediately." Weyoun turned away. "With pleasure." When she was sure he could no longer see herface, the Founder indulged in a rarity.

Shesmiled. Dead. They were finished. The whole resistance wasfinished. The

regional operatives would holdback their action until Damar gave thesignal,

and he was suddenly in no position to do so. Thwo Cardassian guards loomed

over Kira.Two Jem'Hadar kept watch on Garak andDamar. That made some

sense, Damar realized. Theyweren't allowing Cardassians to watch

otherCardassians. Sentiment might overtake someone.He had to give the

Jem'Hadar more credit than heever had before. They were beginning, in their

programmed andlimited way, to understand the nature of emotionalbeings. They had no intuition, but they had learnedto anticipate the behavior of their

enemies. Hewould have to remember this. If he had a future from which to

gaze back. He noted Garak glancing at him, wondering ifhe had a plan to get them out of this. But Damar hadno answer for him. He had genuinely thought

theirpresence hadn't been detected. Apparently hewould never get the chance

to become an even betterrebel leader than he had managed so far. The

Jem'Hadar First was over there talking into hisco nun device and getting

orders from his commander. Now he broke off, and came to face the

threecaptives. "On your feet:" he snapped. "WhyThat" Kira defied. She didn't getup. The First nodded to his men, who reached down,clasped Kira

by the collar and dragged her to herfeet. Damar almost lashed out, but he

had no chance against thearmed guards. A moment, and he and Garak were also both against thewall at Kira's side. "We prefer our prisoners to be

standing when theydie", the First announced, as if the Jem'Hadarhad any traditions at all. Damar glanced at the other two prisoners. Theyboth

looked at him, and each knew they had no wayout of this. Garak cleared his

throat. "Does anyone haveany final words The asked ridiculously. Damar glared at the Jem'Hadar. "We maydie, but Cardassia will-was "Enough!" the First barked."Final words are not permitted." Garak sighed. "How disappointing." The First stepped back. "Ready weapons!" Kira raised her chin, staring death in the face. Admiring her, Damar did the same.

EvenGarak was willing to stare death down without awhimper, and Damar had to give him respect for that. Damar felt his eyes tighten. He refusedto close

them. He waited for the blast, calculating absurdlyin his mind how quickly

the body would seize up from anenergy overload, what his muscles would do,

how longhis brain would sizzle, how much it might hurt to diethis way.

Perhaps the worst thing was seeing it coming, having to standhere and wait

for it without being able to fight. He shouldlunge-at least die in a scuffle The blastbrightened the cellar room in mockery of the pathetichghtsticks

Mila had so dutifully provided. Dwnar held his breath. It took longer than

hehad expected. Was this some kind of freezing ray? Why wasn'the falling

down? Or dissolving? Before him, the two Jem'Hadar soldiers seizedand fell.

The First swung around and aimed his weaponat the two Cardassian guards he

had himself broughtin, fired and killed one of them. The otherCardassian,

though, fired his own weapon, and theJem'Hadar First buckled, rolled away,

and laydying seconds later on the cold stone floor. "That's for Lakarian City," theremaining Cardassian growled. Kicking aside oneof the Jem'Hadar at his feet, the Cardassianstepped over the body and came to Damar. "Legate Damar, I am Ekoor. I pledgemy life to free Cardassia from the Dominion!"

Giddy with pleasure at this turn, Damarclapped the newcomer on his shoulder

and cried, "Welcome, Ekoor! Tell me-how many are with you?" "Dozens,"

Ekoor claimed instantly. "Andhundreds more moment by moment. Weyoun's

announcementenraged Cardassians to wake up from our slumber." "Finally!"

Garak gushed. "Your resistance has shamed many of us;" Ekoorwent on, rewarding Kira with a nod that seemedto indicate that he also understood who she was. "Our armada has gone off to stand by the Dominionin the fight against the Allied fleet." Ekoor said,"but we're getting contacts now from many ship commanders.Weyoun at "Don't tell me that foolbroadcast his threat to the ships!" Kira burst out. Ekoor nodded vigorously. "He did!" "He doesn't understand Cardassians atall"" Damar announced with contempt. "We willonly collaborate so far. We will not bethreatened." "Sounds familiar,"

Kira grumbled. Damar grasped Ekoor's arm. "What are thecomreanders saying?

Our ships-what are they saying!" "Whatever they're saying"" Kira interrupted,"we've got to get a message through to Starfleet andtell them about it. Ekoor, where's the nearestplanet-to-space communications system?"

"I know where it is"" Damar said. "Followme." The edge of an abyss. Beyond, the abyss stretchednearly beyond sight, and at that point a sheer red

wallrose. Dukat surveyed the surreal environment,its steaming gushers and

unseen source of lightdespite the depths, and contemplated the alien nessof

Bajor. "This is it, isn't it?" he asked. Nearly exhausted, Kai Winn paused to rest."We've reached the end of one journey and stand readyto begin

another." Yes, well, that was an answer to a simple question. Dukat moved to the edge of the abyss aDd peereddown into the spiraling canyon. Trite

though itsounded in his mind, the pit re ally did lookbottomless. "What's the matter, Dukat?" Winn pestered."You look disappointed." "I know this sounds naive," he allowed, "but Iwas expecting to see fire. After all, they arecalled the Fire Caves." "And with good reason." She gathered her robes,knelt to the gnarly rocks, and put the KosstAmojan down before her.

Reverently she opened theenormous book, selected a particular passage,and

closed her eyes. She began to chant. LANO KALA BO'SHAR LANU NO'VALAPAH

ROM GA RANA MOKAO BA'JAHKO'SE NUSSO MA'KORA KAJANI . . . LANO KALA

KOSST AMOJAN! Dukat frowned. He didn't under land the words,and he wondered for a moment if she was leading him on. That thought dissolved when the Fire Caves's gapingabyss erupted into wall after wall of flames. Everyher was now burning as if giant curtains had beensoaked in oil. Such a sight!

Breathless, Dukat absorbed themagnificence of mysticism and pondered

theunrevealed science that made all this a wonder and amystery. He felt as

if the fires had come for himalone, to make him believe. The Pah-wraiths

were sending him a message ofvictory. They would come if he freed them,

they would go before himand knock down the Prophets and Sisko and

theFederation and all its allies. The CardassianEmpire would gain its old

greatness in the AlphaQuadrant. The name of Dukat would once againcarry

influence, instill fear, deserve respect. This time, though, it would all be different. He wouldhave his own respect, for a change. Kai Winn opened her

eyes. "Is that better?" Derelict and wounded ships trailed

sickeninglyacross the black skies all around. Some limped by,still firing,

streaming leakage and flowing energy likelife's blood. Others speared

through the damaged lines, scatteringformations that struggled to recongeal.

Two hours into thebattle, and no side showed signs of retreat.Now the

fighting at these speeds and with these maneuversbecame far more dangerous,

adding the very good chance ofslamming headlong into a ship that no longer

had the powerto move out of the way. Sisko snapped orders every few

seconds,pausing in between to assess the ever-changing situationoutside. He

was trying to be Nog's eyes andears, for no one person could do it all. Nog

had avery good ability to concentrate, but he had tunnelvision, and

frequently concentrated too hard on oneenemy while another slipped up behind him. They were all working together, all watching, patching,fighting in

their own way. Bashir hovered over awounded man on the lower deck, the sixth emergencyon the bridge alone, while funneling orders downto triage nurses on the lower decks. "Xaptdn:" Ezri called over the clatter andnoise, "I have Admiral Ross." "Onscreen' The Admiral's crackledfigure appeared on the forward screen. Siskocouldn't tell if it was Defiant's damage orFarragut's

that was causing the disruption, though itdidn't matter. ""U Romulan flagship D"'bbidthauhas been destroyed;" Ross said without formality."Their entire line is collapsing" comWe'Do tryto help:" Sisko offered. "With what?

Ben, we're losing too manyships! We've got to find a way to turn

theDominion's flank." "It's too well protected , Siskoassessed, knowing he could see the flank better from hisposition than Ross possibly could. "But theirlines are spread pretty thin in the middle, heoffered as an

alternative. The Defiant took another hard hit, whichluckily didn't cut off the communication. "You stick with the Romulans"" Ross toldhim. "Martok and I will hammer away at theircenter." "On my way." He turned to Ezri.

"Haveattack fighters six-four and six-five followus." "Aye, sir."

comJem'Hadar ship off the port bow!" Nogshouted as the ship took another rocking hit. Sisko scanned the readouts on the starboardside from his place midships. They couldn't plugany holes unless they could get out of here

alive. "Shields are down to sixty percentcc"...Worfreported. Sisko almost said something about the shields, butO'Brien would be on it without prodding, andsixty percent was still a lot of deflecting power. A second direct hit

nearly threw them to theirknees. Sisko clung to the helm, adding up

numbers. "Another Jem'Hadar!" Nog announceduselessly. O'Brien climbed up from the lower trunks."Diverting auxiliary power to port shieldvectors!"

"Dax, we need some support from ourfighters:" Sisko requested, far more calmlythan he felt. "Breen ship attacking off the starboard stern:"Nog reported, seeming to lose the will to shoutanymore. Just as well. "Sir,"

Ezri turned, "most of our attackfighters are either destroyed or under attack themselves." Sisko acknowledged with a dismissing nod, thenturned to the helm. "You're going to have to get us out of here, Ensign." "I'm trying, sir." Odo appeared out of a cloud of rank smoke from theops console. "Sir, there's a squadron ofRomulan war birds de cloaking ahead,bearing

one-seven-four mark one-three-nine" wasAh, the cavalry. "Make a beeline for them," he ordered. "On the way!" Nog said with a new cheer in hisvoice.

"I just hope we get there in one piece." Around them dozens of Jem'Hadar ships andBreen fighters closed on Defiant. Siskoknew he'd been suckered-his

reputation hadpreceded him. It would be a victory for them to take down

thebulldog of Deep Space Nine, to destroy yeta second Defiant, and perhaps

kill the crew thathad stood them off for so long, sometimes singlehandedlyHe knew now that the holes had been punched in theRomulan lines to bait help

from Starfleet, andhe had attempted to answer that call. They knewhe would.

Did they know how hard he would fight? He hopedso. Bring "em on! comOpen fire , he called. "Shoot at anythingthat gets in range. Never n-nd the shields. Everyone concentrateon firepower, understandt" "Aye, sir!"

Worfeagerly answered. "Understood!" O'Brien said, and they went to work.

Shot after shot rotted from the Defiant, blastingherself a path in the

cluttered pool of space.Several ships tried to get out of their way, which

feltgood, but three persistent enemy vessels dogged themmercilessly-wo

Breen, one Jem'Hadar. As theybeat off two of them, one Breen ship gunned

itspower and came around underneath Deft ant. SiskDosaw it on one of the

monitors, but there was nod lingto be done with all working weapons and all

sensmengaged on the two that had them by the tad. He was mocked breathless

by an abmpt surge of thewhole ship a full length sideways. As hegrasped the

command chair and tried to recover, half theengineering console blew out

toward him. Only aquickly raised hand shielded his face from hot sparksthat

w" the skin of his wrist and knuckles. As heblinked past the smoke, he was gripped by thenightmare of O'Brien collapsing to the deck, hisshoulder a

matte of blood. Sisko hammered the co nun link on his chair."Dr. Bashir to the bridge!" "Yes, sir?" He turned-Bashand appened in the

vestibule.Psychic? Or just luck when they needed itmost "You needed me, Captain?" Dr. Bashirspilled out of the lift and waved at the smoke. Sisko just nodded toward O'Brien, who wasmiraculously crawling back into his

chair. "Chief caught a piece of shrapnel," hecalled over the clatter and howl of battle."Worf, shields aft!" "Aye aye. Julian Bashir choked his wayacross the bridge, dazzled briefly by the sheerweight of occurrences the

captain was fielding, andbent over Miles O'Brien, who was gasping hisway

through waves of pain. Bashir recognized that in O'Brien-the engineerwas

trying to set the pain aside so he could get backto work. The gash in his

shoulder had other ideas. comI can't leave you alone for a minute"

Bashircommented as he applied pressure to the bleeder. "Just fix it,

Julian:" O'Brien gasped.He reached up with his good arm and continued to work thepanel in front of him, then winced in pain. "Vmfid! "Sit still or you're going to wind up with one armshorter than the other." The ship

rocked sickeningly under them and for amoment Bashir had to stop what he was doing and hangon until the inertia turned him loose again. "You'd do

anything" O'Brien grumbled, "to beatme at darts:" comI haven't lost a game to you inmonths$7 dis.i'm going to miss playing darts withyou, Julian... Bashir frowned through the smoke athis friend's blood-drained face. "What are you talking about? Your shoulder's goingto be fine." "I'm leaving DS9 ... going back to Earth." Keeping a pressure pad on the wound, Bashirhad a moment to absorb the shock. Had he heardright? Why would Ailes go away? "WhenThat' he asked. O'Brien coughed. "When the war's over." Dealing with a wound of a different kind, Bashir daredthe question whose answer he was afraid he knew.

O'Brien looked at him. "I've been offereda position at Starfleet

Academy.Professor of Optronic Systems Engineering." Bashir sank back a bit.

That wasn't theanswer to the question why. "see' was O'Brien was still watching him, harder thistime. The smoke was making their eyes water.

"Well... somebody has to teach you officers thedifference between a warp matrix flux capacitor and aself-sealing stern bolt...... "suppose so.

Bashir no longer looked at O'Brien, butconcentrated on treating the wound, a convenient excuseto avert his eyes. "Julian?" "Yes." "I should've told you sooner. I couldn't find thewords. It's just that Keiko-was "Please, Miles.Let me take care of you" Bashir felt hisexpression harden as he tried to supress hisemotions like a man. Tersely, unable to stop himself, he

added, "While I still have the chance." A hard bolt slammed the ship from nearly deadahead. O'Brien winced hard, bleeding from an artery. "his is no good:" Bashir decided,tightlipped. "I'd better get you to sickbay." "I'm a little busy right now," O'Brienresisted. "IW'S an order." On the main deck, Ben Sisko had been onlyhalf listening, sifting for important words, and hecaught the right ones. He cast his own wordsover there without looking at

the two officers. "Youbeard him, Chief:" With a tone, O'Brienmoaned, "Yes, sir.. at the same time as Nog reported, "Another Jem'Hadar to port!"

"Dodge them:" SW-WILL reunered. Would Nogbe able to move fast enough? Could the slup wheel out of the way before that Breengot them targeted? "Diva"

auxiliary power to port gueldsl-Worf quickly en ended. "Dax:" Sisko called,

"we need somesupport from our attack fighters:" Another Intstruck them from the wrong angle Breen. "Breen ship off the starboard aft!" The Breen ship wheeled up on a wing, seemedto have them targeted, and then luridly exploded into aball of roll energy. Sisko gasped, astonished. Had the Romulanscome

in? "Did we do that?" he asked. Of course, heknew "Sir," Worf interrupted, "I am reading Cardassian firingsequences in the Breen

wreckage." On the heels of that, two Cardassianvessels veered in and

blasted furiously at theJem'Hadar pursuers, damaging one severely andblowing the other from now to Christmas. Odo fingered the sensor panel. "Sir,

theCardassiansthey're attacking the other Dominionships!" Turning forward, Ezri stared at the big screen."I think they've switched sides!" "Yes!" Nog shouted. Sisko cleared his throat of the raw chemicalsmoke. "It couldn't have come at a better time. Come about andhead for the center of their lines.

