Odo was on his usual patrol near the mines of Terok Nor, the space station that had become his place of dwelling and employment. He doubted he would ever call the place home. Odo'ital had no home. Some Cardassians sneered at him as he passed by. It was considerably early or late for soldiers to be lurking around. It depended on point of view since there was technically no day or night in space. There was only cold, distant twinkling of stars and artificial time-tracking. Odo had a sort of inner clock keeping him on his sixteen hour cycle rather than the twenty-six hour day on Bajor. Cardassians had their own cycle and it was the correct one in their eyes.
None of that really mattered since the mines and ore processing never rested. Exhausted Bajoran men worked brutal fourteen hour shifts that didn't include any sort of pause for rest. They ate meager rations in the dark, narrow tunnels and amongst hazy factory floors as they worked. The currency they received at the end of every month was just enough that the Cardassians could claim they were paid workers and not slaves. It wasn't enough for themselves and certainly not enough to feed their families.
Their wives often brought home more income if the men didn't mind sharing them with Cardassians. Jobs for women were far and few in-between. Women worked the mines at their peril. It was far more dangerous not only because of the toll of manual labor but because rape and beatings were never more prevalent anywhere else on the station.
Odo lifted a few Bajoran men back to their feet and had his newly trained security team escort them away so they wouldn't clutter the halls. He was firm but gentle about keeping the place orderly. His guards looked for hurts, armed with regenerators instead of firearms. Dukat would never allow him to arm and employ Bajorans. Odo slipped a ration into the pockets of the most malnourished looking workers. He was so subtle, no one noticed but his own trusted employees.
Odo picked up the miserable cries of a little Bajoran girl long before he found her. She was wrapped around a corpse. He sighed at the realization. No doubt the man had been her father, another casualty of the mine. He tapped his com badge.
"We have another dead worker, deputy," he announced. "Send the appropriate staff to deal with it."
"Yes, Constable."
Odo rather liked that title. The Cardassians called him Changeling or Shifter, but the Bajorans had started calling him Constable thanks to Kira Nerys coining that term for him the brief period she was there on her undercover mission. He thought of her whenever he heard it spoken. He had received one heartfelt message from her since the incident with Vaatrik's still unsolved murder case. It was heavily encrypted, but Odo had infinite patience. He cracked it eventually. She had given him contact information so that she could return his favor one day.
The little girl bawled as the doctor pronounced her father dead due to 'unforeseeable hazards of the job' not to the obvious overwork. Cardassians forced Bajorans to sign waivers and contracts so they couldn't legally hold the employers responsible when such things inevitably happened. The body was then dragged away to be processed and surrendered to space.
The girl remained.
"Go home," Odo growled at her. "This is no place for a child."
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"I'm an orphan now."
Odo wrung his hands. Well, what on earth was he supposed to do now? The girl looked underfed. She had long, tangled brown hair and sad brown eyes. She was an ebony-skinned Bajoran. Her clothes were too big for her and no more than rags. She expected something from him, but he had absolutely no experience with children. He didn't know the rules or guide lines for little people.
"How old are you?"
"Twelve."
Too young to be alone in Terok Nor. Too young to work.
"What is your name? You must have relatives somewhere on this station. Maybe you have a friend and can remain with that child's family?"
"I am Shirok Anasa. I don't have friends."
"May I call you Anasa?"
She nodded. First names were usually for family and close friends only in Bajoran society, but this was a child he was talking to. At least he knew they liked the familiarity of first names.
"You must be hungry."
"Starving!"
"Follow me."
The little girl eagerly snatched his hand. It seemed even in terrible grief that humanoids could be baited easily with food. Odo shuddered to his core at her touch, but he quickly recovered. He hadn't been ready for physical contact. The girl was clueless how sensitive he was to it like most people. He adjusted so her touch wouldn't cause pain or discomfort. She was squeezing tight.
"Please ask me before you touch me," he told her.
"Should I let go? I'm sorry I didn't ask."
"It's alright. I just need a warning in the future."
Her hand wasn't baby soft, she wasn't an infant, but it was very soft, smooth, and tiny. Her touch and eyes conveyed total trust, something foreign to him. He was an alien, even more alien than most aliens in space. He was the only one of his kind that he knew of in existence and Bajorans and Cardassians were rather xenophobic. No one had ever remotely trusted him.
He had no quarters. He didn't need any. He regenerated in a bucket in his security office and kept a PADD with digital novels for those moments that he desired entertainment. It was the only place he could bring Anasa, though.
"It's cool in here!" the girl noticed.
"I'm not like the Cardassians. I'm a Changeling. I don't like it hot as the tropics of their planet," he explained. "I prefer colder climates, and I have the rare privilege of being allowed a cooling unit in my office."
"It's feels wonderful!"
She spun like a dancer and Odo blinked at her enthusiasm. It was catching. He supposed he did take the temperature for granted sometimes.
"What kind of food do you like?"
"I really can have anything I want?" the girl gasped with joy. "May I have everything?"
Odo smiled, "You couldn't possibly be that hungry!"
"I can't tell you how long it's been since I've had anything more than bowl of soup and heel of bread."
"Won't you get digestive issues?"
"You can eat what I don't!"
"I don't eat, Anasa."
"How do you live?"
He laughed, "I'll try to fetch you things that will go down easy. We'll start with ice chips and go from there."
"Fruit flavors, please!" her happiness was obvious.
Odo had to step out into the hall and use the computer to find and unlock the nearest replicator. He'd never paid much attention to them before. Anasa made short work of her first dish and Odo kept bringing her more plates of better quality food. He didn't want to make her sick, but she seemed fine. At least, she was as fine as a child could possibly be in her situation.
Odo found that he was having a blast with Anasa. She was very pleasant company. He asked her to identify the foods and to describe their taste. She was as much captive as his audience as he was of hers. She offered him samples, but he waved them away. She belched loudly and he startled. She laughed and he began to laugh. He was astonished by how much she ate. It became a competitive game to count and place bets on how many plates total she could clean.
