Chapter 4
From the comforting depths of unconsciousness there came a voice.
"It is beginning."
The voice was so familiar, yet so utterly alien at the same time.
"You are to witness the fall of hope, the destruction of your dreams."
For a brief moment a memory threatened to surface. She could sense it was a painful one, something dangerous. She was not ready; not yet. She endeavoured to discharge it before the memory could form into coherency.
"Struggle, as understanding should never be easy." How did the voice know she was struggling?
The battle continued but with it came the first stirrings of consciousness.
"Nothing is going to be easy for you ever again." The voice sounded pleased.
Picard was still sat at Janeway's desk. After several hours of painstakingly extracting what he could from Janeway's personal logs the headache which had been threatening to form for sometime had now arrived in style. It was like a numbing throb in the centre of his forehead. Picard made a mental note to report to Dr. Crusher if it continued. However for now he needed to record his initial findings, check the progress of each team and summarise all the information for Ambassador Worf.
"Captain's log, Stardate 55914.5. We have arrived at Deep Space Nine and the transfer of the remaining Voyager crew will begin shortly….."
Odo had finally managed to excuse himself and was making his way to the transporter room to oversee the arrival of the Voyager crew-members. It had not been an easy task. His former comrades wanted to know how his people were adjusting to a more benevolent way of life; how the Jem'Hadar where adapting to natural procreation rather than genetic engineering.
Several similar probing questions made it clear to Odo Starfleet still did not fully trust the Dominion. They were unsure if the Founders were still a threat and looked to Odo to see if there where any hint the shape-shifters were returning to their old ways. Only Bashir seemed to have a different motive. He wanted to know how his program for eradicating the Jem'Hadar's need for Ketracel White was progressing. Odo had assured the Doctor the next generation of Jem'Hadar should be totally free of the addiction. This had pleased Bashir immensely who promised to give Odo a credit in his next paper on the subject.
As Odo strolled through the corridors, his only regret was that he had not yet had the opportunity to spend some time alone with Kira. He hoped after the current mission was over they could spend some quality time together before he had to return to his people.
Odo's thoughts were interrupted as he approached his destination There were far too many people hanging around in the corridor directly connecting the Transporter room and Habitat C, where the majority of the Voyager crew where to be situated during the de-briefing. He quickly noted there were two distinct but separate groups of people. One mainly consisted of Starfleet personnel, while the other mainly Bajoran. Odo quickly approached Solack, Deep Space Nine's current head of security
Solack was the Vulcan who had famously left Starfleet in protest over, what he saw, as their illogical peace treaty with the Cardassians. This treaty resulted in millions of people losing their homes, as the Federation shamelessly ceded control of several planets to the Cardassians. The backlash from this ultimately led to the formation of the Marquis.
Solack had written to several high ranking Starfleet officials, suggesting they had betrayed its founding principles. These principles had been established with considerable assistance from the Vulcans. In an uncharacteristic display of emotion, Solack resigned from Starfleet but he did not leave quietly. While never condoning the actions of the Marquis, he continued to voice his protests. Eventually the Federation paid dearly for this treaty, both with their problems with the Marquis and with the subsequent betrayal of the Cardassians.
When Kira was asked to look for a replacement for Odo she immediately sought out Solack and offered him the position, which he readily accepted. Starfleet did not protest too much over Kira's choice. All arguments had been quashed when Kira politely reminded them the last time Starfleet had selected someone for the role, they inadvertently put in place one of the leaders of the Marquis!
"What are all these people doing here?" questioned Odo.
"I can think of three distinct possibilities." answered Solack. "They are here purely by coincidence, they are here because they are curious or they are here to interfere in the transfer."
"I think the third option is the more likely, don't you?"
"Given the circumstances and available data, I would have to concur."
"Then why haven't you done anything about it?" Odo said with a growl.
Solack raised an eyebrow, "I am unable to act, as no crime has been committed."
Great, thought Odo. He's been here for nearly a year and he still has not learned anything about the way the station operates. "Have you never heard of crime prevention?"
Solack opened his mouth to reply, but Odo interrupted, "Get more security down here, I want this corridor cleared, now!"
It surprised Odo how easily he slipped back into his old role. It also surprised him to see Solack, after a moments hesitation carry out the order. Odo was supposed to be here to advise and assist only but old habits die hard.