This is our chanceto punch through." Ezri frowned over her communications system."From what I can pick up, it has some ding to do with aCardassian city that was recently destroyed by theDominion." "Are they sending those message still' "I'm notsure who's sending them"" Ezri said. "I'mpicking them up on Bajoran encoding." "Bajoran?" "Now it's switching to Starfleetcodes. Does that make sense?" "I don't know," Sisko said. "Seems likesomebody wants us to get the message as much as theywant the Cardassians to get it." Grim realization came into the control room. The Founder

shuddered against her disease, but was moretroubled by what she saw on the

screens. Reportsfrom space were changing in their tone, their results.At her side was Thor Pran, the Breen generalcrackling with great disturbance. At the monitor, asuprised Weyom gave the report he could notavoid. The ships are

not responding to our hails , hesaid. "comThe Cardassian fleet has turned againstus:" The Breen erupted into a violent hash ofnoise. The Founder ignored his complmnt. "Have our forcespull back and regroup at Cardassia Pdm:"Weyoun turned to look at her. "But, Founder,we'll be completely surrounded. What If we haveto fall backr "There'll be no faumg bael Nomore innmng:, More raffling from the Breen. She waited until he flikhed his

rantingprotest and avoided telling him what sheequals lly Mint of him and

all his kind, but on thisissue she had to agree. "We should've rid

ourselves of the Cardassins at thefirst sign of rebellion. You're right ...

it'snever too late to correct a mistake$7To Weyotm she added, comI want the

Cardassiansexterminated:" The Vorta blinked as if hedidn't quite

understand. "All of them ... ?" "9be entire population:" "9Will's goingto take some fun... "Men I suggest you begin atonce$7 "Captain , Worf barked, theDomunon forces are retreating to CardassiaPrime!" A cheer broke out through the crew, brieflysetting aside their busy damage control and

theirefforts to keep injured shipmates from dying if it couldat all be

helped. "Sir, Admiral Ross and ChancellorMartok would like to speak to you." Not entirely unexpected, though somewhat cheering. "I'm sure they would," Sisko huffed."Onscreen." The split screen appeared again, with the Klingon onone side and Ross on the other. Rosslooked as if he'd been dragged through an enginefeet first. His bridge was a smoky mess and onelarge piece

of bufflmd material lay at anangle behind the command chair. Martok's

bridge was shattered too, but somehow forKlingons that looked no mud. Martok himself seemedcharged with delight. "I never thought I'd say this!- Ross gasped, "Thank God for Cardassians!" "It's as I predicted:" Martok claimed."IW day is ours. I "Not yet it isn't:" Sisko warned. Ross seemed annoyed. "Ben, we've won agreat victory! We've driven the Dominion allthe way back to Cardassia Prime. We can throwa blockade around the entire system and keep thembottled up there mdeffnitely." "What if they don't surrendert'

Siskopointed out. "What if they use that fun to rebuild theirfleett'

Martok didn't give Ross a chanceto say why that somehow wouldn't work. "The captain has a point. The Dominion hasdisplayed an ability to build ships at

animpressive rate." "Gentlemen, do I have to remind you of

ourcasualtiesThat' Ross rasped. "We've lost a drd of our fleet." "And we must see to it"" Martok told him, "thatthose soldiers did not die in vain."

"Admiral:" Sisko offered, "if theCardassians are joining us, we have anopportunity to put an end to this war once and forall." Sisko wanted to sit down over a table and makeeveryone calm down and pay attention. Ross

hadspent a lot of years behind a desk, working withtheories instead of real

losses, and today's lossesclearly shocked him. He would need time to absorb

themeaning of a fill-out fleet assault. Then he wouldhave to be talked out

of this wound-licking mentality. "Admiral:" Sisko began, andM to

betemperate, "we have an opportunity here to put anend to this war once and for all. We should seize themoment:" "I agree," Martok said. "We mustmove on to Cardassia Prime and do it now." Neither of them raised their voices. This wasn't thetime for shouting. Ins equals 4 they would have to count upon the hope thatRoss trusted them for their experience, thefact that they had had

more combined den in the field-4nbattle than he'd had in Starfleet

altogether. Come on, admiral, I law you've got it inyolk Give the hard

order Ross wiped his bleedinglip, paused, looked from one to the other on his ownsplit screen, and his stinging eyes. "All right, gentlemen," he said simply. "Wepress on." Martok thumped his command chair. "My people win singsongs about this moment!" Ross shook his head wearily, though he

seemedto correct a strength even he hadn't thought hepossessed. "Let's hope we're around to hear them." The transmission was cut off at the source.

Thescreen flipped back to a disturbing view of theshattered wreckage from

the last several hours ofunremitting siege. "All right, people"" Sisko said evenly, "youheard the orders. Let's finish what we started." On Cardassia Prime, everything had changed inan instant. Weyoun's blunder had rocketed

around theplanet like shock waves rushing from pole to pole andback again

stronger. Whole regiments ofCardassian amps were finding their wayflimugh

the secret channels to the resistance.Ekoor had opened a hundred veins of

communicationthat yesterday would have been suicide. Now they were rifled

with eager voices, soldier andcivilian alike. The planet had had enough of

the Dominion, itsFounders, its hive-headed Jem'Hadar, and itsethereal spook

Vorta. Damar huddled with Kira and Ekoor around lastminute preparations for their assault on DominionHeadquarters. Their forces had swelled mightily in the last twohours. Just indus cellar were five more Cardassim,meluggling

two soldiers and den civilians, armedand ready Ekoor troubled over the

schematic Damarhad drawn of the Headquarters" re tenor. "According to this map"" he said, "it's a long way fromthe cargo door to the briefing room:"

comM could bea problem:" Kira agreed. The explosion's goingto alert everyone in the building? "M I know Weyoun," Damar told them,Itherelff only be a handfid of Jem'Hadar onduty. He'll have sent the rest to hunt

downCardassian"" The rest of his sentence wasstripped away in the sound of an explosion, aresonant boom that came down d equals gh thewalls. The floor

trembled. Kira tensed. '9More the helm?" Garak rushed down the sin and nearly fell. TheJem'Hadar! They're leveling the city, buildingby building!"

comWe have to go," Kira said, "tight now!" Damar stayed any action with a temperate hand. "Once we get inside DominionHeadquarters, we stop for

nothing and no one untilwe ca pam the Changehng. For Cardassia!" "For sia!" Kira Nerys watched as all the Cardassiansdodged from the ceflu, fired by the oppormmty to takeback their planetary pride, led by the rogueofficer

who had become a legend. Damar? A legend? How things could change. She

waited unttl they were all out of the room.She wanted to make sure nothing

had been forgottenwhich they could use. They wouldn't be coming back to

thisplace. As she put her foot on the bottom step, shecast one gaze to the

least likely and mostdisturbing corner, the place where Nfila's bodyhad been tucked, wrapped in a tarp There, shepaused. In the shadow, Garak stood mute

overMila's clumsy form. Kira thought he'd gone up with the mdiers.

WhenMila had been Rifled, Garak had shown onlyone moment of horror before

returning to his typicalself, casting off trouble like shedding rain from

hisshoulders. Now Kira could see the lie. And thetruth. "Garak?" she began gently. "I'm coming, Commander," he said, as If expectingher to speak up.

"I'm just saying goodbye." Though she tried to leave, assuming he would wantto be alone, Kira responded instead to an inneralarm that told her he

needed something other thansolitude. They'd known each other a very long

time,had never re ally been friends, but had fought sideby side long enough

to have a certain bond of understanding that shefelt very powerfully now Here was Garak, as blithe andlubricated a salesman-spy as the universe

couldboast, this time with all his masks down. Kiraunderstood that right now she was seeing the real Garat amgn displaced for years from the home he

hadonce served honestly and vnth great energy Today he washome agaui, and

about to beam thrown out. "During all these years of exile"" he beganwithout looking at her, "I used to imagine what it would be like to come home,maybe even to Hve in this house once again withMila. But now ...

she'd dead. And this house isabout to become nothing more than a pile of

rubble. My Cardassia is gone." Kira offered a sympathetic pause.

"Thenfight for a new Cardassia:" Another explosionnon bled closer than the one before. The wallsrattled. Pebbles and dust fell upon the tarp

coveringthe old Cardassian woman. Gareaak watched the dust settle into the

tarp'folds. "I have a better reason to fight, Commander," hesaid.

Revenge. I "But Thor Pran, I have come to depend on havingyou here at my side. Your sage military advicehas proven invaluable to me and to the

Dominion' "The Founder struggled to hold her form, despite thecraclang of her skin like old paint and theintense pain it caused throughout her body.

Everyone around her saw the terrible plague eatingher humanoid form on the

outside. What they could notsee was that all her form, inside as well, was

madenow of sharp-edged flakes, flmdft chips eachcutting into the other

moment by moment. The staticity voice of the Breen general hadgrown shrill

as he protested all her arguments.He was growing and of her. Or perhaps he

was comingto suspect that she was keeping him here in order to holdinfluence over him or eventually to hold himhostage.... No matter. He was only a

smallcog in the wheels of her plan. If she could nolonger deceive him, it

was little loss. "Very well she accepted. "If you feel that thesen120

ousness of the situation demands your presence onthe front lines, I will not stand in your way. Infact, knowing that you will be leading our troopsinto

battle is very reassuring." He blathered another burst at her, then bowed andswung for the door, leading his Breen officers with him. Near the

monitor, Weyoun had been watching insilence. Now he spoke. "I stiff can't help but wonder." The Founder turned to him. "Wonderwhatt" "Tint's under that helmet." She moved in agony to the monitor. "A braverman den you.

Though I do find the shrillness of hisvoice tiresome." Feeling a wave of ghastly weakness roll through herlimbs, she turned away from him. Holding

this shapewas almost as agomzmg as mowing she could no longerdissolve from

it. Somehow this illness trapped her betweennighmm and tonw. She could not

alter, yet holdingsolidity took constant effort. What would shebecome if she gave up? If her form took itsown route? She tried to walk away, to go to

her desk, whenher legs folded beneath her and gravity came to puffher down.

Would she puddle on the floor, a massof cracided hqtnd? Would she crash into a mdllonbits like shattering glass? Weyoun's grip wrapped around her and

held her on her feet "Founder! What's wrong?" What an idiot. "I'm dying, that's what's wrong"" she toldhim, disinclined to spare whatever he had for feelings. "Perhaps if you were to rest for a while ...revert to your natural state-was "I only wish Icould. But I haven't be able to change form in weeks. Ironic ... isn't it? That I might die asa solid. . . ."

"You , re not going to die:" Weyoundesperately insisted. "You're a god!"

"Gods are not always immortal:" she said. Wasshe speaking to a child in fact?

Very weer. "You must seeto it that the Dominion does not die with me.Promise me time . I As he shifted position,his pale face and colorless eyes took on

agenuine fear. "But Founder, what can I, a thereVorta ... was Her hand, as if disembodied andpossessing a win of its own, raced to his throat.The full

power of her own will now took over,squeezing the life out of bun that the

Founders in theirwisdom had given him in the first place. "Promise me!" she growled. Fighting for breath, Weyoun attempted aterrified nod. "I promise

... gladly." Even she was unsure what she was asking of him,how he would protect the Dominion without her in thisquadrant to guide him. The Vorta

neededguides. "My loyal Weyoun:" she went on, "theonly solid I've ever trusted." Overwhelmed, Weyoun managed to bow even in thisawkward position.

"I live only to serve you:""And you've served me well. I don't mind dying...

what's painful is knowing that my entire raceis dying of the same illness and there's nothing I can doabout it:" "I would give my life to save

yours""Weyoun said with great emotional trouble. comI only wish it were that easy." Her hand-she must un clamp it. This took a greateffort though she finally gave him back his existence. "Your loyalty is comforting:" she said. ShepWI-ED out of his goodp. Somehow her strength had been renewed for now, throughthe desperation of her concern for her fellowChangelings.

Weyoun let her go without frit-their attendance.He rubbed his throat He

seemed surprised. Was he also horrored? She thought he should be. She

thought he'd better be. The cap of the Kai spun into the abyss, taking

withit all the symbolic devotion of a lifefim'smeditation and trial. Dukat

watched the little cap whirl awayinto the fire and be consumeggL How

completelywondrous-a full KaLike shedding the shackles of theProphets,

casting her lot with the anti prophetPah-wraiths, joining with Dukat in his

causeto finally come out from under the pall of some alien power Atleast dus power was native to Bajor, native to theAlpha Quadrant. A much better plaform from whichto launch any plan, he believed. Nearby, Kai Wren crossed the

final path to therejection of everything she had previously embraced.

Solemnly, she removed her ceremonialcloak and pitched it over the edge of the abyss into thecharged flames. With a gasp of consumption, the

robedisappeared. Now she stood only in a simple penitent'ssmock. Even

the pin in her hair was plucked away. Herhair fell about her shoulders. She

looked suddenlyfree, even younger. "Finally," she breathed, "I rid myself of the Prophets! Once and for all! And shed a lifefim ofhypocrisy!" With the flames blazing behind her, she turnedto Dukat and in a shock of

boldnessclasped him passionately and drove him into a longexuberate kiss.

Stunned and invigorated, Dukat gazed at her."I've never seen you so

radiant." "I feel like a young woman!" she crowed."Waiting for my lover to come and sweep me off myfeet!" "Do you give yourself willingly to thePah-wraiths?" he asked, just to make sure shewasn't consumed by something that might distract her from theirreason to be here. "With all my heart!"

"Then ... call to them." Winn, no longer a Kai, broke the embrace."Bring me the book!" A shiver of hesitation ran through Dukat. To touchthe book? The thing that had last blinded him when hedared invade its private and sacred

envelope? "I said bring it!" Wren insisted. This last step had to be taken. Dukat realizedthat if Winn were to give up all her securities,he

would have to show a willingness to do the same. Surelythe Pah-wraiths would smile on him and not allow thebook to hurt him a second time, to defy their

healingpowers. He bent before the book, muttered an inaudibleapology just

in case. So many unexplained powers in the universe-who washe to suggest

any might be silly? If the bookitself had no particular power, surely

something attachedto it did and the book was the wand which channeled it, for hehad felt the power himself. He picked up the enormous bindings. He

offeredit to Wren with a hint of minor ceremony. She opened the book, as

Dukat cradled it againsthis chest. Standing at the brink of the flaming

abyss, "Wren began to chant again, slowly at first, then morerapidly.

MEEK RAK DORRAH PAH-WRANYELIM CHA ONO KOSST AMOJAN . . . SHAY TA-HELTER-RAH

NO'VALA DERAM AKA'LU FAR CHE ... And the flames grew lusher and hotter

And the lightgrew bright with joy. "Sisko to Bashir. Report:" It had takenhim a few minutes to ask for this one. He didn't mind getting reports

fromO'Brien about the engmeeing status or from Ezn abouthull damage or from

Worf about thetactical situation, but asiang Bashir to breakoff from tending the wounded below decks just to report onhow many crew mates they'd lost-that was a hard one andit always would be, Emissary or not. Sisko felt eminently human as Basher'svoice came up through the comm. "Three dead, eight

wounded, four of themcritically." The doctor sounded strained in part, and somehowrelieved in another. That made sense. For a major battle,

they'dbeen lucky. "I need every able-bodied crewman at his post:"Sisko challenged. "I won't keep anyone here a second longerthan I have to,"

Bashir promised. Hopeful, at least. No one was fling to talk himout of

pursmng the retreating Domunon forces andputting an end to this once and for all. Even Ross hadn't contacted him. The decisionhad been y-"every. Now they had to hye with it. "She did pretty well for a first date, don'tyou think, Captain?" Nog asked as he nursed hishelm. "I do, Ensign:" Sisko offered. He didn't stay near the helm, but instead movedto Worf and Ezri.