She started to get sleepy before they could really answer the question. She was fighting it, but the yawns kept coming. There were benches for sleeping prisoners, but no proper bed. Odo replicated blankets and pillows for her and used his Constable voice to order her to lie down and sleep.
"Are you going to leave me alone?" she squeaked.
"No."
"Thank you. You're a nice man."
"I'm a Changeling."
"You're not a Cardassian. That's the best thing about you. What can I call you?"
"Just Constable is fine. Anasa, where is your mother? Are you really an only child? Bajorans and Cardassians normally have large families."
"She died after I was born," the girl's eyes were half-closed. "No proper medical care in camps. I'm the last Shirok."
"What was your mother's maiden name? Maybe her clan is on Bajor," Odo said encouragingly.
"Cera."
She fell fast asleep. Odo searched the computer for both surnames. He could find nothing. He watched the little girl as she slept, her chest rising and falling peacefully and her pretty fresh face serene as she dreamed what he hoped were good dreams. He couldn't keep her in this room forever.
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Prefect Dukat rang in at Odo's office. It happened to be their scheduled weekly meeting. Odo had been so distracted by Anasa that he had forgotten. The Cardassian entered with his usual swagger that didn't impress the Changeling one bit. He opened his mouth to speak and stopped but left his jaw dangling comically when he noticed the Bajoran girl sleeping in the security office.
"What is this, Shifter?"
"What does it look like, Cardassian?"
"Babysitting can be a stressful job, so I'll forgive your attitude for now. What did she do? Did she upset you and get herself arrested for being so cute?"
Dukat loomed over the sleeping child, smiling indulgently. Odo clenched his jaw. When Anasa opened her eyes, the preening gray peacock was the first thing she saw. Odo didn't blame her for screaming. She raced into his arms as Dukat doubled over in laughter.
"Good morning, little one!" he used his pandering, sing-song voice. "Oh, I didn't mean to scare you!"
"Don't let him take me away!" Anasa begged Odo.
"I won't," he said low so only she could hear.
She had launched into his lap and clasped her arms around his neck so fast, he stopped simulating breathing and trembled a little. Her breaths were panicky and her heart pounding so loudly it almost physically hurt him. He couldn't be angry. He understood her fear. Even a child knew by instinct that Dukat was a very dangerous man.
"Stop frightening the girl, Dukat!" Odo spat. "She was made homeless today. She needs a guardian."
"Poor thing," Dukat oozed sympathy, but not even the terribly observant Changeling could tell if it was an act or real. "We should discuss it while your deputy takes her for a walk."
"He's Bajoran," Odo reassured her.
"OK."
Odo called the person in question and gently disentangled the child from him. She looked contrite when he set her down.
"I forgot to ask again."
"It's no matter," he shrugged.
"What's your name, child?" Dukat had turned on his charm.
"Shirok Anasa."
"Do you know who I am?"
She stared and that was answer enough.
"I'm the Cardassian in charge," he said with extra gravity. "This Shifter is merely my investigator. No one will harm you, Anasa. I promise. Not all Cardassians are bad. Did the Shifter feed you?"
"Yes."
"I replicated a feast for her last night," Odo chuckled.
"Did you just laugh?" Dukat's eyes went wide.
"He did!" Anasa giggled.
"You must have a gift, little girl!"
Dukat stroked under her chin as though she were some kind of kitten. Anasa looked unsure, but Odo was creeped out for her.
"There's a rule in my office!" he barked. "Tell him what it is, Anasa!"
"No touching without permission!"
"She's an excellent student, huh?"
Luckily, Odo's deputy arrived to take the child away. As soon as the child was gone, the mood of the room took a sharp turn. Dukat's friendly smile slowly turned upside-down and his gray eyes narrowed.
"Looking to make an adoption, Shifter?" he said darkly.
Odo smacked his lips, "I am not fond of children. What can be done about her?"
The truth was that Odo didn't think he could possibly be father material. He knew so little about himself and convinced himself he knew even less about Bajorans. They had technically 'raised' him. They were high maintenance compared to him always needing to eat and sleep and do other meaningless things. He already had a job that kept him nicely occupied. What was he supposed to do with the child when he needed to catch criminals before, during, and after crimes?
"She has no family?"
"No, I already looked into it. She has no known relatives on the station or on Bajor."
Dukat sighed, "I suppose I could give her to one of my officers."
"You mean they'd adopt a Bajoran?" Odo said skeptically.
Dukat snickered, "Of course not. They'd take her as a comfort woman."
Odo reeled. He knew exactly what comfort women were. It was legalized rape and prostitution of women. The idea was revolting to him and beyond comprehension under the so called normal circumstances of the Occupation. This was unacceptable to his psyche!
"She's a child, Dukat!"
"We have no accommodations for orphans, Shifter! What else would you suggest? I am all ears!"
"Surely a Bajoran family on the station-"
"You mean the desperate, starving criminals that they send us here? You do remember that most Bajoran laborers are labeled suspects of some heinous crime or another?"
"Most have gone unproven!" Odo shot at him. "And many are minor infractions, not heinous crimes! Those sort, the murderers and such, are executed long before they get here!"
"There would be no volunteers. I guarantee it. You and I have seen the begging children all around the station."
"Send the girl to an orphanage on her planet, then!"
That made Dukat cackle, "Oh, my naïve Changeling! Where do you think is the first place they go to collect comfort women down there?"
"You can't be serious!"
"I am. Those facilities are understaffed, overflowing, and rife with abuses. They have little enough food to go around. The older girls are never adopted unless it's by suspicious Cardassian men. Everyone knows they aren't looking for a daughter, but they have no choice. The Bajorans let them take the girls. They'd starve otherwise. Those Cardassians are saving their lives!"
"So they should be grateful? Children?"
"They train them until they are of age."
"Train them? What the hell does that mean?"