Odo was about to contact Kira to advise they delay the transfer until the situation could be brought under control when the transporter room door suddenly opened with its trademark whoosh. Out stepped Chakotay and Torres accompanied by two security guards.
"It's too late!" warned Odo, as he prepared himself for action.
He did not have to wait long. A member of the Starfleet posse calmly walked up to Chakotay causing the security guards to stiffen slightly. Both placed a hand on their Phasers in a warning gesture.
"Traitor!" the man shouted at Chakotay before spitting in his face.
This was the spark that ignited the powder keg.
One of the security guards moved to restrain the offender but was beaten to him by a screaming Torres who launched herself on top of the startled man, bearing him to the ground. Security attempted to intervene but where intercepted by the majority of the Bajoran group, who themselves where then attacked by the majority of the Starfleet group. Moments later Solack's extra security men arrived.
Without hesitation Solack ordered them to restore order.
"Typical," thought Odo who was stood on the perimeter of the chaos. Only on Deep Space Nine could a simple security matter turn into a full-scale riot. He grabbed a Bajoran by the wrist who was trying to flank a security officer. Instead of pulling on the wrist, as the Bajoran expected, Odo pushed forward hard. Still gripping his wrist, Odo stepped forward with the now off-balance attacker striking the startled man with blurring speed in the neck. Odo stepped away as the Bajoran dropped to the floor gasping for breath. Satisfied this adversary was out of the fight, he tapped his communicator.
"Odo to Colonel Kira."
"Kira here, what's up Constable?"
"Colonel, I would recommend you contact the Enterprise and advise them to delay any further transports. We have ourselves, a little situation."
"What kind of a situation?" Kira asked.
"Excuse me for a moment Colonel."
Odo noticed a rather large Starfleet Officer had detached himself from the main fighting area and was making his way towards Odo's position. Odo stood his ground, folded his arms and gave the man the 'Odo stare'. He recognised the look of anger in the young man's face. It a look he had come to loath. Ever since people discovered he was the same race as the Founders, some people could not see Odo for who he really was; all they could see was the enemy.
Maybe this man had family or friends who were killed in the war, or maybe he just didn't like Shape-Shifters? Whatever the reason, the man saw Odo as a focal point of his anger. He screamed in rage and charged at full speed. Odo felt a momentary twinge of pity as he easily side-stepped the attacker at the last second, causing the man to run head-first into the bulkhead and drop 'out cold' to the ground.
"Sorry about that Colonel. It appears 'somehow' news of this operation has become public." Odo was convinced this 'somehow' had a name, a pair of rather large ears and a loose tongue when latinum was involved.
"I take it the news has not gone down well?" Kira asked sarcastically.
"Let's just say, we have Starfleet on one side, Bajoran's on the other and some ex-terrorists suspected of foul play in the middle."
"Great, just great!" commented Kira angrily.
"Colonel; under the circumstances I would recommend the remainder of the Voyager crew are beamed directly to their quarters. And now, if you will excuse me, I have a few matters to attend to."
"Acknowledged. You take care of yourself Odo."
"Will do. Odo out."
Odo noticed Solack was performing the Vulcan nerve pinch on one Bajoran while another was on Solack's back trying, without much success, to throttle the Vulcan. Although Odo did not think Solack would have any trouble dispatching two Bajorians with his superior Vulcan strength, Odo decided to step-in just to help speed up the inevitable outcome.
Meanwhile Kira had informed the Enterprise of the current situation. She stormed out of the Ready Room into Ops noting most of her officers suddenly finding something extremely interesting to do which required their total attention.
Kira was furious. Damn Starfleet, she thought. They promised this kind of thing would not happen. They were adamant the day-to-day operation of the station would not be interrupted; although if she was being totally honest with herself, she should have expected it by now. Starfleet does what it wants, when it wants and how it wants; no matter whose business it disturbed.
"How many transports are due in today?" Kira asked to no-one in particular.
"Err three. No four!" answered Ensign Bejko nervously.
"Well, cancel them," Kira ordered, "and 'persuade' any that are currently docked to finish their business and leave quickly."
Kira knew from painful experience Deep Space Nine was a tinderbox which constantly waiting for a match to blow things all out of proportions. A situation like this could quickly become deadly serious if measures were not taken.
"Give me a schematic of habitat C." Kira said as she made her way to the Ops main view screen.