"The phaser banks have been fully recharged:"Worf said, with a measure of satisfaction that provedSisko's assessment that they'd been lucky. "But we're down to only forty-five quantumtorpedoes:" "MI-LIKE have to do , Sisko said. TheEzri he offered, "How're you holding up, old man?" "Allthings considered, I'd rather be on Risg" she said with alittle smile. "That makes two of us." He returned her smile, wondering how much comfortold Curzon Dax's life force could offer a younggirl who had never been in a battle

situation. So far, so good. And that's what worried him. He crossed past

the repair crews and tried notto get and attention with his presence. On the other sideof the bridge Odo was gazing uneasily into amonitor. Sisko didn't

ask-The shape shifterwould speak up if there were anything to say. For a

moment Odo re reamed siaent, but thenvoiced a genuine concern. "Have you seen the reports fromCardassia? The Dominion has begun destroyingCardassian

cities ... millions of people aredying. They're being dragged out of their

homes andexecuted:" "Are the Cardassians fightingbackt" "They're andong to.

But what chance to docivilians have against the Jem'Hadar?" "I wouldn't count them out just yet, Constable,Sisko offered, "not with Kira down there:"

Odosmiled reservedly, apparently taking the compliment asit was meant,

trying to find some comfort in it that Kira wasindeed still alive, that there might be a future for themyet somehow, somewhere. The bird and the fish

might find a place where bothcould live, If only this single great struggle

could bewon. "Captain:" Nog interrupted. "We'reapproaching the Cardassian defense perimeter." "llt's see what they have waiting for us. Siskostepped down to the conumd area. "Onscreen." The ship's company bolted to action, squaring awaythe wreckage on the deck, clearing the walkways,taking

positions. If anything wasn't repairedby now, time was up. 'they'd have to

make do with whatever theyhad working. Positions of the dead and wounded

would have to becovered. That was up to each individualdepartment head and

not Sisko's problem any more. Hedrove that concern from his mind as others

came to clutterit. Just then O'Brien stepped back onto thebridge, reading

a padd as he approached the commandarea to make a reporl "I've

cross-polarized the phaser emitters,which should give us ?"' Sisko didn't respond.No one did. O'Brien stopped tafldng as helooked up. Together they

all stared at the mi age on the forwardscreen. Before them, a virtually

impenetrable wall ofBreen and Jem'Hadar fighting ships,

defenseinstallations, and weapons platforms orbitedCardassia Prime, a

bristling net ofdestructive power, formidable and terrifying.Knitted like

barbed wire, all enemy forces hadtaken an organized positiormothing seemed

randomat all this time. This wasn't just a formation. It was anearly solid

wall of killing energy waiting to bereleased. On the main fleet channel, a

broadcastcame d equals gh which Ezri did not botherto announce. "This is Aandrural Ross to all ships. Weall know what we have to do. All forces form up for Operation Fumi,ftstwlt." Sisko turned to his crew, putting the

horroron the for ward screen behind him as he met all theireyes. "You

heard the man. Let's do it." This was what the last two years of war had beenbuilding up to, what inevitably came if neitherside of a conflict fell

soon enough. This would be theone decisive upheaval, sink or swim,

andneedier side was thinking about tomorrow. There would be noholding back

any more. Tomorrow, there would be nothing left with which to try again.

Thedecision would be made today he (i right now. The Defiant led the way,

as the strongest tightmaneuver vessel left in the Federation fleet.At their

sides, Klingon and Romulan fighterwings preandsed forward boldly. Backing

them up were theremaining starships, support tenders, and any othervessel

that could still hit and take some. The AlliedFleet was depleted by a (i".

That figure did not change Sisko'snow-or-never commitment or dull

hisdetemnation. "Hold your fire until proximity distance ,he ordered.

"We won't get any second chances." "All systems ready, sir,"

O'Brienreported. Sisko understood what that meant. All systemswere up to

their top ability for the moment, even if thatonly meant (i" percent. He had to be readyto lose things much earlier than in the first-waveassault. That

meant adjusting his g process and his ordersto compensate and improvise. On the planet below, countless thousands ofcivilians were absorbing the

brutality of the Vortaand Jem'Hadar extemnation teams. An act ofdesperation

on the part of the Donfifflon, yes, but therewas also the taste of bitter

vengeance in such wholesaleslaughter. On the planet, a horror was

playingout. In space, the second horror now erupted. The enemy ships did

not come out to meet them, butforced the Allied Fleet to spread itself thin

andcircle as much of the planet as possible. It was a verybig planet indeed.

Even seven hundredslups couldn't cover so much area effectively, andwithin

moments the sheer firepower of engaged vesselslit up space as if the

Cardassian home worldhad become a nova suddenly torched in the nightDefiant

roared in slashing. Nothing was held back. No one was in the mood

forrestraint. The bridge exploded into anunrecognizable wreck and no one

cared. Siskobarked orders and authorizations, letting them free fromanything that might make them hold bael The everbalanced emgle of life, risk, and

cause,generally re clang on its tip, finally turned andslammed down upon its base. Die If we must, butmake it cost. Our lives for something bigger,

muchbetter, and everlasting-posession of our own quadrantfor everyone who

comes after us. That is the code of themilitary branch of any civihzatiaLike and today itwas the banner of the Defumt. She spun across the bridge from

port to starboard asa Breen backer got its teeth into them on ablunt pass.

Sisko took a dozen slivers in the arm,brushed them off in a patch of blood,

and dodged fromposition to position, doing dimes faster den he couldminin

them done. There weren't enough people left standing on the bridgeto follow his orders anyway. All he needed washimself, Nog at the helm, Ezri, Worf,

andO'Brien. The rest would have to be let go. Every time a Breen or

Jem'Hadar vesselveered into range, Sisko snapped, "Fire!" He didn't even wait for the targetingcomputers. Worf gave up andong to aim by sensor and

simplyblanketed wedges of phaser fire into space,hitting somedftg almost

every time, even if once ortwice they grazed another Starfleet ship or

anally. They were getting their share of friendly fire-at wasunavoidable.

It seemed that everyone accepted the chanceof getting killed by a neighbor.

With phaser anddisrupter fire crisscrossing intervening space, therewas no

way to avoid getting struck by somebody's some (i"9 There was no sense or order, no coordination to theattack. In fact, that was an advantage. Withall the wild hearted Starfleet, Klingon, andRomulan captains bringing to bear

their decidedlyindividual talents and experiences against theprogrammed

uniformity of the Jem'Hadar andBreen, the Allied forces were almost un

possibleto predict and wiling to be crazy. "Worf, port side! Open fire!

Ezri,compensate for the lateral shift! O'Brien, don't move!" He kept the orders running for each consecutivesurge, keeping off the bow of this enemy

ship, huggingthe tail of that one, shooting, dodging, twisting,ducking. His

arms and shoulders quivered with energy as hisbody charged to the task. He

felt none of the woundshe knew had been inflicted upon him. Not abruise

ached, not a scratch burned. They were there,but he couldn't feel them. That made him feelimmortal, invincible. The fact that he could force by sheer

will the acridchemical smoke through his lungs as it poured from theship's

damaged bridge conduits made him even morepowerful. ,.CeaVty'ill "Coming, Odo:" Siskomade his way to the other side of the bridge, whereOdo hovered over a flickering monitor. "I may have found something interesting"" the constablesaid. "So far, Mr. Worf has managed to scoredirect hits on eleven Breen ships, but onlyd equals of those suffered significantdamage:" At

tactical, Worf shot them aninsulted glower. "It's difficult to penetrate theirshields. They appear to use stochastic fieldemitters." Odo peered past Sisko's shoulder to theKlingon. comI'm not questioning your

abilities,Commander." "Tint are you getting at, Constable?" Siskoprodded.

"All three ships that suffered damage were struckin the aft impulse

manifold." Halleluja... Sisko peered into the screen,making sure there hadn't been some nussed de tad thatcould explain better There wasn't.

"Constable, you may have found a chink in their armor.Helm find us a Breen ship. Mr. Worf,target-was "I'll target their aft impulsemanifold:" Worf seemed both insulted andvictorious. Not a bad combination for a KH-NGON.

Defiant veered hard over and whined in pursuitof the nearest Breen, locking

onto its prey inseconds. "Pull in tight, Ensign , Siskodirected. ""W more degrees port . . . that's better ... z-minus two ... fire!" The weapons howled. Streaks of energy lanced throughthe Cardassian ionosphere like shemg the top off acake, and drilled the back of the Breen ship. Afew se con (i

FFFFWOOSH at buterated. Odo looked at Sisko, who looked atWorf, who was

ahMy looking at Ezri, whodidn't have a clue what all this meant. Well,

maybe she had a clue, but she hadn'tquite ths filled it out of her memories

yet. "Dax Sisko began, "send a priority-onemessage to all ships. L4et 'em know what wefound!" Now she got it. There it was-the cargo door.

DominionHeadquarters" rare weak spot. "No guards" Kira observed. Damar, shehated to admit, had covered this one pretty well."Our own private little Achilles' hell." "Heel" Garak corrected. "No, I think I got it right the first time." Ekoor squatted near her. "Where are the guardstill' "Like the commander said"" Garak explained,"they're probably off killing Cardassians."

"Iben this may be easier than wethought"" Damar said from the other end of the assaultteam. "i wouldn't count on that" Kira warned. "We have a problem"" Garak pointed out. Only one?" "But I'm afraid it's a rather large one. Thatdoor is made of neutronium." Kira felt her shoulders sag.

"Then theexplosives we brought aren't going to make a dentin it:" Garak's wide eyes rolled. "Now yousee the problem:" comWt do we do?" Ekoorasked.

"I don't know," Damar said, "but I'm donehiding in basements:" Garak rewarded him with alaugh. "I fail to see what's so funny, Garak:"Damar shot back.

"Isn't it obvious? Here we are, willingto storm the casde and sacrifice our lives in anoble effort to slay the Dominion beast in its lair... and we

can't even get inside the gate! "We could mock on the front door,"

Kirasuggested, and ask the Jem'Hadar to let us atcomM send the female

shapeshffter out to us" Damargrumbled. "@wehever's more convenient They looked at eachother, and spontaneously laughed. It was kind offunny, night

in the middle of this big ugliness. comWeilea7 Garak reminded, "we do have to dillof something... :" Kira nodded, but knew shecouldn't honestly bl equals Damar for the murderousgleam in his eyes. She'd spent all

herchildhood snealang arggxmd, biding, luriang,becoming an expert at saw

and-fly assaultmissions, guerrilla tactics, and resistancethiniking-and she

was the first to adnnt that a person couldbecome absolutely excellent at it, but could neverlearn to love it. Damar had spent his life as aCardassian

military officer. This running andhiding was new to him and somehow

degrading. "We can't stay here much longer," she told them.Now that they knew their explosives wouldn't scratchthis door, they had to come up with

another plan. "What if I were to give myself up as aprisoner?" Damar offered. "They'd kill you on sight," Kira canceled. "And us along with you," Garak concurred. She started to turn away, to find a route awayfrom the Headquarters, or another lessdaunting portcullis to break through, when

the cargodoor abruptly slid open with a terrificscreech. She ducked back

into the shadows besideGarak. Damar and the others pressed into anopposite

hiding place. Together they watched as three Cardassiansoldiers emerged

from the Headquarters. In handcuffs! "I know those Cardassians:" Damar whispered. "They'the part of Weyoun's security force!" What a strange sight-Jem'Hadar pushingCardassians in irons! Kira pressed closer to the

wall and squinted.Yes, here came two Jem'Hadar, pushing theCardassians out

at gunpoint. Their rifles hadbayonets fixed. Why? The question answered

itself after the Cardassians madea few steps into the alley. The Jem'Hadar

offeredno pause for thought or confession, nor did they evenallow their

prisoners to turn and face deathhead-on. They simply moved forward and

drove theirbayonets into two of the Cardassians, then shared thethird,

spearing the helpless natives through the spines. Damar leaped to his feet, enraged. "No!" "Damar!" Kira tried to grab for him,but he was gone, rushing into the alley, blanketing theJem'Hadar with wildfire. The two Jem'Hadarwent down hard. Damar rushed past them and stormed the open cargodoor. But the

door was starting to close! And theirpresence here had been compromLW.

comCharge!" Kira shouted, and raMore after hill-L Garak, Ekoor, and the other Cardassianconspirators vaulted from their hideout and clamberedafter her

Nothing left to hide. She was relievedto hear their boot steps hammering

behind her, that theyhadn't had a change of heart at the sight of thecold

hearted slaughter exacted on their own people by theJem'Hadar Kira and Garak, leading the group behindDamar opened fire, blowing aside the

shockedJem'Hadar who appeared here and there m his path.The Jem'Hadar were

built for space and clumsyon land, a at which very swiftly washed in

theresistance's favor. They broke inside the cargo door, into a bnghdylit

loading dock, with Damar boldly leading theway He was driven to blind fury,

and this was enheartening for all who followed hum They would getm! They

would turn the tables here somehow! They would blast their way past the

halfdozen Jem'Hadars who apffft m front of them! comHab!" Damar shouted insanely, and openedfire. The Jem'Hadar were instantly aWill by his shout

andopened fire themselves, all aiming at the single targetwho had drawn

their shots. In an amazing flurry,Damar took combined bolts to the chest.

Driven backward, he slammed into a wall, hisface plastered with shock and

rage. The resistance fighters spread behind boxes ofcargo, clearly

stunned. Kira covered Garak as he bent at Damar'sside, his face crumpled

and fearful. "He's dead:" Garak murmured. She barely heard him. The news showed clearlyin his astonished face. Something happened to her. He

recognized it.All Damar's rage, insult, devotion, andpride tmnsfeffed

itself, like a soul changing bodies. He'd gotten them inside and now it was up to her.She was suddenly charged with the drive to take backCardassia as

if it were her own. How was that for a story to tell! She spun on the

hiding resistance fighters."Get up! Remember Damar's orders! We stop for noone!" Shuddering with emotion, Garak rose to his feet,daring the fire from the Jem'Hadar, and turned to hisfellow Cardassians. "For Cardassia!"

Ekoor burst from hiding. "For Cardassia! Following the supercharged Ekoor, Kira and theothers easily outmaneuvered the Jem'Hadarguards-and Damar had

been right, there weren't as many asthere should have been-freely blowing

them to piles of fleshand plastic tubing all the way through the

Headquarters. None of this budding was familiar, and Kim found

itchsconcerting to race through unfamdw corridors withsuch directioned

purpos at videndy Ekoor didknow his way, for he led them at full tilt without somuch as a pause at a corner or a hesitationto remember the right way.

Alarms began to ring. Security alert. They wereaware of the breach now. She

knew the sound of that. Somuch for subtlety. She kept firing, trying not to hit Ekoor, whocontinued to roar through the corridors, blind with h". Hewas firing wildly, hitting every Jem'Hadar hespied. At that imprudent rate his

weaponwould be drained any second now and he'd behelpless. "Get the

explosives, Garak! Ekoor!" shecalled. "Come forward here, get readw" "We're ready"Garak called. In both hands he held not hisweapon, which he had handed to Ekoor, but the "Tins door!" Ekoor shouted. "This one! Hurry!" Ekoor fired foolishly at the door, causinga dangerous backwash of energy from the

shieldedpanel. "Stop!" Kira shouted. "Garak, the grenades! "Colmgff91

"rake cover!" They spread out. Two seconds, and a concussionblast nearly took them heads off. Kira shook away the blur and dove through thesmoking

wreckage where a moment ago there had been adoor She opened fire even before she had a target,and felt the hot buzz of shots whizzing by her. In acloud

she saw one Jem'Hadar fall. Another,though, got his weapon up and fired,

killing one ofEkoor's Cardassian recruits. Following thetrajectory she

thought she'd seen, Kira firedagain. The second Jem'Hadar crashed to

thefloor. She plowed into the briefing room and leveled herweapon joyously

at the flaky face of the femaleshape shifter who had so often compromised

Odo.Ah! "Contact the Jem'Hadar fleet!" Kiraordered. Order it to cease fire!" Garak stepped forward, again holding his weapon andaming now at Weyoun's astonished glare. And orderthe Jem'Hadar troops on Cardassia to

laydown their arms immediately." comHe'Do do no such thing" the female shapeshfftersaid. At her words, the Vorta duuffly regainedcontrol over his

exprmion. Kira moved to a position allowing her to coverboth Weyoun and the shape shifter in one shot. -"check the monitors. What's going on in space?"