Dukat shook his head, "How brutal and simple do you think Cardassian men are, Shifter? The girls learn Cardassian ways, our language, culture, history and values. They learn science instead of that temple trash their monks and vedeks teach. They can choose an art or skill to pursue. They are given medical care and educated in our specific biology to prepare each girl for a Cardassian mate. Comfort women serve a vital purpose: To keep our men happy. That is not easy considering our men have larger appetites than Bajoran men and lack Cardassian women to satisfy them. A growing number of them look forward to having a Bajoran girl. Cardassian females are notoriously picky, calculating, and cold. At least that's the complaint I often hear. Sexual relations are only a small part of it all."
"I don't understand!" Odo grumbled.
"Of course not. You're a-What exactly? A hermaphrodite? A eunuch?"
"Genderless!" Odo hissed. "Thank the Prophets!"
"Whatever," Dukat groaned. "If I give the girl to one of my men here, I can monitor for myself that he treats her right. Comfort women get educated about interspecies romance. My men often get misinformation. Real love can blossom from such couplings."
Odo glared at him with a steady eye, "You really believe that, don't you, Dukat?"
He smiled and got a dreamy look in his eye. "I really do, Shifter."
"Well I don't!" Odo snapped. "Such relationships could never be healthy!"
"What do you know of relationships? You have none!"
"I know what they shouldn't be!"
"Tell yourself that, alien," Dukat turned his back on him.
"Why don't you take her?" Odo said.
He knew he was dancing on rotten ice, but he didn't care. Dukat froze and turned toward him again, scowling.
"I have no need of a comfort woman at the moment, I don't like them that young, with that dark of skin, and my wife would boil me alive!"
"Ah, yes," Odo's voice dripped with sarcasm. "I'm sure your wife would be jealous. Others might be too. If you don't want her as a comfort woman, why not as a friend and playmate to one of your daughters?"
"You're suggesting that I send her to Cardassia Prime? Are you that ignorant, Shifter?"
"It is quite the opposite, Dukat. I wasn't talking about your children on your planet. I'm talking about your other daughter."
Dukat stared daggers at Odo, "I see, Shifter, that you have turned your investigative skills on me. That's very dangerous."
"It gives me some much needed leverage, Dukat! I know all about your double life. Now that you know what I know, let's make a truce, shall we? I think you'll find my terms are more than fair."
"What the hell do you want, Shifter?" Dukat raged. "And who do you think you are? You think you can blackmail me, the Prefect of Bajor?"
"All I ask, Dukat, is that you let me handle this on my own! I have always been fair. You've seen that for yourself by now! Stay out of my way and I will stay out of yours! I honestly don't care about the details of your personal life! Humanoid relations never interested me! I just want what I want! I want order and to have people out of my business! I am Constable of this station! Let me run it!"
Dukat seemed impressed by Odo's bravado. He considered his words longer than he needed to, observing the alien's features. Then he slapped his hand on Odo's desk.
"Fine, Constable. You have a few days to find your own solution. I'll ask around the station if there are any lonely Cardassians that will take Anasa. Some love her color. In the meantime, curb your nosy, self-righteous attitude! It's getting annoying rather than amusing!"
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Odo hated going to Quark for advice, but the Ferengi might be able to help Anasa. He would be stupid not to at least ask. He had learned the hard way that he needed to explore all avenues and opportunities, to study every shred of evidence, and to question even the dullest and dimmest of witnesses.
His deputy agreed to care for the child until Odo's shift ended. The girl was already getting attached to the Changeling. He was flattered, but he really wasn't good with children. He needed to find her a home fast.
"Odo!" Quark was truly the first to call him that. "Want a drink?"
"I have told you a million times-"
"You can't taste it, I know! But if you absorb it, could you get wildly drunk?" Quark was obsessed with the very idea. "How would you react to it? What would you change into? What would you say? Would you cry? Would you break things? Would you tell me how much you love my bar?"
"No, you little troll! The stuff is rejected because it is poison, not a beverage!"
"Alcohol isn't poison!" Quark argued.
"Ask a chemist! It's toxic and turns men and women into violent fools? Do you have any idea how much it influences crime on my Promenade? Look at my data sometime!"
"That only happens if the client drinks irresponsibly!"
"You know what, Quark? I changed my mind. Give me a drink."
"Really?" Quark was pleasantly surprised. "What'll it be?"
"Surprise me!"
Quark began whipping up a special drink and Odo tossed currency on his bar table. He watched the bartender with contempt as he made a great show of mixing, stirring, and shaking.
"Looks complicated," Odo observed.
"It is! It's a-"
"I don't care, Quark!"
"Here it is!"
"Took you long enough!"
As soon as the Ferengi handed Odo the overcomplicated substance, the Changeling flashed the contents of the glass as violently as he could back into Quark's grinning face. Odo laughed a raspy laugh for the first time in public. He had never felt such satisfaction in his life.
"Ah, the money was worth it!" he said aloud and folded his arms across his chest as he watched Quark sputter, try to shake liquid out of his giant ears, and wring it from his clothing.
"Why'd you have to go and do a thing like that?"
"Because I hate you!" Odo seethed.
"And you're ugly on the inside and outside!"
"Oh, I know I am ugly, but you are hideous and still pretend that you're some kind of merchant prince!"
"You owe me a new suit, Odo!"
"I owe you nothing, Ferengi!"
"How am I going to save this suit?"
"Whine a little less and do what I do: Absorb it!"
"Why do you hate me so much, Odo? I need to know! I can't stand it when people hate me! I'm such a people-person!"
"Because the first thing you did when I met you was lie to me, Quark! Then you betrayed the undercover Resistance agent that paid you everything she had in your next breath! Doesn't that violate Ferengi law in some way?"
"Are you talking about that gorgeous red-head?" Quark leered.
Odo twisted an ear cruelly for that, "Her name was Kira Nerys! You know she would have been hanged for disrupting work in the mines? That would have been your fault!"
"You saved her and let her go. She's fine! I knew someone would come through for her. If not you, it might have been Dukat. Dukat might have been a lot less nice about it, though."