Garak was as comfortable with the Cardassian mechainesas he had become with

the workmp on Starfleet ships.Instantly he had the readouts displayed on

denmonitors. "Tm not reading any Breen ships in closeproximity to the

planetea7 be said. @w's a nilof Breen exhaust leading out of the solarsysm

Looks like the Allies have them inreandW'Cowards" the female shapeshdter commentedbitterly. "Fn-still the Cardassians, now theBreen. This proves what I've said allalong-whits are not to be trusted:" TheJem'Hadar haven't

abandoned us," Weyouncalled. "They'll fight to the deft." "There aren't enough of them on the planet:" Kiratold him. "We're here, aren't we?"

Weyoun glared coldly at her. "Ten me ...where is my old friend Damar?"

"Damar's dead:" Garak announced before Kiracould stop him from speaking up and tipping any hand theyhad in their favor. "A Pity," Weyoun said.

Garak's bitterness got the better of him. "Hedied helping to free

Cardassia." The Vorta tilted his head. "What's left ofit." Garak's anger boiled over. He raised hisweapon to Weyoun and fired at point-blankrange.

This time Kira had no inclination to stop himat all. As her loyal follower

collapsed to thefloor, the shape shifter regarded him unemotionally."I wish you hadn't done that. That was Weyoun's lastclone." Garak sneered, "I was hoping you'd say that." Kira stepped forward. "The war's over. You'velost

"Have I?" the shape shifter challenged. "I thinkyou'll find the Jem'Hadar don't agree with thatassessment. They'll continue to fight to the last

man." "What will that accomplish?" "Isn't it obvious? To make sure your'victory" costs you as many ships and as many Evesas possible. When the next Dominion fleet comesthrough the wormhole, there'll be no one-not the

Federation,not the Klingons, not the Romulans-who'Do be strongenough to stop us:" Kira pressed down a shudder at theprospect. "That's an empty threat."

Clearly weakened by her sickness, the shape shiftersank into her chair. She

seemed too tiredto argue. She leaned back in her chair, herdemolished face

strangely content "Is it? ... We'Do see she uttered, "In the mean fun, more of your ships will bedestroyed, and your casualty lists will confim to

grow.By the time it's over, you will have lost so many ships, somany lives

... that your victory will taste as bitteras defeat." comWe'll Imuch a d equals comprongedanackccful Admiral Ross exPlained- comMRomulans and our new Cardassian allies willengage the Jem'Hadar forcer,. The Khngonr, Willtarget

the Breen, and the Federation will take on theorbital weapons piatfomis. Any questionsrOnly one question slapped back and forth in BenSisko's mind, like

tide lmocldng on rocks.'y" do wegor comAs soon as everyone's inpositioncc'It will be a glorious battle , Ithink clumed on his half of the split screen.

"But a cosily one" Ross said unhappily. Project our casualty figures could be as inghas forty Percent. And God knows how much ('uglierd%"...Il go once we send in our ground forces," FeadWill that Ross might be talking himself out of thisoffensive, Sisko quickly said, comM Dominion'sbeaten and they

know it. But they're going to make us payfor every kilometer of that planet:, He hoped his tonecommwucated that he was w," to pay, and to take out of theenemy form every pound of flesh they exacted fromhis own side. "Yes, they will," Ross said, then did not makeany further complaints or voice any doubts."Godspeed:" he added. Chancellor Martok wrapped up their session inwhat might be the last word they would ever hear from eachother. "Qa'

Vla! in the flaming cavern, waiting for their great reward,Dukat and Winn

joyously poured wine from a flaskinto a ceremonial goblet. Dukat watched the darkliquid flow and thought of Federation blood. "What is it?" he asked, still holding the KosstAmojan. 191/2's?" Winn raised the goblet. IW-ISthe most important part of the ceremony' " Sheheld the goblet high above her and chanted ... TARNA PU-ONO ULL-KESS PAH-RANLANO KALA BO'SHAR LANU. . . .

she lowered the goblet, preparing to drink, and as thewarm brass touched her lips she stopped and turnedinstead to Dukat. "After you:" she offered, beaming at him. Gently Dukat set the book down, quite firmlyglad to be rid

of it, and bowed before her."I'm horrored." The wine was sweet and warm, with an exoticpungence that coiled its way down his throat andseemed to

effervesce. He had never tasted anything likeit and suspected it had been

part of the Kai'sprivate cellar for many Years. Cefully this was aspecial

enough occasion ... "Now you've he offered . Winn smiled, took the goblet, and smelled thewine indulgently. Rather than drink it, though, she leered

at him andPout the remaining liquid to the bubbling cavernwall. It sizzled

in the heat from the flaming abyss. Dukat s'Will back from her Why would she re rimto share the sacrament? Raw pain bolted through his intestines. The

wineburned its way deeper and deeper into his body.He choked, nearly heaved, but nothing came up.Reaching fOr Wren, seeking support, Dukatslipped for wad and fell to his lmees. Shockgripped his throat. He could no longer stand!

Winn backed away from hmi, refusing him anysupport Why did she look like

that? What was thatglow in her eyes? "Who he gagged. Wren offered her arms, but not to him. comBecause.- she began, speaking loudly, WePahwraiths demand a sacrifice! Someone worthyof them ... devious and cruel ... twisted

andcorrupt ... whose soul lusts only for power andvengeance! "Who better.

. . than you!" She smiled. As Dukat's insides began to wither, he stared inhorror at her joy and nt, the pure love andunmatched hat" jousda in her face. "Men's why you were sent to me", she told him, sothat darkness could feed on darkness, hate on hate!Your death will be the key that brings forth

the Restorationof the Pah-wraiths!" The hot ground came up and embraced him. Hetumbled onto his bael Towering over her Wan's formseemed enormous,

elongated, stretching ingher andhigher into the vaulted flames which lit her wideface. He reached for her The fires rose tngher.I-hs hands burned,

withered to black, blewto cinders. As a scaring curtain closed slowly

aroundhis vision, Dukat saw d equals gh hisparalysis the last moments of

sacrifice, and heardthe last words of the depraved life he had soabused comI offer you tills life for your nourishment!This martyour to feed your hunger!

May it fuel the fires that will set you free!Kosst Amojan! I am yours! Now

and forever! Nowand forever! Now and forever... now and forever ...

forever.. Odo held his silence with great difficulty, ashe watched Kira

Nerys make her report on theview screen to Captain Sisko. What loam itwas to keep his emotions in check! She was alive, shewas alive ... the bird and the fish-was there a placefor them to five together? "I'm very glad to find you in one piece,Commander," Sisko was saying to her. "Very gladcc"...Odo murmured. He hadn't thought he'd spoken very loudly, butKira looked at him

and seemed relieved to seehim clean of the Changeling disease. Her kind

smileembolded him, and he smiled back. The ship rocked from another

hit-yes, they were still inthe middle of the battle, but somehow it seemed

lessconsequential now that he knew Kira was alive andin charge of Dominion

Headquarters. "What's your statu still' Sisko asked. Kira shagged

meagerly. "Only fl of us madeit to the briefing room." "What about Damar?"

Odo asked. "He's dead:" Sensing the subject changing,Sisko changed it bael

"Is your position secure?" "I don't uMore the Jem'Hadar will attack.They won't risk endangering the Founder. She's inpretty bad shape ... she won't

speak to anyone... just sits at her desk, deteriorating:" Attactical Worf spoke for the first time. "If shedies before ordering the Jem'Hadarto

surrender-"They'll fight to the last man:"Sisko finished. comThere's another problem:" Kira offered "When the Jem'Hadar w" what's happened,they'Do storm the building. I@y'll try to rescuetheir "god."

"We'll beam you out of there:" At the e gconsole, O'Brien MM from where Bashir was stillclutching his shoulder wound. "I'm not sure that's a good idea, sir. I'velocked onto and biosignatures, and according to thesereadings the Changeling won't survive the tdp:""I agree," the doctor said, looking atO'Brien's monitor. "Her morphogenicmatrix is too unstable:" Odo steppedto the captain's side. "Sir at tain, I'd liketo beam down as well I Sisko

watched the screen."I understand you want to help Kim buWill "R's not andW

Not all that. "I want to talkto the Founder. I might be able to reason with her." "You haven't had much success reasoning with her inthe past," the captain rightly reminded him,courteously holding back the fact that,

actually,Odo's attempts had turned out to be downrightdisasters. "I'd

still like to try." He refrained from pointing outthat things had

changed-that the female was dying, which wouldalter anybody's outlook, and

that he had fliffigsin mind which Sisko would not find particularly

comforting. The ship shook again, saving him from havingto explain.

Instead he quickly added, "IM of the lives it might save." "Point taken , Sisko said. "Good luck,Constable' Sisko shrugged, not about to be put off atthis late hour. "Conmmder, tell the Founder that Odowould like to pay her a visit." "the more, the merrier," Kira accepted. The ship re fled again, then pitched forward.Another hit. The Jem'Hadar weren'tgiving up. In dismay

Odo watched as the comm screencut off the view of Kira and went again to the view ofspace, showing relentless Jem'Hadar shipssweeping around them at all

angles. Sisko turned to Ezri. "Contact AdmiralRoss and tell him we need to secure thatfacility." "I'm on it:" she responded. Odo hurried to the transporter room,collecting six Starfleet security guards on hisway through

the ship and given the casualties and the actionstill going on, it wasn't

easy to get the departmentheads to give up man 148 power. Six guards

withphaser rifles would be sufficient to guard thefacility until more could

be available. "We'll have to beam down in two waves, sir,"Ensign Bremerton told him as they crowded into theDefiant's little importer room. "Systems aredamaged and we don't want an overload:" comVerywell , Odo accepted, and started for the pad. comSin" The ensign stopped him by stepping up

therefirst, having the common sense not to actually touch hint "With your permission, sir, I think dure guardsshould go down first, and secure the

situation before you have to godown. Odo surveyed the young man's bruised

face."Tmign, I have been for many years the semorsecurity officer on board a ftwy armeddeep-space outpost. Are you ten" me I can'thandle the first wave of a landing party?" The young man came suddenly to attention. "No,sir!

It's just that ... we just all thought you might... want somebody else to

have a look around downthere first:" S. His slam on had not been asecret among his security teams. He had underest" the in" of are at Deep Space Nine. His instinct to lash out and churn ins prowess andself-control

subsided as he swed the young securityman's expression and the deep sympathy he sawthere. In it was inflected their loyalty to him, their sequals w

that they couldn't protect him pediaps ashe had always tried to protect them by indeed going firstinto every siumon. comEnsign:" he began, "yes, thank you . . .but whatever is down there, I cannot shy from iLike I winlead the

first wave. You follow me, and beamdirectly to the outer perimeter of the

building.Signal us when you believe the entrances aresecured." Bremerton nodded sadly. "Aye, aye, sir.Whatever you say." Odo led two other beefy guards into thetransporter and steeled himself for the nauseatingprocess of

beaming. Unlike with solids, thetransporter usually seemed a bit fitful

andconfused at trying to rearrange the molecules of aChangering, and he

always had to fight to hold form just ashe was being reconstituted. Using

the coordinates supplied by Kira, he wasable to beam directly into the

corridor outside thebriefing room. Kira was there waiting for hit and

charged into Insarms with a passion that drove him wild with joy andsorrow

He clutched her slim form against his and wishedshe had more meat on her

bones so there would be moreto hold. The fear of her death came to its

funflowering and broke to the wind. He hadn't let himselfthink she might be

gone until finwly he gaw thatshe wasn't. The sensation of victory

nearlyoverwhelmed him. When his head stopped swimming, he noticed that

thetwo guards had dutifully taken positionsoutside the briefing room door

Kira drewback from a heart-ftwning kiss and gazedat Odo happily. "Nerys""

he murmured. I "It's been a while, she said, not quite joining.

Shelowered her voice. "Watch yourself ... I don'ttrust her." He looked down at her. "But you am me,don't you?" "Of course!" "That's all I need to know. Odo peered down ather, cupping her knobby shoulders in his hands.

Yes, he was sure. An his decisions had beenmade. He had weighed all the

consequences both larger andsmaller than himself, and he knew what he

wanted. In the briefing room, Garak stood with anotherStarfleet guard.

"Constable"" he greeted tightly. Odo nodded. "Garak." And there, in the chair, was the female of his own kindwith whom he had shared so many

dreamlike moments. She looked up to see him. Her face was ademolished mask

of illness and dessication. Hepitied her deeply. She must be in

indescribable pain, yet there wasserenity in her eyes. Whatever her fate,

she was taking itcourageously. "You're looking well, Odol" she said.

Hervoice was tight. you for seeing me," he said sincerely. "It's always good to see you. But don't tUAeven you can change my mind. I have no

intention ofsurrendering my forces. If I did, it would be asign of weal mess

... an invitation for the solidsto cross into the Gamma Quadrant and destroy theGreat Link:" So that was at the bottom of herstubbornnessexpecting others to act with the sameruthlessness she and their kind had shown. comBelieve

me , he told her, "I'm well aware that the Federation has itsflaws, but a desire for conquest isn't one ofthem:" She offered him the smallest of

shrugs. "Andwhat of the Klingon and Romulan Empires? Can youmake the same claim for them?" He glanced at Kim "comThe Klingon andRomulan Empires are in no shape to wage awar against anyone. Besides ... the Federation

wouldn't snow it." The female shuddered momentarily, then regainedcontrol.

"The Dominion has spent thepast two years trying to destroy the Federation

... andnow you're asking me to put our fate in dier hands?" "Yes:" A very simple answer... the one wordcommunicated all his faith in the civilization

in whichhe had lived for so many more years than the last two. She paused,

reading his eyes, but in the end sherejected what he said. comI can't do

andK Odo. I don't share yourfaith in solids:" For that, too, he was ready.

With one andW glance at Kim at the bid who shouldbe free to fly, Odo reached for the female of his ownkind. "Pedffs I can change your mind. Link with me:""Odo, what are you doing!" Though Kira's protest certainly did have itseffect upon him, Odo had not a thought of changing hismind. He knew she

didn't understand yet what wasmotivating lure to dare the heretofore tricky

andthreatening him with this dangerously enticing creature fromhis own

world. Until now he had been the child, always at risk,drawn by the

intrigue of the adult who tempted himaway from his safe street corner. This

wonderfulday, for the first time, fliffigs were very different. Kira, who

loved him and wanted to protect herhad no way of knowing that. She had no way of knowing thedepths of his conviction this time. He could never hopeto

explain it to her in simple human words. There would have to be another kind of understanding between them. Before this, in every Link he had attempted, he hadalways been g about himself, the mystery of his origins,

theotherworldly nature of his abilities, and the differencesbetween himself

and the sobd beings who had embraced him as oneof dier own. Exploring the

vast clutter offantasies allowed him when he discovered what hewas--a

Changeling, a shapeshffter, part of that greatmerged Link of millions of

other souls thatri-eely intertwined. The revelation had been shock:trig, and had tiled him with questions. Since he could remember he had been a

singleentity, alone in his unusual body, just like andU theother people

around him All at once he had been toldhe wasn't alone, do he could blend,

share, flowwith a whole civilization, that instantly they would know himand

he the aLike An extended family beyond anyone'sidea of extended families, the shape shifters werean en tite mee that could freely merge, separateinto

individuals, then merge again giving a whole newmeaning to the word

com6alienccment After alifetime alone-individual vulnerable now knew thathe

could merge with them and not lose ms singularpersonality He would keep

inside his privateself They could never drive him to the blended ecstasyof

artificud togetherness and make him forget who hewas. Never So he wasn't

akmd or hesitant Thisfun he would merge on his own urn, and he would be

theone in charge. "Tm afraid I can't Link with you:" hiscotmterpart said.

comM him prevents me from changing my form." He offered his hand. "If we Link, I dWill Ican cure you." Garak didn't step toward them, but did say,

"That's a very bad idea, Constable." Kira, on the other hand, did come closer."I'm afraid I have to agree with Garak." Odo glanced at Kira.