"I wasn't supposed to be investigating her particular crime."
"Nice excuse! I know better! You don't like your Cardassian masters. It's safe to admit that to me. I don't like them either! I won't lie to you if you don't lie to me. Now let go of my ear, Odo!"
Quark began to utter one of those insufferable Ferengi screeches and Odo released him. That pitch happened to hurt his senses terribly. It also forced him to remember why he was there in the first place. It hadn't been to torment Quark, as much as he loved to do that.
"Quark, could you use some help around here? Someone like a cleaner, a young waitress, a bartender in training, perhaps?"
"Why, you want a change in career? If so, I have a novel sized contract-"
"A little Bajoran girl needs work!"
"A dabo girl-"
"She's twelve, Quark! You have to adhere to the Cardassian labor laws on this station! They place children into sexual slavery but won't let them work as sleazy dancing entertainers!"
"Don't you love hypocrisy?"
"That's rich coming from a Ferengi! Aren't' your women literally property of their fathers and husbands, kept at home, and never allowed to wear clothes anywhere they go?"
"We don't sell them! We keep it in the family."
Odo gaped at him and Quark realized how he had sounded.
"That didn't come out right! I realize that now that I've said that out loud. Let me try to rephrase that."
Odo nodded, brows arching.
"We keep them with family. We keep them-we keep-"Quark stammered, "Oh dear, I'm somehow making this worse, aren't I?"
"I swear there is something fundamentally wrong with every humanoid species," Odo droned. "I'm the only one that can see it!"
"I can't hire the girl. Why do you care anyway?"
"Dukat wants to give her away as a comfort woman like a toy to some fawning dog. She doesn't deserve that, Quark. If you can't hire her and help me protect her, find me a way to smuggle her off station. I don't have the luxury of a lot of time. Who must I bribe?"
"You surprise me, Odo! You have a soft spot for little girls! You're more than just a shifty Shifter, you softie Shifter, you!"
"Quark, I want to buy another drink."
"Do you?"
"YES!"
"DO YOU REALLY?"
"Well you can't refuse a PAYING CUSTOMER!"
They both realized they were screaming and forced themselves to calm down. They were making a scene. Odo's own security guards were looking at him with wild and confused looks. They relaxed as he did. Quark accepted the money and allowed Odo to splash him for the second time. He used cheap and watered down stuff this time, far less viscous, but no less wet.
"I've still got your money!" he whispered spitefully as liquid dripped again from his ears.
"You like my money, do you? Get Anasa off this station and you'll love it!"
"I wish I could, Odo. I love latinum and currency that converts into latinum. I just don't think I can arrange it in time."
"Then what use are you to me?"
"Wanna' buy another drink?"
"How about I snap your neck?"
"But then I couldn't spend your money!"
Odo sprang from his chair and tossed it aside. Luckily he didn't break anything. He just felt like displaying his anger. It made the Ferengi jump. He turned to leave, but Quark was truck with inspiration when he looked at Odo's last glass. He had grabbed the closest thing without looking until the present moment. The glass was ruby red in the dim light.
"There is someone that might be able to help you, Odo," he called. "A woman that owes you a favor. We both know her."
"Yes," Odo caught the hint. "Maybe."
When Quark was distracted by a dabo girl, Odo left a generous tip in that red glass.
DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
Odo had no idea why he was so nervous. He stared at his screen, wondering if he would even get a response from the Bajoran woman. He hadn't spoken to or seen Kira since she fled from his office, Dukat's nails scraping the skin of her arm as he reluctantly let her go, declared innocent by Odo's lips. The encrypted message didn't really count. That was impersonal.
He heard her voice in his memory clear as day, "Whose side are you going to choose, Constable?"
If he asked her to come back to the station, and she actually agreed, what exactly was he inviting? She had already shattered his ideas of black and white justice. She was a complex creature that challenged him in uncomfortable ways. He should want to avoid her for his peace of mind, but he also felt compelled to seek her out. She might be Anasa's only way out.
He realized he had delayed the call long enough. His deputy would be returning with Anasa any minute. He entered the contact information into the computer, careful that it couldn't be shared, stored, duplicated, or traced, and he completed the dialing process.
As much as he wanted to see her with his eyes again, he kept the call limited to audio only. He was afraid that someone with more skill than him could always salvage the image of Kira and that would prove fatal to her. A voice was bad enough. He couldn't bear the thought of harm coming to her even in their first meeting at the Promenade.
"Luma here," he froze when he heard that voice. "Who is this?"
She was wisely using part of her alias. Her voice was like a caress even through light years of space. He marveled that there was technology that allowed such crisp sound at such massive distances. Sound could be as intimate as a touch to a Changeling. He absorbed the tone and pitch of her voice like a sponge.
"Is anyone there? How did you get this frequency?" Kira began to sound alarmed. "I'm dropping this call if you don't answer!"
"It's me, the Constable of Terok Nor," Odo managed to break his silence at that threat. "I'm so sorry that I cut the visual feed. I wanted to be cautious. Do you remember me?"
"Constable, I could never forget you."
Odo smiled so stupidly that he was glad she couldn't see him, "It's so good to hear your voice! How are you?"
"Alive and operational. And you?" there was mirth in her voice.
"Never better."
"Do you need me, Constable?"
"What?" she had thrown him off with the phrasing of her words.
"Do you need me to return the favor that you did for me?"
"Oh yes. If you can."
"For you, Constable, I will make it happen," she responded. "What is it that you need exactly?"
"I am trying to save a little girl."
"Go on."
"She's orphaned on this station. Her name is Shirok Anasa. Dukat wants to make her a comfort woman."
Kira made a disgusted noise, "Of course he does!"
"She's twelve, Kir- I mean Luma. I need to get her off this station. Her mother's surname was Cera. Can you get her to Bajor? Is there some place, even if it's in the Resistance, that she could be placed? Aren't there temples still in commission secretly beneath the surface? There's got to be something! Please!"
"Cera. Cera, Cera," Kira repeated the name. "You know what? I think I might know some Ceras. Will you allow me to do some digging on my end here, Constable? I'll send you encrypted messages with my findings. There's no way in hell that I'm letting Dukat give that girl away to be perpetually raped by an older Cardassian man! No way!"
"I am glad we are in agreement, Luma."
"Constable, you might be doing me another favor, not allowing me to pay off my debt. It's not quite fair."
"I don't want you to feel that you are indebted to me forever. How am I doing you another favor?"
"Do you know how old I was when I joined the Bajoran Resistance?"
"No."
"You haven't read information on me in the Cardassian files?"
"Well, I'll admit, I peeked, but there was surprisingly little information on you in the public files. It surprised me. I noticed that someone had been purging much of it from the databases."
"Really?" Kira sounded intrigued.
"Yes, and I discovered who it was that did so. It was Dukat."
"Dukat?" she was shocked. "Why would he do that?"
"I don't know, Luma. I was as surprised as you. It's almost as though he was protecting you. Maybe he had a guilty conscience for trying to imprison you falsely here?"'
"Whatever the reason, it can't be good. Dukat doesn't seem like the sort of man that would feel remorse or make amends. He is responsible for the deaths of millions of my people. I'm not quite sure what to do with this information, Constable."
"Perhaps I shouldn't have said anything, but you did ask, Luma."
"I did. Well, back to what telling you about myself: I joined my Resistance cell at age twelve. I was the same age as Shirok. The same fate that Dukat plans for her now might have awaited me if I had left even a day later. Luma out."
She ended the call abruptly. Luckily, Odo had no need to record the conversation. Changelings had almost perfect recall. It was perfect timing too. His deputy entered with Anasa. She immediately crawled into his lap. She knew by now she didn't have to ask anymore. Odo welcomed her, wrapping his arms around her. His deputy had purchased her proper clothes with Odo's funds. Her hair was combed out in lovely curls. She was clean from a bath.
"Hungry, darling?" the words came unbidden.
"No. Ate already."
"What did you eat?" he started to rock her.
"Too much sugar."
"Do you like mystery novels?"
"Sure."
"Let me see what might be best?" he muttered to himself, fingering through some titles.
He let her choose a novel and began to read out loud to her. At twelve, she might be considered too old to be treated quite this way, but neither of them cared. She fell asleep, soft head on his chest, arms still fastened around him. Could a child be any sweeter? He read at her age most girls and boys started to get rebellious and unpleasant. She must be exceptional or the loss of her father made her revert to a needy little girl again. Maybe she liked him and he had a soothing and calming effect on her. She was too old for much babying, but far too young to fire a weapon or crawl into bed with a man.
Odo found himself wishing that he could shape shift into the man that had been her father, but that would have been too much according to some great law of the Universe.
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"Damar, do you want a comfort woman?" Dukat asked his protégée at his private dinner party that night held in his quarters.
The young Cardassian soldier spit out his kanar in a fine spray, completely unprepared for the question. The rest of the guests started to laugh at him. Most were half-drunk and clapped him on the back or the shoulder. Dukat wasn't laughing and was drinking nothing but water.
"Was that a serious question, sir?" Damar was thoroughly humiliated.
"Very serious."
"Uh…."he trailed off.
"I know you are not a Gul. You're a fresh young soldier starting in the low ranks, but I could bend the rules for you. She's very young, but that gives you plenty of time to groom her and earn her trust," Dukat had the voice of experience.
"I want another drink, sir."
"Careful, Damar, not to create an addictive habit," Dukat warned.
"Noted, sir."
"How pretty is she?" asked one of the other guests. "Why is she being so easily given away? Is something wrong with her?"
"She's an orphan that needs someone to take care of her, that is all. I have a picture taken from the computer system when she was brought here along with her late father."
"Let's see it."
Dukat passed the image around. His officers studied it critically. His Bajoran mistress Tora Naprem was like a silent but guarded phantom in the corner of the room. She possessed a perfect mix of the best features of Dukat's great loves. There was his Cardassian wife and his last Bajoran mistress Kira Meru. She had silky long dark hair as black as midnight ink. She had a fine widow's peak, deep blue eyes, and lips that always looked a little swollen. Her skin was pale even for a Bajoran and well cared for. She also wore the latest and most expensive fashions and jewelry. Dukat spared no expense for her.
"I might take her," an officer volunteered. "My comfort woman is getting worn out. She begs me for numbing agents most nights. I have been considering sending her into retirement on Bajor, but she is still young and pretty in my eyes. I'd rather not have to break in a new girl."
"You still love her. It's OK to admit that," Dukat said. "But if she's hurting, perhaps you should let her go. Taking a new girl will be like falling in love again. It'll be exciting. Going slow and steady will be rewarding."
"Maybe," the officer said thoughtfully.
Naprem turned to him," Our bodies are more fragile than Cardassian women. Allow your mistress nights in-between activities to heal and use more aides in the bedroom to help her. You'll both be better for it. Restrain yourself, soldier!"
He glared in response at her, but Dukat supported her, "She's right! You are talking to the model comfort woman here! Show her some respect!"
"Of course. I will do as you say, mistress," the officer said stiffly.
"I hope so! You do know that I speak to all the other women on this station? They tell me the details of how their men really treat them. I report everything I hear to the Prefect."
"I sure don't like to hear that any of them are being mistreated either!" Dukat chimed, but his words weren't just pointed at the one officer and then he turned to Damar again. "Are you sure you don't want her? She'd probably prefer a young man. You're handsome."
"No thank you, Dukat. I'm engaged to a Cardassian woman. I was hoping to get reassigned home. I thought you remembered that."
"Ah, yes. For some reason I thought you had canceled that arrangement."
After the guests were gone, Dukat kissed Naprem's hand and pressed it to his ridges, reveling in the soft, smooth Bajoran skin as always. She was, however, cold as she gazed at Anasa's picture on their table of black oak from Cardassia.