"Nerys, I know whatI'm doing." And there isn't time to make you understand.

People aredying. "Take my hand"" he said to the other Changering. "And if you do cure me? What will you ask inreturn?" "All I ask is that you Link with me." Garak brandished his weapon again. "I'm wantingyou, Od at imploringly, Odo looked atKira. Would she have faith him, as he had asked?

Kira stepped back and motioned Garak backalso. "Lower your weapon, Garak."

"I don't dfiand so," he refused. Moving sideways, Kira simply put her handon his rifle and pushed it down. "I said put itdown:" why"...tl

"Because I trust Odo." Overwhelmed with affection and gratitude, Odo waswarmed with confidence. He lifted his hand to the femaleChangeling. He

was giving her no choice. She wouldaccept this, but on his terms. They were

for the first time oncompletely equal terms. No-Utter than that. He, for

the first time, was superior in ability. After a few seconds she summoned

the strengthto raise her hand to his. With ease that surprisedeven Odo, he

wished a blending and it happened. Hishand hquelied and engulfed hers,

assisting her inmorphine the sickened flakes and the mottling of herdiseased limb. Starfleet had the cure and had given itto Odo, and then quite wisely

and bravely elected notto share it with the ugly culture of the

beautifulChangelings. Why? Because they didn't deserve iLike They were

using theirabilities to conquer and repress ofliers, adecidedly less noble

cause den their loftysuper-ideal of themselves should have embraced. They

could notbe superior if they would not us others with mercy and respeel

Starfleet had been night. Odo was goingto show her what the "lowly"

Federation had that theChangehngs had not been able to develop for

themselves. The disease crawled into his cells as his armflexed and molded

with hers, losing structuralintegrity and flooding each to the other It

triedto overwhelm him It was strong and tenacious as anycancer, but this

time science and non had learned howto turn back its insidious tide. Odo

closed his eyes and concenandM on all hispersonal and professional victories, the pridehe had in the people he knew were re ally his people-Msshipmates,

statiommates, and all of the Federationwho had stood by him for his

individual self while theChangerings merely tempted and crowed at him to

losethat self, as if dud were somehow better. With the fbree of mental and

physical WouldLike hepushed the regeneration up Ins arm into the nul

kysubstance do was both their hands, and farther into her body.Gradually she seamed to take over, to possess thewondrous cure that could beat the

disease. He felt her strain and confusion, the momentaryloss of control,

but he helped her continue to find thetrail of health and dismiss the

disease. When he opened his eyes, the femaleChangehng's face was no longer

a crackedplaster of near-death. Once again it was smooth asmercury. She

looked wonderful. She looked peaceful. The cure wasn't all he had given her.

Hehad lifted the responsibility away from her andtaken it upon himself.

For the first time, he felt strong enough to bear it. "Odo to was Kira had Apparently had enough.When she'd seen this before, it hadn't gone well.

"Move away, Odo," she ordered. Both Kira and Garak now had their

weaponsraised and aimed at the female's face. "That won't be necessary, Nerys," Odo told her.He looked at the female. "Will it?" His hand returned to his own body andlet the female go. She was cured-beautiful,passive.

With a nod of what might be regret-he couldn'ttell any more-the female

Changehng took onestep toward Kira. "If you'll step aside,I'll order the Jem'Hadar to cease fire' wasKira hesitated and looked at Odo. He gaveher a

reassuring nod. For the first time in hisrelationship with the female of his kind, he was incontrol. He had given her a gift she did notdeserve-her life.

She would, for a change and from nowon, do what he wanted. Lowering her

weapon doubtfully, Kira allowed thefemale to approach the monitor and begin

working theconsole. Garak and Kira clustered around Odo. Hefelt wonderful

and superior, confident and proud attheir expressions of respect and wonder.

"Very impressive, Constable"" Garak offered. Odo was looking now at Kira.

"Did you know the Link would cure her?" she askedhim. "I was hoping it would. Thank you for having faith inme," he said to both of them. Garak flared at him. "Now that theFounder can shape shift again, perhaps it would be wiseto secure her in a containment field?" "Don't worry, Garak. She won't tryto escape. She's agreed to stand trial for warcrimes:" Kira looked Unpressed-anddoubtful. "Tffitever you said to her in the Link must'vebeen very persuasive." Garak not only looked doubtful, but

downrightdisbelieving. "I'm surprised she didn't insiston returning to the Gamma Quadrant so she couldcure her own people:" "There's no need of that:"Odo told them sadly. "My not?" Kira's eyes narrowed. He offered her the kindest gaze he could manage. "Because I'm going in her place. The blow was encompassing. She didn't seemto fully understand what he meant.

"You're leaving?"she asked. "For how long?" He turned to her, trying very hard to be gentle andstrong. She was the bird, she must fly, and not

bedragging a fish who belonged near an altogether differentisland. With him

in the Great Link, there would be no moreinvasion, no more imperialism from

the Changelingcivilization. He was not going back to beone of their vague

children, lost in a dream. He wasgoing back to teach them what it meant to be anindividual. Could she see that? Could she take it? She would have to.

"Nerys," he began, then paused. "It's timeI rejoined my people in the Great Link." How could he explain it to her? He wanted to bewith her, not with them. The weren't re ally "his" people. They were physically like him, but that was the end of it. They had sent him out as an infant to go among

thesolids and learn. If they didn't want to know now what he

hadlearned-they were going to hear it anyway. There was no inherent good or bad in ChangeUngor solid. The Changerings could merge from now untileternity and still only be a million individuals. Why had it taken so many millions

of deaths of hisown people-yes, the solids of the AlphaQuadrantbefore he

understood that? He had to make them see it. In their way, they werejust

liquid solids, each to himself ulfimtely. Theywere born single, and they died single. How could themiddle be any different? make them stand if it took

the nextcentury. This foolish war against all solids--it wasthe Changerings'

lack of understanding that had caused their159 fears. As the solids had once hunted themout of fear, they now hunted the solids out of fear-andthat was

simply primitive. Shameful. He felt supremely confident, even eager.He

had his own conquest to exact. Go be with his own people?No. If he were to

be with his own, he would stay here. Ifhe were to do the best thing for

himself, he would stay. Even as the temptation fluttered within him, heknew he would go to the Link. Iris friends here stillneeded him ... they needed

him to be in the GannnaQuadrant, guarding their future, doing the best

hecould with all his strengths as a Changeling, not as asolid. He would

go, he would stay, and he would teach all theother fish how to be birds.

The capital city was in nuns. Around the planetother cities were burning as

well, through the days andinto the nights. Fires billowed with ironic

beautyagainst the horizon of obliterated buildings,collapsed homes, and

burned-out shells. Bodiesby the dozens were strewn along the street

likepaper litter. "Eight hundred million dead. . . Julian Bashir looked out over the city from thewindow of the briefing room. He'd been

assignedhere to triage the wounded, but there weren't any.Long-range scans

showed that the Jem'Hadar hadbeen superior m their efficiency. Who they

hadset out to kill, they had killed. Beside hmi, Gar-ak looked over the num of hisnative planet. "And the casualty reports arestill coming in. My exile is officially over,doctor. I have returned home for good. And what haveI

found awaiting me? A wasteland." Bashir gazed at him thoughtfully.

"Wastelands canbe made fertile again"" he offered. How hollow it sounded.

"It's easy for you to be opffiffistic. They're notyour dead." Bashir held back pointing out that aBut dead were hisdead, that it was patently racist to din that somehow thesuffering of strangers who looked alike was

closersuffering. Yet, he knew that was how some people thought.No point

arguing surface moralities right now,was there? "You must have some hope for the future,Garak:" he pointed out instead. "Otherwise youwouldn't stay." "You have it backward"" Garak told him. "Ihave to stay, even without hope. So I'm afraid thisis goodbye. After seven years, you're going to have to find yourself anew lunch partner and a new tailor. I'm afraidI've hemmed

my last pair of pants." Bashir offered a meager smile. "Tinker,tailor, soldier, spy ... I wonder what'snext for you, Garak. "Who can say, Doctor?"

his Cardassian friendsaid. He seemed reluctant to say more, exceptfinally

to add, "We live in uncertain times:" They lookedat each other, without the typical jovial sparring thatusually went on between them. This was a time to lose lovedones, to lose friends. Bashir felt his chest growhollow with the

fear that big changes were coming, that thefamily they'd built over the past seven years,sometimes the hard way, was about to get a whole bunch

ofreassignment orders. But what else? How long could a given condition

goon? Children grew up, people died, relationshipscame and departed, things

changed, and without thosealterations there would be no sense to cherish the precious. "T hope all goes well for you, Garak:"he offered. "The galaxy is going to get very big for a while,after seeming very small lately ...

there's going to bea great deal of rebuilding. Much sorrow, Isuppose, but

there are things to be learned from all that." "You optimize too much, Julian," Garaksaid with a little chuckle. "Of all of us, you've had thesteadiest life over the past several years. Somebody gets a cut, you

patch it up.We've all gone through major changes. You've managed to hold

onto your anchor mostof the way." Bashir sighed. "I suppose I don't likechanges very much, Garak. Usually I just sit back and wait, and

thingssettle down again. This time, I don't see theseffldg any time soon.

There's not going to be anymore time at anchor for me." Garak smiled and his eyes flared. "Ah, but whenone is in love, one doesn't want to be

helddown. Does oner" Bashir managed a laugh."No, one doesn't re ally. Oh, mygoodness, I feel so terrible thinking about that whilelooking out at ...

all this." "We Cardassians brought this upon ourselves.Intrigue eventually turns upon the intriguer "And you would know." "Yes, I would." Garak held out his hand. "Goodluck, Doctor." Though there was a sadness, Bashir felt a rush ofhope as he clasped Garak's hand. "Good luckto you... citizen."

"Tins is a moment worth save ring.To victory-4anggI fought and well earned."

Chancellor Martok drained his glass, as hestood with Ben Sisko and Admiral

Ross on thebalcony overlooking the ravaged city which now stoodin the

possession of the Aired force. Sisko glared out at the carnage. The people

had beendragged from their homes and slaughtered, dumped in thestreet, and

their homes torched. The r landscapeclosed his throat. He could no more take a drinkthan bing those people back to life. This was victory? He told

himself it was nothing to the carriage that wouldhave taken place if the

Jem'Hadar hadn't beenstopped. Still.... "Suddenly I'm not thur sty,-

hemuttered. Ross put his drba on the balcony rail."Neither am like."

Martok poured himself a second glass. "Before youwaste too many tears"" he said, "remember thoseare Cardassians lying dead out there. The Bajorans would call this poetic justice." Sisko bristled. That still doesn't mean I haveto drink a toast over a million dead bodies:,He put his own glass down

and followed Rossback into the briefing room, leaving Martok aloneto gaze at the devastation with his own Elingonsensibilities. To Martok, those people

had paid aprice they'd set them 164 selves up to pay.The Klingons had dealt

with retribution forcenturies uncounted. Well, they could have it. The

men collected their various convictions and allthe pail of winning at such

cost, and gratefullyleft the crushed hulk of Cardassia. The voyageback to

Deep Space Nine was solemn and lackedconversation. Every one seemed to

prefer that. Sisko certainly did. What more was thereto say? If there was

one person left on either side,in any faction, who didn't know why they had

beenfighting, he was living in a shoebox and knittingspiderwebs He entered

the station to a blaze offanfare and applause. He led his crew onto

thePromenade, met Kasidy and Jake and theirembracing arms, saw with deep

satisfaction Odoand Kira walidng together, Bashir and Ezri,O'Brien and his

family ... even Worf seemedplacid. Within an hour, a short blip of time,

thewardroom was crowded with dignitaries andrepresentatives for the formal

cease-fire. The female shape shifter was here, looking smoothas ever. Two

Vorta, three Jem'HadarFusts. When he arrived, they were all seated around

thecurved table, official surrender documents layeredon its surface. Sisko

joined Admiral Ross, ChancellorMartok, and Ifigh Cenwfion Lag of theRomulan

delegation. Among the witnesses fillingthe room were aBut Sisko's close

command family,other star fleet officers he didn't know well, andseveral

more Vorta and Jem'Hadar The femaleshape shifter signed the documents-he

wouldhave to look later to see if she had a name or hadsimply squished an

X-and looked up at them.She looked unusually ... happy? "The war between the Dominion and the Federation Allianceis now over," she announced without holding back. Admiml Ross surveyed the documents, thenlooked up. "Four hundred years ago, a victoriousgeneral spoke the following words at the end

of anothercostly war. "Today the guns are silent. A great tragedyhas

ended. We have known the bitterness of defeat and the exultationof triumph, and from both we have learned there can be noturning back. We must go forward to preserve inpeace what we've won in war." was A moment of silence ushered in an appreciationfor the rightness of vigilance. Sisko nodded at his

guards. Two of themstepped up behind the female shape shifter. With herusual dignity she stood up and unashamedly headedfor the door. As she passed Odo, however, she paused. Thatmade everybody nervous. "It's up to you now, Odo"

she said. What was that supposed to mean? Sisko watched, but there was no

signal ofclarification. Odo simply nodded, and the female continued out of

theroom without another word. The Jem'Hadar filed after her, and the Vorta

afterthem, all flanked by Starfleet guards. There would beno more trouble.

It was re ally over. The significance of the fact that all this had

startedat Deep Space Nine and now was ending here was notlost on Sisko. He

felt a shining pjide thathistory had just been made on his doorstep.Maybe

there should be a plaque. He met the eyes of his friends, one by one,

andgradually they filed from the room, everyone overcomeand unable to make

casual conversation. With a gesture, he escorted Martok and Rossout onto

the Promenade for the final brilliantmoment of this day. People nodded

politely at them as they walked, butkept their distance. As Sisko and his

colleagues chose one of thewide Promenade viewports on the won'nholeside,

other people moved away to other windows,letting the three men have the best view and a bubble ofprivacy from which to enjoy it. 'fberr, in space, was

the Jem'Hadar armada ofwarships, escorted on each side by

Federationstarships. The approached the wormhole withoutsignal or

declaration. As the unexplainable mawopened, sparkling and swirling, the

Federation shipspeeled away, clearing the to be gulped down by thegiant

special causeway to the GammaQuadrant. The wormhole accepted them, then

draw stringed itselfclosed and disappeared. Hard to believe it was still

there,just invisible. Would it remain for a year, or a million years?No

one could ten. They stiff didn't re ally understand how stable itwas, or

whether it was a plaything or repositoryfor the Prophets who lived inside.

Sarah? Are you watching? "Gentlemen:" Ross began, "for the first time intwo and a half years, there isn't a singleDominion ship anywhere in the Sisko

shook hishead. He actually hadn't thought of that. "Now, that ... is worth toasting," he said. "Finally!" Martok looked around and sawQuark's bar just over there, saw a Ferengi waitercarrying a familiar bottle and some glasses

to atable of Klingons. "Waiter! Bring over that blood wine!" The waiter didn't even pretend to argue. Hissimply came out of the bar, crossed the

Promenadeand fumbled for a moment about how he was going to hold thetray,

the glasses and the bottle without ditching thewhole affair. Martok saved

him by pouring the wine himself and offeringglasses to Ross and Sisko. "I'm glad weagree there's something worth celebrating!" Ross raised his glass.

"Let's hope this isthe last war we see in our lifetime." "You call that a toast?" Martok roared. "To aglorious victory!" They drank, and grudgingly, after he got histoast, Martok offered a grudging shrug. "Thoughcc"he added, "I admit the cost was high." Sisko sipped his blood wine, and gazed downto another level, where he saw Odo and Kirawalking slowly together.