"Skrain, they say the Occupation is coming to a close," she said. "And not in Cardassia's favor. That must be hard. Cardassians boast that they never lose."
"They might be right this time. We are losing."
Dukat only allowed his Bajoran women to call him by his first name. He had never liked it. The name his father gave him was tainted. Dukat had to fight tooth and nail to shed the image of his traitor gene thanks to him. The family name Dukat had once been the most admirable on all of Cardassia. He wanted it to be so again. But when Bajoran women spoke his birth name, they didn't know the history, and they managed to speak it with some sort of magic that helped him to forget.
Naprem hesitated, "I know you have to choose your Cardassian family. You can't keep us even if you wanted to, but I have to ask, Skrain: Are you planning to kill us?"
He sighed, "I don't need to kill you."
"What about our daughter? Look at me!"
"Did you think I was going to kill you both tonight?" he opened his eyes and looked at her. "Is that why you didn't touch dinner and sent Ziyal to bed without it? Usually you don't punish her for stealing sips of kanar."
"You never punish her at all, but forgive me for not trusting you to tell me before you killed us. I've seen you poison a guest at our table before," Naprem took a sip of spring wine and nibbled some food to suppress her hunger. "Are you sure you haven't dismissed a former comfort woman that way too?"
"I have never intentionally harmed a Bajoran woman, Naprem. Let's drop this subject and go to bed."
He tried to rise and bring her with him, but she planted her feet.
"No, Skrain. I won't make love to you unless you make me a promise."
"What is it?"
"Promise me that you won't kill our baby girl!"
He let out a frustrated noise, "You can't make me promise that! You have no right!"
"I have every right as her mother!" Naprem's voice became harsh for a moment, broke into a sob, and then she lowered it. "Do you remember the night Ziyal was born, Skrain?"
"Of course I do."
"I was still afraid you'd smother her as soon as she came. They had to cut her out of me. I couldn't relax as a Bajoran woman should. They wouldn't allow me to listen to the sacred hymns. They used a regenerator and the best pain suppressors. She cried angrily! She almost bled to death. All those blood vessels severed at once, no one thought she'd make it. She did, though, and you loved her."
"With all my heart. She was too beautiful."
"I wasn't sure if I'd love her, but you said to me that my Prophets must exist and Ziyal was the proof. She was proof that Cardassian men and Bajoran women could indeed create the prefect beings like you suspected. I didn't think a female hybrid would turn out to be so pretty. Hybrids are rare, always male, and often sterile. Cardassians wouldn't even count them as men. But Ziyal might have children someday. You could have an unbroken family chain on both Cardassia Prime and Bajor. You said you preferred Bajor and me and Ziyal, but that never stopped you from returning home at least once a year and giving your Cardassian wife another child nearly every time."
"You know I had to do it to keep up appearances, and I always wanted as many children as I could make."
"Do you remember what you said to me?"
"That I loved you and Ziyal?"
"No, I mean after they took her away for extra care? I'm still taking about the night she was born. You said to me: She's wonderful! Let's make another just like her! Then you made love to me."
"I was selfish," he flushed. "You had just been through a traumatic birth. I must have hurt you."
She wrinkled the ridges of her nose, "A little. The pain medication numbed me so much, and I was too happy and relieved to stop you. Let's face it, Skrain, nothing stops your Cardassian drive! Most men don't touch pregnant women or when we're ill or in full cycle. You never minded any of it. Sometimes I wish you had."
"I'm sorry!"
"Don't be sorry! Promise!"
"I can't!"
"Then lie to me! You are Skrain Dukat Prefect of Bajor, at least for the moment! You have always found a way to get what you wanted before!"
"You are starting to sound pathetic, Naprem!"
She made a gesture as though she was experiencing a sudden migraine and sucked in air, and then she exploded, "Did you know that I didn't love you at all until Ziyal was born and I saw how you doted on her? She's the only girl with Bajoran blood you could never look at with lust but pure love instead! You love her because she is your image turned female, Skrain! And like it or not, she adores you just as much and has all your charm but none of your malice! She loves you far more than me! She has nightmares unless daddy tucks her in at night. She needs the monster of all monsters to chase away the fake ones! She doesn't know you like I know you!"
"Naprem, what do you mean you didn't love me?"
"Skrain, I was sent here for stealing food! Did you know they were going to throw me in the mines? Women only survive that place if they charm a Cardassian overseer and become his unsanctioned comfort woman. They form female only teams in processing rather than the mines. I was assigned with the men! Do you know what would have happened?"
"Rape?" he whispered.
"Nice word, isn't it?" she gritted her teeth. "Skrain, those women are gang raped to death! It's the only opportunity Bajoran men get to participate rather than just watch! A female worker warned me about it and said they label those deaths: Deaths by dehydration! Have you never noticed that in the paperwork they give you?"
"I have seen it, but I had no idea!" Dukat insisted.
"Really? Well, I was desperate and batted my eyelashes the moment I saw you! I had no idea you were the most powerful man on the station. It made no difference to me. I latched onto the first Cardassian that seemed to care and might protect me."
"I did, didn't I? I do care!"
"Then why did Anasa's father die? Why are you trying to barter her off? She's not far from Ziyal's age. Watching you do that disgusted me! It shows me that you haven't learned or done anything to truly change conditions here! You might be capable of killing your own child!"
"I won't do it then!" Dukat announced. "I'll send you both into exile. Neither Bajor nor Cardassia is safe. Ziyal is too old for cosmetic surgery to really take and what she is will always be far too evident. Both our species hates hybrids! What else can I do, Naprem?"
"Let me take Anasa with us!"
"No. Ziyal will be enough for you to handle. I can't allow someone else's daughter to ruin Ziyal's chances."
"I guess I must steel myself and think the same way then."
"Naprem, is it true that you didn't love me? You were the first to kiss me and say that you loved me? Were you merely acting?" he begged for truth.
Her blue eyes were scarier than his own piercing gray eyes for a moment as she answered, "I had to survive! When you invaded me for the first time and countless times after, I'd cry out exquisitely for you. Those were not cries of passion play, Skrain. I was in pain, and I hated you."
He looked broken and wounded at that, "But why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't trust you, Skrain. Even after you made me love you, I never could trust you."
She left him alone. He began to weep on the floor. That damned, hideous, passionless creature Odo had been proven right.
DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
Odo was having breakfast with Anasa when his screen flickered, signaling that Kira had messaged him. She said she had found Anasa's aunts on Bajor from the Cera side of the family. Many were in the Resistance and either never listed their names publicly or was using aliases to throw Cardassians off their trail. Anasa's father had been a suspected terrorist so the family was forced to do so.
She also informed him that she would be at the station in a small freighter within twelve hours. That meant, with time gone since she sent the message, they had less time to prepare. Less was better in this case.
Odo almost danced to the little girl's side, "You're going home today!"
"I am?" she squealed with delight.
He nodded firmly and she gave him a happy hug.
As they spent time cleaning up, Dukat said farewell to his Bajoran family. Ziyal was still clueless where they were going and her father lied that he would join them soon. Naprem refused to kiss him and gave him a withering look instead as she boarded a shuttle with their daughter. He suspected it might be the last he saw of them, but he couldn't have possibly known exactly what would happen to them.
Odo managed to have his security men cover him as he took Anasa to the shuttle bay. He was as giddy as she was. Any minute now…
A small, disguised freighter docked and its doors opened. Kira Nerys stood proudly and confidently before them. She was changed since her last visit. She wore the red militia uniform of the newly minted Bajoran provisional government. She was clean, her hair naturally touched just past her chin. She wore bright red lipstick and he could make out clumps of eyeliner and mascara in her thick and heavy lashes. He missed her long hair, but she was striking and spunky. She sprang her arms out like wings and smiled wide.
"Did you miss me, Constable?"
"More than you know. Is it Major now?"
"Yes!" she seemed almost embarrassed. "The military life is a bit new but familiar at the same time. I'm adjusting."
"It suits you. The color especially."
"Is Shirok Anasa here?"
"Affirmative!" the little girl stepped out from behind Odo and saluted.
Kira folded herself to her knees so that she could make direct eye contact with Anasa, making a mock tough face for her, "Ready for the return flight back to base, soldier-girl?"
"Aye, sir!"
"March inside!" Kira pointed. "On the double!"
A male soldier helped lift the girl into the shuttle as Kira turned to Odo. Before she could speak, however, Shirok Anasa suddenly sprang back out and stood directly before the Changeling. Her eyes were full of tears.
"May I hug you, Constable?" she finally remembered to ask permission.
"Of course!"
Odo caught her as she leaped up into his arms for a final farewell. She was reluctant to go. Kira was grinning at the display. Odo was glad that he couldn't cry. It would have been too revealing. He felt a paternal pain when Anasa left his sight for good.
"Why are you risking so much for this child?" Kira asked earnestly. "What do you care about comfort women? Most turn a blind eye to it or secretly condone it."
Odo fidgeted anxiously with his hands, "I can somewhat understand. I-I have been abused in my past. Long, long ago."
"Who did it to you?" Kira's nostrils flared.
"Why, Major? You want to get revenge for me?" he sounded like he was sarcastic, but he was touched.
"Maybe."
"Well, it wasn't the Cardassians. It was Bajorans. The scientists in the lab, you see. They had no idea that I was alive. I was the equivalent of an infant. I had no idea how to shift yet or communicate. I'm actually a creature that feels everything on a much deeper level than appearance would suggest. I was- Was over stimulated and then neglected for long periods at a time."
She looked horrified for him but sympathetic. She licked her lips.
"It shouldn't have happened. I'm surprised that you don't hate me and my people more than the Cardassians."
"The scientists had no idea what they were doing and Dr. Mora put a stop to it as soon as they had inkling that I was sentient. The Cardassians know full well the hurt and evil that they inflict and that it is on harmless people. I was surprised, Major, that you were not afraid of me."
"Afraid of you?" she appraised him. "Never of you!"
"There are more women that I might bring to you in more trips if-"
"Constable, it pains me to say this," she had to cut him off. "But we can't save all of them. Starfleet is becoming more involved, though. A treaty may free us all in one fell swoop very soon. It's the grace of the Prophets finally coming through!"
"I don't believe in your Prophets," Odo blurted.
Kira kept her face neutral, but he sensed something inside her shrink back a little at his declaration of atheism. He braced himself for curses or a tirade of scripture and preaching, but none of that came storming from her. She seemed puzzled instead of repulsed like most Bajorans. She simply nodded.
"You don't have to believe in them."
He was astonished and relieved. His admiration for this woman was soaring ever higher. It took enormous tolerance and respect for a Bajoran to accept not only what he was but what he believed. Cardassians had no faith and they never called him a heathen or accused him of being immoral. She had accepted him in a single breath, but he had proven his goodness several times over to her. The feeling of respect was absolutely mutual. They stared at one another for a moment, neither wanting to break eye contact. It didn't feel awkward. They no longer felt like strangers. They were something far more.
Suddenly, Kira's face twisted in pure terror and cried, "Sweet Prophets! Anyone but him!"
"Who?" Odo turned to see.
Dukat was heading their way. By some miracle he had not seen them yet, but it was a matter of seconds. Kira froze up. There was nowhere to hide and no time to flee. She made a choking sound, imagining a noose around her neck promised to all rebels and also feeling that Cardassian's nails digging and crawling all over her flesh. Goosebumps appeared on her skin as it turned clammy and cold.
Odo felt her terror and revulsion at full blast because the two of them had been standing so close without realizing it and he felt wretched. This woman's pain! How did she manage to remain so strong? Faith alone could not possibly be responsible, could it?