"And I don't think we're quite done paying it." "You're coming to Vic's tonight?" "I will be there. But I will not dance." in "Who's asking?"

The conversation between Ezri and Worf was almost cuteas Ben Sisko strode up behind them, feeling a littlevoyeuristic for having heard. He could only be so polite-he had Martokadmi Admiral Ross with him. Amazing that Worf hadn't heard them approach,or that Ezri hadn't just sensed their eyes on them.

Better not to embarrass them. "Commander Worf," he called, and they stoppedto wait. "Can you spare a moment?" Martok didn't seem bothered by Ezri'spresence and boldly said, "We've been discussing your plans for the futm.I Worf looked at him, then at Ross. "Iwasn't aware I had plans."

"Commander," Ross took over, "how would you feelabout being named Federation Ambassador to Kronos?" Worf gawked at them, waiting for the punch line.At his side, Ezri contained a smile. When nobody started laughing, Worf screwed uphis resolve and announced, "I am not a diplomat." "And I am not a politician!" Martok shotback. "But sometimes fate plays cruel trickson us.

Come, Worf! Kronos needs you. And what's more, I need you." Completely stunned, Worf turned to Ezri asSisko hottled up his own grin and waited.

Ezri's eyes glittered happily. "Youhelped him become chancellor ... you can't very wellturn your back on him now." Disarmed by that, Worf looked at

Sisko. "Myfirst loyalty is to you, Captain!" Sisko blushed inwardly at the idea that he couldstimulate more devotion than a whole empirewaiting in the

wings. "I'll probably regret thisin the morning, but if this is something you want, thenby all means...... He offered a Httle shrug thatclinched the

deal. Absorbing too much too fast, Worf caved to thepressure of all those

surrounding him, but kept hiseyes fixed on Sisko and held his breath. "It has been a great honor to serve with you,sir," he offered sincerely. Sisko nodded to him. "The honor was all mine." After a pause, Worf turned to Martok, sillholding the same breath. "I accept." Martok bowled forward and embraced him in a bigKlingon way. "An ambassador who will go targhunting with me! Maybe being chancellor won't be sobad after bem!" And he broke into a fierce laugh. Ezri touched Worf's arm. "Congratulations,Worf."

Sisko watched as her eyes filled with tears,then she almost immediately

regained control over herself.She went up on her toes to kiss Worf on

thecheek and give him a hug-w friends. It was good to see. And Sisko needed something that wasgood to see. "When will you be going?" Kira was warm and tender on Odo's arm as theysandfile along as if nothing were wrong. "In a day or two," he told her, hoping itsounded wise. "You could come back:"

she suggested carefully,"after you've cured your people...... "Nerys," he said,stopping that line of thought, "I hope you know my feelings toward you haven'tchanged. But my people need me. They need to know whatI know, learn

what I've learned from living amongsolids. It's the only way they will ever learn to trust you." "You don't have to justify your decision to me,Odo"

she said. He appreciated her for that. She wasn'tdismissing herself from

loving him, or claiming that shewasn't a big enough part of her life to

deserve anexplanation. She was telling him, in her way, that she knew

hehad a good reason, somed'g beyond his own personalsatisfactions.

Strange, but he knew she would have protested beforethis, because she was

worried about the effect the Link would haveon him. This lack of protest

proved that sheunderstood, or at least suspected: it would be Odoaffecting

the Link from now on, not the other way around. "there's only one thing I ask:" she added. "Name it." "That we spend your last few days as a solidtogether. I want to take you back to your home world." Her bravery and bittersweet faith in him almostknocked him over. She was giving not only herlove, but her blessing. "I'd like that:" he said, and abnost

couldn'tspeak. "I'd like that very much." Heat, flame, ecstasy. The Fire Caves burned and swam with concoction.She could hear her own voice, but as if disembodied,louder and louder, echoing now. DOORA TOLKA BRE-TRI PAH-WRAN

DOTTA TOLKA O-CHEN DOORATOLDA WEY-DAY SHAY HAL! She was half insane, her

voice cracking, herskin shiny with sweat, her clothing damp and hanging,

butthe chant rose within her with a power she could never haveimagined

before! Over there, Dukat's lifeless bodylay in sacrifice to the Pah-wraiths.

They wouldcome! They would come to her! She had done everything they

couldpossibly want! The fimnes! The fires of the abyss rose overher head

into unnatural spirals! ThePah-wraiths! They were hearing her! Kos'se nusso ma' koran kainani . preen dali-ono uka'lamor eye anu! Kosst Amojan! I

await you! Come to me! The energy spiral gained speed, raced, flew,ran,

surged over her head. She stretched out her arm to it, seeking theblessing

of the Pah-wraiths, whom she herself had freedfrom their prison. They would adore her! They would favor her!Energy spears darted all around the vaulted

ceilingof the Fire Caves, all at her bidding. She was thegreatest conjurer!

A spear of flame came down like a javelin andstruck her in the heart. Their

power was too great-thejavelin slammed her backward into the hard

wetsizzling wall. Plastered there, she was helpless to raise her

amisagain. Her unblinking eyes saw the flames takeon a flying shape,

springing and darting in theirexuberance. But they were making a mistake.

The javelin vectored away from her, denying her thepower. Instead, it went

to Dukat and drove itself into hisopen mouth, surging, surging into his body.

But hewas the sacrifice-she had brought him to them! They were making a

mistake. A mistake! As her shuddering legs betrayed her and she beganto

slip down to the cliff shelf, Winn's burningeyes remained open and her brain remained aware,though her limbs were leaden and her heart had seizedup.

Before her, on the shelf at the brink of the flanungabyss, Dukat's body shook from within. Its eyesflew open with unworldly power. There, in his eyes,

she saw the life force of thePah-wraiths. They had chosen him and not her.

They had come, they werehere. They were free. Vic's Lounge, inside Quark's

Lounge, alittle bit of unreality inside a place of, some wouldargue, equal

Wusion. Eh, well, the 1960's had their eh dn't they? Barbie Dolls and cars with fins, beawks andbongos, and something called go-and-go boots. Quark

entered the bar-in-a-bar and was greetedby Vic Fontaine. "Hey, pauie! If you're here for another gameof go fish, I'm a little busy right now."

"Actually," Quark told him, "I'm here for theend-of

the-war-goodbye-Chief-O'Brien-goodbye-Odoparty." "Over there, at the bar."

"Ibanks." Yeah, there they were. Sisko, his wifeKasidy, Kira with Odo, Worf more orless by himself in a crowd, O'Brien, Dr.Bashir, Ezri Dax, and Jake

Sisko.Nice bunch of bananas. They all lookedperfectly content, even happy.

Well, except Worf. He wasn't howlingyet. "I'm serious, Miles," Dr. Bashir wassaying as Quark approached, "I envy you. I re ally do. San

Franciscois one of my favorite cities on Earth." "Earth's got lots of wonderful cities""O'Brien said. "Every city on Earth has its own personality.Now, just let any other planet make that claim.And country! Do

we have country. Canyons andgrasslands and forests and redwoods and-"

"Miles,have another drink." Quark muscled his way between Sisko and Ezri.

"May I have everyone's attention please?Attention, please! In appreciation for all thatyou've done to end the war and save the AlphaQuadrant, the

Promenade Merchants'Association has voted to pay the costs of yourholosuite

visit this evening." The crowd of DS9ERS cheered at themselves andQuark got a few good slams on the back. "comThat's very generous of them," Ezri said.

Jake Sisko leaned forward. "Who are theypaying, Quark?" he asked. "The, of course! And since they're being sogenerous, I'm charging them double."

Nobody seemed surprised. After all, heknew it was a great idea. Maybe he

could market it. Him.... "So" he went on, "eat all you can,drink even more, and stay as late as you like." Sure.-die more they ate, the more they drank and thelater they stayed, the bigger the bill. "Don't worry, Quark," Bashir said."It's going to be a long night. There's a lot of good-byes to be said.

To Milesand Odo and Worf at "Worf.?" Quark swungaround to the Klingon.

"Where are you going?" "It does not concern you, Ferengi." Ezri smiled and patted Worf's enormoushand. "Worf's been made Federation Ambassadorto

Kronos!" "You?" Quark swung around again. "Adiplomat?" Worf scowled, then decided to admit, "That was my first reaction." Ben Sisko beamed at his favorite hunk ofgranite and raised his glass. "But Admiral Ross and

Chancellor Martokwouldn't take no for an answer." Quark bothered to fill all their glasses as longas they weren't re ally paying attention,

anddistracted them by asking, "Anybody else leaving that I should know abThat'O'Brien reeled back and proclaimed, "I didn't know you cared,

Quark." "I don't. If you want to spend the rest of yourlife on that rotating ball of boredom calledEarth, that's fine with me. I just don't like change,that's all:" Bashir laughed aloud, as if thatmeant something.

"Well," Sisko said, "you better get usedto it, because fliffigs are going to be pretty differentaround here." Perhaps he hadn't meant it heavily, but his wordsthrew a pall over the occasion. Suddenly they aButseemed to realize they were celebrating the breakup oflong-fun acquaintances. Quick-pour

moredrinks before they all get depressed! Odo broke the threatening mood.

"What ever werewe tMng about before Quark showed up?" Kasidy caught the ball. "How much Julianloves San Francisco." that's right," Bashirplowed on.

"The Bay, the bridge, therestaurants, the painted-lady houses, BigStir, Monterey, the antique street cars, allthat history ... you're going to love

it, Miles." "I sure will:" O'Brien said. "But it's goingto be a bit of an adjustment at first'"Nonsense!" Bashir cut off. "You'll have yourstudents, your family-think of all the quality timeyou can spend with Molly and

Kirayoshi ... the long,romantic walks with Keiko through Golden GatePark. .

. ." Kasidy gazed at Sisko. "Soundswonderful" she uttered. "It is wonderful!" Bashir proclaimed. he'pressed a hand to O'Brien's shoulder. "You luckydevil. Bartender! Another round for my friends here!" When the

bartender didn't respond right away,Bashir drifted off down the bar to hail

the servicein person. O'Brien watched him go, appearinghappy and content

about the break-up. "He's taking it better than I thought," hementioned, knowing he was probably about to jinx the wholeattitude. "My leaving and all...... Ezri,typically, found the truth much more comforting than afluffy

deception. "Are you kidding? He's dyinginside." Sadness pressed in on O'Brien no matterhow he tried to pretend it wasn't there. "I know how he feels:" he said. But did he? He was going off on a newadventure.

Teaching, Earth, home life, safety ...yes, these had their kind of

adventurous nature.They had their attractive wonderment. There waschallenge

in making fliffigs wOrk, showing youngminds how to make things happen, in

raising a contentedchild, providing security for his wife and Idds. Hewas

starting to feel a whole other kind of intimidation andanticipation: stare

down the barrel of a thirty-yearmortgage and say that guy's not a hero. A

goodhonest job, leaving the glory-mange ring to the youngupstarts. He did

like the idea. There was achallenge there and he was looking forward to it.

Heknew the captain and Ezri Dax and theothers would be all right without

him, despite the factthat he'd been taking care of them all these

years,making sure they had air to breathe and propulsion whenthey needed it

... only Bashir worried him. Julian was hiding something, burying his

realfeelings-Ezri was right about that. Even a new lovecouldn't replace the

security of old friends.O'Brien knew he'd been wrong to hope so. Heknew, and felt awful, that Bashir was determinedto be happy for him and not make him

feel bad. "Ladies and gentlemen!" Vic Fontaine raised his hands and gainedeveryone's attention from where he stood at the frontof the jazz

band. "Tins is a very special night for some friends ofmine , he began.

"They've been together a long fun, but like the mansaid, nothing lasts

forever. Gang" he added, lookingover to them, "andness ones from the heart.

One. . two. . . ." The time was jazzy, cheery, yet the words grippedO'Brien and most likely all of them with the firmhand of melancholy. They re ally

were breaking up.Until now, it hadn't seemed so imminent. Well, this

couldn't go on. He pushed away from his seat, went around Ezrito where

Julian Bashir was watching the band play. "Julian? All right?" "Oh, Miles

... it's good music, isn'tit? I flirt it was written in the fifties,

though.It's got that little swing about it, "I'm not talking about the song, mate." Bashir glanced at him. "No ... Isuppose not. Don't worry about me. I've got my work cut out for me ... we'regoing to be helping to rebuild Cardassia, afterall, and" O'Brien put a hand on his arm."Julian, stop. No job is going to come between us.Not yours, and not even rnme. Is that

perfectlyclear? You get leaves, I get leaves-there's only somuch that

distance can do to keep us apart, and we're incharge of that. This is the age of warp speed.Understand?" Realizing perhaps for the first time that his looming lonelinesswasn't going to dominate their lives, Bashir metO'Brien's

gaze with a glint of genuine-notpretend-hope and gratitude. "I understand:"

he said. O'Brien nodded. "You know the first thingI'm going to do when I get to Earth?" "Take a trip to Texas." "And visit the Alamo." Bashir smiled. "You'll send me a souvenir?" Shaking his headeaO'Brien did his best to lookoffended. "What do you think?" A round of applause broke their conversation, andthey reared the song was over. Thank God. Captain Sisko's

glass was held high.O'Brien and Bashir turned to meet their

commander'stoast. "To the best crew any captain every had""Sisko offered.

Veasthell they had aBut liftedtheir glasses, he continued. "Tins may be our lastnight together, but I know one thing. No matter what thefuture may hold, no matter how far wetravel or where we end up, a part of us, a verylarge par will always remain here ... on DeepSpace Nine." Neither the most poetic nor the most profoundspeech ever made, but there wasn't a one of them whodidn't

believe every word. It was a promise betweenthem, an extension of Bashir and O'Brien's, thateven those they would never see again would remain with

themsomehow. O'Brien raised his glass to Sisko, then, beforeactually

dening, made sure that he and Bashir werelooking at each other and had a

private momentanud the public farewell. Yes. It was time to move

on-together. "Are you sure you want to leave without sayinggoodbye?" Kira Nerys wWW beside Odo to the airlock,where the runMuts were stationed, fueled, and ready Odoseemed pensive as he walked at her side, but heseemed also

serene and in control. There wasn't abit of doubt in him. "Quite sure"" he said. "I'm not very good atgoodbyes." No, he wasn't, she had to agree, and there wassome sense to his refusal. If a goodbye wasfocused upon too much,

then that would be all anyone wouldever remember. He was smart. She

beamed at him. "A lot of people are going to bedisappointed." "If they don't know how I feel about them now,"he pointed out quite rightly, "a few parting words won'tmake any difference." At the thresh hold of the airlock, theyhad almost gone in together when a voice cracked at themfrom back in the corridor. "I knew it!" They turned-first mistake. Quark was rushing toward them. "When I saw the two of you slip out of theholosuite, I said to myself, "That no-goodmisanthropic cantankerous Changering is tryingto sneak off the station without anyone's noticing!" Kira smiled. "That was the idea , Odo confirmed. Quark rushed up to them and wheedled around between

them and theairlock. "well, it's not going to happen!" "Appeawntl y not."

comSo now that I'm here, isn't there something you wantto say to me?" Odo peered down at hint "Such asThat" "Such as, "Goodbye, you certainly were a worthy adversary,"or maybe something with the words "mutual respect"in it-was "No." Odo straightened sharply. "No? What do you mean "no"?"

"comMere's nothing I want to say to you." Quark huffed, insulted. "You're telling me thatafter all these years, after all we've beenthor ugh, you're

not even going to say goodbye to me?" Clasping his hands behind his back, Odo raised hischin. "That's right." Kira held her breath while the two men staredat each other for a long-and longer-time. When that snapped, Odo

looked at her."Nerys, I'll be on the runabout." With a final dismissive glare, he disappeared aroundQuark and into the airlock. Quark shifted his

weight a couple of times. "Iguess that's it, then." Kira nodded. "Don't take it so hard,Quark:" "Hard? What are you ming about? That manloves me!