Odo barely had time to shift into a large crate, successfully concealing them both from the despot. Kira covered her own mouth to stifle her breathing noises. She had never seen the Shifter actually shift before! The transformation fascinated her and the child in her was thrilled.
Dukat was blissfully unaware of them, but clearly agitated. He kicked a crate inches from them. Odo feared he would kick at him next, but he didn't. He walked away and Kira heaved a huge sigh of relief. She placed her hand on the crate, remembered that it was Odo, and immediately jerked her hand away. Crate-Odo shuddered at the unexpected first contact with her. He became a happy goo puddle and then morphed into the form she was more familiar with.
"Major, are you alright?" he asked with concern.
"Are you?" she was incredulous. "That was amazing! Is that how you really look? Like amber gel? Liquid? Does that hurt? I'm sorry. I sound like an idiot. I need to shut up."
"No, Major, I-"
"Shifter!"
Dukat's voice interrupted them, coming from Odo's com badge on his chest. Odo and Kira gazed at it warily at the same time.
"Yes?" Odo responded.
"I decided I may have need of a comfort woman after all. Bring me Shirok Anasa, would you kindly?"
Kira smirked and Odo laughed with triumph.
"She's taken care of, Dukat!" he proudly declared.
"She is? So soon? That is a little disappointing."
"Disappointing, Dukat? Help the confused alien here. The goal was to find a place for her and I did it!"
"Yes, and that is a good thing. You are, in fact, swift and thorough. You were also right."
"About what exactly?"
"None of them love us. The comfort women, I mean. I thought maybe with Anasa being so young I could win her trust. I needed that first, apparently, and it is much harder to develop than I thought."
"I'm not going to say anything more on this sordid subject, Dukat. Good day," Odo said dismissively.
"I commend you on a job well done, Shifter. Good day."
Odo returned his attention to Kira, "Do you think what he said is true? None of the women ever love them?"
"I have no idea, Constable. No woman I've ever met would ever admit it if she truly did. She'd be called a traitor and ostracized. I have no experience with any of these sorts of matters," she confessed with a shake of her head.
"None? Really? Not even with a fellow Bajoran?" he said with disbelief. "A woman like you?"
"What the- Wait," she became awkward. "You were trying to compliment me, weren't you? Oh. Uh, thanks, I guess."
"Take care of Anasa for me, Major, she's a sweet child."
"I will. She's incredibly lucky that you found her. Have the chemist that replaced Vaatrik give this to the comfort women of the station in the meantime. He should be able to replicate it enough times that they can use it to hold out until freedom finally comes."
"What is it?"
Odo played with a small blue bottle in his hands. It had no labeling to give him any hints.
"It's a numbing agent."
"Why would you carry such a thing, Major?"
She frowned, "To use if I were ever captured alive. It might keep me from betraying my comrades during the torture. At least for a little while."
"That's a sickening scenario!"
"Well, so much about this Occupation is sickening."
"One more thing, Major?"
"Yes, Constable?"
"What will become of me when Bajor is freed? I'm an alien that technically aided and worked for Cardassians. I don't want to go to Bajor or leave this station. The job that I have here has become everything to me."
Kira nodded, "I understand. I'll make sure the government and Starfleet know what you did for both me and Anasa. You're no Collaborator. You're a noble man, Constable."
"Thank you, Major," he was elated. "I think that would make us even for certain."
"I have to go."
"Of course," he cleared his throat.
"Keep your head down!" she called over her shoulder as she entered the freighter.
"You too!" he shouted back.
She was gone.
DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
A few weeks later, Odo received one of those special encrypted messages. He read Kira's latest words:
Constable, it is official! The Occupation is at an end! The Cardassians have only so much time to leave Bajoran space. Shakaar, the militia, and Starfleet, along with a dose of Cardassian corruption, have made this possible at last. After over fifty years, Bajor will finally be free.
I'm far from happy, to be honest. I fear Starfleet is a nice front for something sinister. The Cardassians once claimed they were helping us and that was the pretense they used to rape our planet. I also feel like the Cardassians have far too much to answer for still, but this is a start.
Anasa is with her family. An aunt and uncle have taker her in. She passed along novels for me to send you. She's happy, healthy, and in temple school. She's grateful. She's safe. You saved her, Constable.
I included my own gift and gratitude. I hope you listen in. It's nothing much, just recordings of my favorite temple hymns. I couldn't get my hands on real orchestras so I recorded my own voice with the time I had. Throw it out the airlock if you like.
Your friend, Major Kira
He was intrigued. He played the recordings on his computer. Kira wasn't classically trained to sing and she sounded nervous on the first track. She hummed until she gained confidence. Her voice was quite lovely when she gave herself a chance and gained momentum. There was natural talent there. Odo had always found the Bajoran language to be beautiful and their hymns soothing, not too dull or preachy. Kira sang to the accompaniment of a Bajoran flute, drum, and temple chimes.
It was simple, but Odo listened again and again, the sounds flowing over him in delicious waves and 'touching' him all over. It was more sensual and intimate than Kira could have known. When he listened with his precise hearing, he picked up acoustics the technology could but most humanoids couldn't. He caught bonus audio of Kira laughing at herself. He heard her trip over the drum and tease the instrument players. He heard some gasps, coughs, and the scrape of cloth and hair brushing the mike. It was almost as though she was there singing in the room with him.
He responded: Major, I loved the gifts! May I request more samples?
Kira inquired later: You liked the temple music? Excellent, I'll get those full orchestras for you ASAP!
Odo clarified: No. I enjoyed the samples of your voice, Major. You can sing anything you want.
Kira messaged: I'm flattered, Constable! Honestly, I usually only use my voice to bark orders, curse and yell. By the way, guess who was chosen to be the liaison officer of the station, now being called Deep Space Nine instead of Terok Nor? I like the acronym DS9. What do you think about it? I'll be seeing and working with you very soon!
Odo's last response was: Looking forward to it, Major! DS9 sounds adequate. It's good to make a friend. I've never really had one of those before.
Kira's final words: Best friend, Constable. Cheers.