Couldn't you see? It was written aBut over his bac!" The Ferengi turned on a heel and wheeled downthe corridor without turning even once to look

thisway again. Of course! It wasn't over! Kira smiled,then let herself

actually laugh. Nothing was over, notat all. They were the kind of friends

who could see eachother every twenty years and it would be as if nothing

hadchanged! VI-HY hadn't she realized that before? And a lot could still

happen, couldn't it? Sure it could. The future was big.She was looking

forward to it. The Fire Caves roared their full-fledgedhellfire. Winn

slowly regained control over hereyes, her amis. She looked and finally saw.

At the edge of the abyss, standing strong and straight,Dukat had been

whisformed back into aCardassian-his born form, his birthright-and heseemed

thrilled with himself. Wren crawled to her knees. The KosstAmojan lay

discarded a few steps from her. "No ... no ... not you ... it was

supposedto be me!" Disgust and terror ran through her body.Pah-wraith

Dukat's victorious smile boredinto her mind. His eyes were the orbs of a

demon. "Did you re ally uMore' he began slowly, "thePahwraiths would choose you to be their Emissary?They hate the Bajorans. All Bajorans." Encased in bitterness, Winn understood she hadbeen used. Pah-Dukat glared down at her

with his red-ringedeyes. "Soon the Pah-wraiths will burn acrossBajor," he said, "across the CelestialTemple, the Alpha Quadrant ... canyou picture it?

A universe in flames! Burningbrightly for aBut eternity! Can you see it?

Can you see it? Bum ... burm ... burn!" "Ben? Ben, what's wrong? BenThat' He hadstopped dancing. He saw fire in his n-And. Kasidy took his hand, leaned

before him, triedto bring him out of what he saw. He would not come out of

it. "I understand now...... His voice-but strange. "Understand what?"

Kasidy prodded nervously. "What I have to do ... what I was meant to do.

Kas ... I have to go." He heard his own words, and knew his life wouldnever be the same, from this moment. A bizarre serenitycame over him. This had been a long time coming. Shewould have to accept it. "Go?" She followed him as he broke from thetable. "Where? Ben, where are you going?" "To Bajor. To the Fire Caves." "Right now? Can't it wait until morning?" She didn't understand. She didn't see what hesaw. "In the morning:" he told her,

"it'll betoo late." Fear came into her eyes. "I'll go with you!" "No Even through the flames in his mind he found thestrength to turn and look at her.

He owed her that, forafter this night nothing would be the same. She would

have to bestrong. She had it in her to survive, to get through,to accept

that ... "I have to do this alonebb'he said. His head swam with fire through the whole voyage. He was concentrating, steeling himself, preparing forwhat must come. His hands and legs tingled. Soon he would have no moreuse for

this body. He did not answer the sensation,or even dWill about it after the

first moments. He'dissued himself a priority-one phaser rifle andkept it on

the copilot's seat the whole way. In his mind all he saw was the caverns.

Already thesmell of moist walls, steam, and the gutturalsnarl of volcanic

action filled his nostrils andears. When he was finally beamed to the maw

of the FireCaves, his mind and soul were already inside. Hewalked inside,

armed with his rifle, lit by hispalm beacon. "Dad...... His son's voice called to him fromthe walls, the cathedral ceiling that had no top, butonly

darkness. "Jbbke?" Ben Sisko felt the pull of his humanity ashe turned to see his son standing among the stones. "You've got to come back to the station with me." "How'd you get here?" he asked. "It doesn't matter,"

Jake claimed. "Ifyou stay here, you'll die." "He's right, Ben:" Kasidy said. Clasping his rifle, he swung around. She wasthere, standing by the

wall on the other side of the cavern.She looked so peaceful, so beautiful ...

hehadn't realized how lonely he had been since hiswife "You're not re all"

he told her. "Neitherone of you." Kasidy seemed hurt. "But what we're sayingis real. "If you try to stop the Restoration, Jake said,"you'll be killed was "And YOU can't defeat theKosst Amoian:" Kassidy

explained."They're too powerful." "Come home, Dad." His son's facecrumpled with worry. "You don't belong here! It'snot your fight!" His wif at "We're trying to help you!" "No" was Sisko rejected. "You'retrying to make me doubt myself. I won't let you." He turned his back on them as Jake held outa hand. "Dad, please!" In his periphery, Kasidy's face wastortured.

"Ben ... don't." He moved on without them, turning his back on thetwo-no, three people he cared most about in theuniverse. Something bigger, more

magnetic drew himfor 186 ward, a purpose, a responsibility sopowerful that

he never hesitated another step. "Their beloved Emissary sent forth like an avengingangel to slay the demon." Who was that? Sisko bhfted his eyes.

Burning sweat pouredinto them, snapping him back to his physical bodywith

very real pain. "Dukat...... "The Prophets have sent me agift!" Moving forward toward the glowing form of theCardassian, Sisko squared his

shoulders. "Ishould've known the demon would be you." Dukat raised his amis. "Go on. Kill meif you can. Sisko raised his rifle, but before he

couldtake aim, the weapon vaulted from his handsand dashed itself against

the rocks. He hadn't entirelyexpected that to work anyway. "Come now,

captain"" Dukat crowed, "you'llhave to do better than that." The Cardassian stretched out a hand, discharging anenergy bolt with no weapon at all.

Sisko felt the hard zap and tried to relax ashe was blown to the ground. '?

is too easy," Dukat complained. "Iwant to savor the moment:" Bruising quite humanly,Sisko climbed to his feet. The cobwebs ofhypnotic awareness fled,

leaving his head clear.He climbed back to the ledge where Dukat stood.

"That's right," the Cardassian tempted. "Comecloser." Sisko willingly did that, determined to showDukat that he had not ever and did not now

scareBenjamin Sisko. "Now bow to me." Ridiculous. "I said ... bow." A force of me blew across the ledge, knockingSisko to his knees. Didn't

count. Wasn't voluntary. He shook his head at Dukat."You're pathetic."

"Am I? Then why are you the one on yourknees?" "First the Dominion"" Sisko began, "and nowthe Pah-wraiths. You sure know how to choose thelosing side."

lbs reward was a crass bolt ofagony from the Cardassian. Somehow that

wassatisfying. Even in inimortality Dukat was still asuperficial guy and

Sisko could get under his skinwith a couple of insults. "Benjamin, please:"

Dukat began again."We've known each other too long. And since thisis the last time we'll ever be together, let's tryto speak honestly. In the past,

we've both had ourshare of victories and defeats, but now it's timeto

resolve our differences and face the ulfimtetruth ... the only truth: I've

won and you'velost." Sisko looked up at him, leering fiercely,with a

damnable satisfaction that wouldn't go away. Pah-wraith or not, Dukat was

still Dukat,skin-deep and easy to prick. "If you think:" Sisko challenged,

"thePah-wraiths are going to do any better than theDominion, you're sadly mistaken.They're not going to conquer anything. Not Bajor, not theCelestial

Temple, and certainly not the "Andwho's going to stop us?" "am." "You?

You can't even stand up." "Then I'll stop you!" A shriek of threatrose from ten feet away. Sisko spun around to see Kai Winn-or aragged phantom of

her-rise out of the dust and steam,holding the Kosst Amojan text high over

herhead. She reared back to throw the book into the flamingcavern. "Are you still here?" Dukat mused. He raised his hand. The book rushed out of hergrip and flew into his own. A tendril of bright energy, clearly not just anotherhek of flame, snaked out of the abyss, coiled aroundher body six

times, a dozen time, then burstinto scaring electrical fire. While it

consumed her, Dukat clutched thebook. "Farewell, AW." In that last moment of snide vulnerability, betweengod and lowly creature, Sisko seized his

chance. Whatever this creature was, the realDukat was enjoying a last bit

of crudepleasure. He had to be in there somewhere. Sisko launched himself

in a running tackle andthundered into Dukat's all too solid form. Dukatwas

merely an obstacle. Sisko had aimed not atthe Cardassian, but in his mind and with his body he hadaimed at the cavern beyond, like a high-diver charging

offa cliff in some tropical paradise. Paradisewould come, he could reach it, and he wasn't about to leaveDukat behind to plague the natural worlds

Siskohad so long protected. Together, their forms wheeled and turned

through theskyscraper-high flames, down, down into the endlessdepths of the

Fire Caves. V@fe limbowrapped around them.... Cool mist cradled hissweating

face, taking his body in its gentle fingersand rocking him as if in a

hammock. He heard his own heartbeat, the breathing of hislungs. Sweet,

cool air, moist with fresh rain,drew into his lungs and spread its droplets

onhis face. No more fire. No more burning. "Seauah?" He felt her presence, and many others. "Are you there?" he asked her.

"comWhathappened?" "Congratulations, my son. The Emissary hascompleted his zask." "But the Pah-wraith sThat' "You've returnedthem to their prison within the Fire Caves." comThe book. It was the key, wasn't it?" "To a door that can never again be opened." "And Dukat? Is he dead?" "He is where he belongs. With the Pah-wraiths.Your time of trial has ended. You may rest." "I will ... as soon as I get back to DeepSpace Nine. . . ." "You won't be going back there, Benjamin. Yourcorporeal existence is over" He heard his ownvoice now as an echo, not as sound. He said something else,

but there was only music. Before him, the nst took shape. Many

otherProphets gave him the gift of belonging. There,within reach of his

mile-long amis, they took the formshe wanted to be near. Kira, Worf, Ezri...

Martok, Ross ... Odo, Bashir ...And his mother. He saw her as Kasidy and as

Jake,and with them the child of the future. She spoke to him in a voice

like harpstrings. "You are one of us now." "A sea of Changelings.... The whole planetseemed wrapped in gold. Not the yellow gold of achild's crayon

nor the jaundice of envy, but thedeep chamois gold that artists dream to

make,milky melted honey with that oily slick that makesit soft ... and there was a whole ocean of it. How many souls rolled and surged out there? How

manypeople was she seeing in this seemingly uninhabitedexpanse? Was there

one to a bucketful? One to adroplet? She couldn't begin to judge. This was

the most alien of alien worlds, and KiraNerys could not even begin to imagine how it would beto live out there. And she could stand here on this atoll

for the rest of herlife and all other conceivable lifetimes, and still

neverbe part of that civilization. They would have to change to anunnatural

state in order to accept her, and that wouldbe unfair. She would not stay

here and tempt them to embrace aperson who had no business wanting to stay.

She hadnothing in common with them physically and-far

moreimportantly-nothing in common with them morally either. Why was she so

peaceful at the idea ofOdo's staying here with these million or

billionstrangers? He wasn't one of them, not re ally.They weren't "his"

people. They just looked like him. Theyloved each other, and she was losing

him-yet sheembraced with a strange passivity that this was the goalhe had

been seeking so stress fully all the timethey'd known each other. Odo had

always been a man out of place. He'dbeen here before, though, and knew this

wasn't his place.He could've stayed the other times he met the Link.These

weren't re ally his people, not by the heart, by thecause, or by the spirit.

He wasn't staying for these Changelings. He wasstaying for himself, and for

the Alpha Quadrant. lbspersonal generosity and sense of fight and wrong

wouldkeep him content here, for he had a purpose here likenone other he had

ever faced on Deep SpaceNine. He had a reason. He thinks I don't know why

he's coming backto them. I'll let him keep his secret. I won'tmake him

explain. Nobility shouldn't have to comfort its own sacrifice. The

gelatinous golden ocean, rolling beneath agolden sky, provided a

romanticbackdrop for their final moments. Somehow Kira hadno inner turmoil,

which surprised her. Being strong... she'd expected it to be harder. He was so happy, though, standing at her side,gazing out at those other creatures

without the slightestself consciousness at his solid condition or the lifehe had led as a solid. She was happy too. comI didn't expect it to be so

beautiful:"she told him. Odo indulged in an all-too-solid sigh."It is, isn't it? You know, Nerys, I am going to miss them all... the captain,

Chief O'Brien, Dr.Bashir ... Worf, Dax. . . "And Quark?" She grinned up at him. He ghimed. "And Quark." He turned to hernow, and looked into her eyes.

"But most of all"comI know." She pressed her hand to his lips. They drifted into a kiss, long and heartfelt, afull escapade not into passion, but

compassion. They weresharing, not adoring, not craving, saying the last

digsthey couldn't re ally dWill of in words. They were being watched, of

course. What would theChangerings learn from them in this minute?

Hopefully,the one thing they couldn't have between them, nomatter how much

they merged and read each others'minds-unconditional trust. When Kira broke back from him, he was "wearing"a full dress-black tuxedo with a satin bow tiein place of his pretended uniform. She laughed. "What's that form' "You always said Ilooked good in a tuxedo." "You do!" comMen that's how I want you to remember me:"She smiled again and straightened his bow tie. In away, she re ally was sending him off to the prom of alifetime, where he would be

the center of attention and allwould listen to his proclamations. He would

give themno alternative, she knew. His resolvefairly pulsed with a supreme

self-confidence shehad never witnessed in him before. It was contagious.

"I'll remember this moment for ever," she offered. "I'll remember all our moments." "As will like." Oh, he was getting uneasy. Time to break off.

"Goodbye, Nerys:" he told her, probablysensing the same sudden urgency. She squeezed his hand. "Goodbye, Odo." Wisely, he simply turned andstrode into the mercurial sea. As the searching tideof his fellow Changelings lapped at

his knees, heturned and waved one last time. As Kira waved her own hand,

before she lowered it,Odo released his humanoid form and melted into

thegolden sea. She stood alone on the atoll, but not alone atall. Kasidy

Sisko sat on the couch in the quartersshe had shared with her husband and

knew that things hadchanged irrevocably. The room, normally sosprawling and

empty, was filled with friends andcolleagues who desperately wanted answers.

Infact, they were rather more desperate than she was. Shealready had part of the answer they were seeking. She knewthis was a turning point. "Thanks, Jake." she murmured, "but I'm nothungry." Jake Sisko had hovered over her for hoursnow, bringing her tea, now a tray of food,muttering hopeless

reassurances, promises, andvows to search endlessly, suffering the troubles

of a youngman who re ally hadn't experienced much of thevagaries of lie in

space. He had always beensafe, living his life pretty much on thisstation,

protected by those around him. Kasidy was a space capuffi. She knewbetter.

She knew this feeling of dread, an instinctladen deep within on her long tour of merchantduty. Some losses couldn't be grabbed back. She had that

feeling now. "You need the nourishment." Dr. Bashir. She looked up at him from her couch. Hissympathy was very moving. Those are doctor's

orders," he added with apathetic attempt at a smile. I.someffiffig's

happened to Ben"" she said.Everyone in the room turned at that one. They stoppedpacing, quit moving, quit taujng, and simplyheld still in that

terrible reahmtion that this was something theycouldn't fix, despite all

their combined ability andtechnology the wonders of modern anything. "I can feel it;" she added. "Something bad...Ezri came and sat beside her. "We don't know thatfor sure," she offered weakly. "We've searched all through the Fire CavesWorf spoke up, his frustration like all his otheremotions, right

on top for all to see. "There's no sign of him:" "Here," JulianBashir appeared at her side again with a hot mug. "Tarkalian tea. Very soothing."

"Better keep it coming," Ezri quietly toldhim. Jake was confronting Worf.

"You're not callingoff the search are your" "Not until we find yourfather."

"What about the Kendra Provincer' Jakesuggested. His desperation also

showed, but had reached neither a peaknor the resignation Kasidy ahady felt

"Where he bought all that land ... maybe he wentthere for some reason:"

"Colonel Kira and ChiefO'Brien have just completely another scan of

theplanet. As far as they can tell ... he's nottherecc'But ut his runabout!"

Jake protested, swingingto O'Brien. "You said you found it orbiting

theplanet!" Poor O'Bnen, standing there helpless, pzing into thefearful eyes of the captain's so at "I wish Ihad an explanation. . . ." "We will keep looking for the captaincc"...Worffaledin when the engineer faltered.

comI pron use you andWas he said on the search to generations to come,to

enhanced technologies, better scien (i they stillwouldn't find him. He wasn't anywhere that livingcorporeal beings could possibly look. Why did she feel

so light? As if she werefloating. "The Prophets warned us ... they said we'd knownothing but sorrow..... She leaned her head backagainst the rim of

the couch. They could look forever, Kasidy that. They couldactually do that The people around her faded into the wall, thewall drifted into the corridor, the Promenade andits many levels dissipated, and she was gazing atclouds as

white and fluffy as Earth's beauffwnorthern mornings. She blinked. Suddenly frightened, she felt herbearings falter. Her balance-was she standing?

Shehadn't been. Yes, she felt her feet, her legs. "Hello?" she murmured.

"Is anyone there?" Her own heartbeat bumped reassuringly. One ofthem was alive, at least. The wind blew gently, touching her ears, runninglike

fingers in her hair, down her shoulders. "Ben? Is that you?" Was he calling to her? Iris voice, deep and resonant, as if hewere speaking inside a cave "Kasidy." "Ben to ," She turned, found him in the mist, and ran into hisarms. Her husband! He was solid, real. His amis-she felt

themuscles, she felt them bend to hold her, warm andsecure. Whatever this

was, it wasn't death. "Where are we?" she asked, as if the answer wouldmake all this be real and right. "At the entrance to the Celestial Temple." Oh

... that told her too much. She backed away. "The Celestial Temple... then I'm having a vision." "That's right"" Ben told her. He wasn'tgoing to tell her any false wishes or treat herlike a child. At leas that. "Ms is scaring me, Ben , she attempted."I want us to go back to Deep Space Nine." Worth a shot, wasn't it? Even as she said it, she knew the answer. "I can't;" he told her immediately, withoutfulls. It was the destiny he had been born

for,the mysterious truth that had been masked by his humanexistence. How

the cloudy beings who called themselves theProphets would have a link to the hymg, breathing worldsthey could only observe. comOh, my God:" Kasidy

breathed. "It's difficult to explain. It isn't linear.... My life, my

destiny-We Prophetssaved me so that I could be with them." "Be with them?"

she repeated. Ben took her arm, then her hand in both of Ins."comMy have so much they want to teach me:" Shefelt like she was froze could barely force out the words."How long will you be goner He hesitated. "Timedoesn't A terrible breath rattled throughKasidy's body, proving to her that she was

alive andre ally here, not unaglning aBut this in a muddle ofgrief or

fatigue What was all that supposed to mean? Tunedoesn't exist here? What

was he andong to say? "Iben this is the sorrow the Prophets warned

usabout?" she whispered. She wanted him to say it. "It's difficult to say

. . exist here." He smiled. His dark eyes were soft beacons forher.

"Kas-I'll be back." "When?" she persisted. "It could be next year." He smiled suddenly,with an understanding she didn't share. "It could

beyesterday. But I will be back." She heard the grim determination in his voice andknew he would find a way to make it true."I'll be waiting," she premished. She thought he took her in his arms once more, butnow she was

back on the couch, her arms tingling from histouch. "Kas?" That sounded like him. No, the voice was ... younger... "Can you hearme? Kas?" Jake bent over her, looking relieved as sheblinked at him. Everyone else was

looking too. Worf,O'Brien, the doctor, Ezri She was back withthem. Had she

ever left? "You seemed pretty far away for asecond:" Julian Bashir said, bending overher. "Not that far," Kasidy told them. She lookedat Jake, and for some reason she found herself smiling.An unworldly contentedness came

over her. Like thewives of a million space captains andadventurers and great men of past times, she would findherself called upon to raise his children

and be their guidealone, benchmarked by the high standard Ben Sisko hadset

for them. She could do that. As she gazed at Jake, shesaw in his youth the

bright hope of the child within her, a newchance for the future, and somebody to be with. "I was talking to your father," she said. They would wait for him. "Today's duty roster, Colonel was KiraNerys looked down from Deep Space Nine at thedistant orb of Bajor, and noticed that it was morningover

her home provence. Everydung was dawning. Awhole new day, a new life. She

took the padd from Nog and scanned it.Everything was back in order. The

day-today procedureof station activity was the best therapy she

couldimagine, not only for herself but for everybody here. The military had something, she decided,to its order and sense, in the strict utility of

rankand process. Somehow it helped everybody to haveduties, watches,

purpose. "Nice work:" she told the young Ferengi. "Andcongratulations on your promotion, Lieutenant." Nog seemed a little small and uneasy to

becarying such a big rank. "Thatand you, ma'am," he said. "I guessputting me in for promotion was one of CaptainSisko's last official acts." "I'm sure he's very proud of you, Nog." "I'd like to think so, ma'am." Kira deliberately didn't say "was."She didn't believe Sisko was dead. Nobody did. Was he watching them? Now, there was a disturbingthought: no, he

probably wasn't acting as somekind of mystical voyeur. They were free to

haveprivacy, and to make mistakes without a big daddywatching over them. He

wouldn't have wanted that for himselfand she was betting he wasn't eying them from the etherealplane. He probably had his own duties out there,somewhere,

teaching the Prophets a thing or two aboutlife. That made her smile. But

back to work. "Now, about the cargoinventorie"" Nog stepped back. "I'll getright on it!" He raced out of the room, delighted with his newjob as station adjutant. A big job, a mightystation, very busy and getting busier as the sectorstabilized. Starfleet was actually enjoying itself, and so was

she. She too was proud of her own promotion-to stationcommander, carrying

the authority of both the Bajoranmilitary and Starfleet Command. It was a

singularhonor, and she was gratified by their faith in her. They were

showing faith in Sisko, too, sherecognized, by giving her this post. He had

trustedher, and that was good enough for Starfleet. She appreciated their

judgment. She could do thejob. comWell, not from here.... Ops. She

suddenlywanted to be at the pulsing heart of the station, to spreadher wings and re ally take over, to make sure theyall knew that she was here to catch

the ball. The ball! There it was-Captain Sisko's little dutifulbaseball,

sitting on its stand where he had leftit, giving a whole new meaning to

thephrase, "You can't take it with you." She plucked the bail into her hand and tossed it inthe air and caught it a couple of times. With that,

themantle had shifted fully to her. She'd never dared to touch it before.

He must approve ... she thought he was smilingon his cloud someplace out

there in a universe muchbigger even than it seemed to be. Managing to hold

herself down from a run, shestrode in amiable satisfaction to ops and

plungedright in to the bleeping, humming center of activity thatmade Deep

Space Nine a living place. Inher hand the baseball was warm and solid.

Sherolled it in her fingers and scanned each post, takingsolace in the

steady information streaming from all over thequadrant to this single beacon in the dari mess. All around her at every station were new faces,

youngofficers and trainees ready to tackle the nextchapter "m the conquest of the final frontier. Overthere was the new chief of engineering. Beside him was the newtactical sergeant, and speaking to the new lifesciences

coordinator was the new chief constable ofstation security. They nodded a

polite greeting to their commander as theynoticed her watching them. This was their time, andhers. "What do you think?" Julian Bashir had babbled away the morningafter spending the whole evening amsferring the Alamo fromthe

O'Briens" old quarters to his. And a bloody tight fit it was. Despite a decidedly sour note to the move,the Alamo's presence in his quarters

somehowgalvanized the idea that he was on his own for a while,without

Miles. Across the table from him in the replimat, Ezri waspicking at her

breakfast, with her mind obviouslyon something else. Her short dark hair

reflectedthe overhead lights, separating them into the spectralcolors green, blue, red, and yellow and making hereyes seem bright. "What do you think of my new medical supplysystemThat' he asked. "I've reworked the wholestorage process." She blinked up at him. She hadn't beenlistening. "I den maybe tonight, after ennner, we could goto Quark's ... maybe spend some time in

theholosuites." Bashir thought about that. "I wouldn't mind a littletrip to Vegas." "Actually," Ezri corrected, her eyescrinkling, "I was thinking about the Alamo." Sounded like a nice idea. Obviously she wastrying to help him through this, working on adjusting thefuture to be as full as the past

few years hadbeen, even generously trying to replace the closefriend who was no longer here with him. But he shook his head. "We can't go there." "Why not?" He thought about coughing up some excuse, but the truthkept bubbling up and ultimately would do just aswell. Probably because she already knew

it. "that was something Mhles and I did " Would sheunderstand? She was the repository of more than a dozenlife forces, all those memories,

relationships... she'd understand, more than most, wouldn't she, that

oneperson, no matter how loved, simply could notreplace another? "But:" he said, brightening, "we could try my newprogram. The Battle of Thermopylae:"

Shegawked at him, her fork in midair. What? Nohuman lifetimes luriang around in there? Of course not. She hadn't heard of that. "You know," he attempted, "where asmall band of Spartans led by King Leonidasdefended a mountain pass against the vast Persianarmy?" "That happened?" she asked.

"For two days, the Spartans put up a heroicstruggle:" "Until they were wiped out." "How'd you know?" "Lucky guess. I take it we'll be theSpanw?"

"Fighting to the last man!" Bashir proclaimed. "Just like the AlainoThat'

"Exactly!" Hethumped the table. Ezri put her fork down and sat

back."Julian, have you ever talked to a counselor about theseannihilation fantasies you seem to have?" Bashir blinked. Hadn't thought of that one.

"You think that should?" he asked. "I'll set up a session for us tomorrow."

Hmm ... how very enticing. A doctor and aTrill getting together to discuss

annihilation ...oh, that was better left alone ... but why was sheleering

that evil glare at him? He leaned forward. "And tonight?" She smiled broadly, her eyes crinkling withunshielded happiness and commitment.

"Tonight ... we defend the pass!" Commander Kira of Deep Space Nine swand thePromenade with a purpose and vectored into Quark'sbar, feeling somehow

fulfilled at the mundaneduty she was about to discharge. Over there.

Quark. He was arguing with Mom. He had Ins backto her, so she strode up

without announcing herself andlistened to the last couple of blurts.

"comThat'll be ten strips of latinum-I know, Iknow, I'll put it on your tab.

Don't worry!It's guaranteed to grow hair within a week! If youask me, your

dome's hairy enough as it is. Besides,hasn't there been enough change around here ahxandity?" "Vmk!" Kira swung around in front of him andwagged a padd in his fhce. "Do you mind explainingthisr" Quark's knobby eyes flashed.

"That's this week's betting pool." Kira huffed with insult. "You're taking betson who's going to be Bajor's new Kai?" He spread his arms. "It's a wide openfield! Just between you and me, the smart money's onVedek Ungtae."

Lowering the padd, she scowled at him. "Well,just between you and me, all bets are off." "What are you tallandong about!" "As of this moment:" she said, "betting pools ofany kind are illegal on this station." Oh, thatfelt good! "I catch someone placing a bet, you'llspend fifteen days in a holding cell. Is thatclear?" Quark looked shocked, then leered at

hersuspiciously. "Holding cells? Ah ... let me think.Fifteen days ... can I brink my own pillow?" "Quark!" "It's clear, it's clear." "It better be." Quark shook his head as he slid away. "It'slike I said. The more things change, the more they stay thesame:" Kira smiled. She let him go backto work. It felt good to do something so mundane andnormal as chewing

out Quark and telling he couldn't dosomething. Anything. After a few days,

she'd let him take betsagain, but after the new Kai was appointed. Some

thingsshouldn't be matters of lot. Strolling out onto the Promenade,

Kiraexperienced an overwhelming sensation of peace andsatisfaction. This

alien station, once the very exemplar ofdespicable for her-a Cardassian

outpost inclaimed space 208 comM was now itself the embodiment of how

things could changefor the better. Despite its Cardassian design,this was a

Starfleet station, a Bajoran holding, and asupreme victory for them all.

They'd taken it,they'd lost it, they'd regained it, and now it wassecure.

The presence of Deep Space Ninesecured the whole sector, indeed the

quadrant.She believed now that it would never again fall. She paused on the walkway overlooking the lowerPromenade. Below, people freely roamed the

shops,paused to talk smiled, cried, comforted each other, andwent on their

ways. They all knew things wereunconditionally different, but that somehow

this was the brinkfrom which they would all leap to the better. There ...

that was where she and Odo had walked ontheir way to their last voyage

together, where they had linkedanus in a way that his native people could

never imagineor know how to enjoy. Over there, on the second level, Worf

andEzri sate together with Chancellor Martok, on thepath to the docking

pylon where the Klingonships were serviced. Martok was doing all the

talking. Worf andEzri were looking at each other in silence. Worfcarried his duffel bag. His bat'leth was slungover his shoulder. Kira imagined what

Martok wassaying-@nthusiasms about the future of the KH-NGONEmpire ... great hunts and good songs ... butWorf wasn't listening. He turned instead,

gazedat Ezri as he never had before, and all of them, evenKira way up here

watching, began thinking aboutJadzia. Somberly, Worf removed his bat'leth

from hisshoulder and handed it to Ezri. A parting gift at oher who knew what it was to be his wife. Kira shivered with emotion, and had to look away.

As her eyes scanned the vast sweepingwalkways of the station, they fell upon another questfor the fu Chief O'Brien shooing his family down theramp toward Airlock Four. His own bags wereslung on his shoulder, together with several

more bags thatmust belong to his children. Before him ran Molly, whileKeiko

carried the baby and nipped orders at twoyeoman who were carrying sfiu more

bags and boxes. Kira watched the little face of Kirayoshi andtried not to

remember what she had promisedherself she could forget-he undying tie between herself and theO'Briens. That was a family she had helpedbuild. She had to

force herself not to call out to them beforeKeiko and the children

disappeared under the walkway she wasstanding on. Now there was only O'Brien, shufflingalong with all his burden Oh, there was Bashir,catching up to him,

taking a couple of the bags from him.Then the doctor caught O'Brien by the

elbow andstopped him. They were too far down there for Kim to hear what

theywere saying-not much, judging by what she saw. In fact, they seemed to

be having trouble speakingat all to each other. She understood. After years here together, what wordscould be enough? She thought of Odo. Bashir was

making O'Brien put his bags downfor a moment. Kira squinted as the doctor

putsomething into O'Brien's hand. What was that? A goodluck charm? Then

she recognized it ... it was one of those littlefigurines from the Alamo

model they'd worked ontogether. O'Brien had showed it to her

proudly-littleColonel Travis, the brave commander of the losingside.

O'Brien smiled and his cheeks reddened. Hedidn't know what to say, so he was saying nothing.Shoring up his resolve, he nodded, and extended ahand to

shake. Bashir put out his own hand and claspedO'Brien's. See ya. Kira

shook her head and smiled at themscoldingly, but before she could shout an

interruption thatwould embarrass them both, they had done her job-theywere

locked in a bear hug. Much better. She settled back and turned away to the otherside of the walkway, letting them have their last momentsin privacy.

There were other people to watch, people who were staying onDeep Sp'e Nine.

Putting one hand on therail, she gazed downward custodiajly at thecustomers

coming and going from Quark's and the other shopsbelow They were hers to

protect now, hers to understand. Shewould help them if she could. As she

scanned the Promenade viewports,windows that showed the open panorama of

space, shesaw something that did disturb her at the of the people here

sheprobably couldn't help. On the second level, Jake Sisko stoodat the

viewport, staring out into open space where thewormhole lurked in its other

dimension. The boystared out into it. A man looked back, but it was his own reflectionin the viewport penna glass. Kira moved quietly to stand beside

him. Together theywatched as the wormhole magically burst open, itsgiant

drain swirling and rushing, and a messenger shipfrom this side effortlessly

slid inside. The first of many. A whole new realm ofpossibility. They

stood together, thinking the same thoughts, twosmall beings on a great

statioA ONLY a dotof Light on the ceiling of the space cathedral, but astar

o f h o p e f o r a l l w h o l o o k e d .

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