Moments later the schematic appeared. Kira studied the readouts of the station for a few moments then demanded everyone's attention.
"Here, here and here," Kira pointed to three sections on the schematic readout. "These are where the Voyager crew are to be situated. I want them cleared immediately. Post security guards at each entry point. No unauthorised personnel will be allowed in or out, is that clear?"
"Yes Sir." said Bejko. He quickly left the room to personally see Kira's orders where carried out; glad to have an excuse to be away from the Colonel when she was in a bad mood.
Meanwhile over on the other side of Ops, Ensign Janthus who was a recent arrival to the station nudged Lieutenant Rom.
"That's a bit excessive isn't it?" whispered Janthus. "What next, Marshall Law?"
Rom paled visibly and shook his head, trying too late to warn Janthus as Kira stormed over to their station. She leaned in close to Janthus, merely an inch away from his face.
"No, not Marshall Law, Kira's Law. You got that, 'Ensign'?"
"Yes Mam!" stammered Janthus, who discovered his mouth was now too dry to swallow.
"Good." Kira said with a sarcastic smile.
Kira took one last hard stare around the room to see if anyone else was going to be a problem, then made her way back to the Ready Room, much to the relief of Janthus.
"Problems?" asked Sisko, who was sat at his desk still grinning.
"Nothing I can't handle." answered Kira. "What are you looking so happy about?"
"I have my ball!" answered Sisko. He demonstrated this fact by tossing his baseball into the air and catching it with ease.
"That's great. I'm really pleased for you." Kira said dryly. She was getting a little worried about Sisko. He seemed to be having trouble taking anything seriously at the moment.
Back on the Enterprise, Picard conveyed Kira's instructions to Riker before resuming his log.
"Captain Janway's logs reflect a deep seated trust in the Marquis crew. It is evident she thought of them part of the crew, to such an extent she appointed several of them into key positions."
Picard paused as he attempted to weigh up the situation. On one-hand the Marquis crew would be a tactical advantage if they were planning a coup. On the other he had to consider the points Counsellor Troi had raised. His own experience with the Marquis may be influencing his thought processes. Pondering Troi's concerns prompted him to mention his discussions with Chakotay in the log.
"Mr. Chakotay seems to be everything I expected after reviewing Janeway's log, smart, dedicated; if maybe a little hot-headed." Picard smiled as he reminded himself a little hot-headedness was not necessarily a bad thing. There was a time when this very term was used by others to describe Picard.
"It is also evident, "Picard continued," that Mr. Chakotay is extremely protective of his crew. During our brief discussion, Counsellor Troi could not detect any duality or attempts to mislead us in any way. In her opinion Chakotay is genuinely concerned over the missing Starfleet personnel. She also states he is telling the truth, or what he believes to be the truth regarding the mysterious memory loss."
Picard rubbed his forehead in an attempt to relieve some of the pain. He knew there was something else he was supposed to do but he could not focus his aching mind enough to remember what it was.
Realising the headache was developing into a migraine, he decided he would head off to sickbay now. Before he reached the turbo-lift however La-Forge contacted him via his communicator.
"Picard here, what is it Mr La Forge?" Picard hoped this was something he could deal with on route to Sickbay.
"Mr Mudd and I are in main engineering, and the wrap drive is, well…I think you should come down here and have a look for yourself. It's a little hard to describe."
Picard sighed. "Very well, I am on my way."
Picard noticed that Data was busy tapping away at several control panels at his usual high-speed while the only visible sign of Riker were his legs. They where sticking out of a computer access panel as Riker delved into the inner workings of various systems in his attempts to get the main computer back online.
"You have the bridge Number One." Picard said, more out of habit than anything else.
"Aye, Aye Sir!" came the muffled reply as the Turbo Lift doors hissed shut.
"Engineering." As the lift sped off Picard suddenly realised he was supposed to be going to engineering next anyway so he could finish the initial report for Worf. It was a little unsettling to discover he had been distracted so much by the pain.
.
"Maybe I've caught a Delta Quadrant disease?" he said out loud.
Don't be silly, thought Picard. It was just a headache after all.
"And maybe Mr Picard, the real reason is you're getting old and losing your marbles!"
Yes, thought Picard, as he smiled to himself. And talking to yourself in an empty Turbo-Lift is not exactly a good example to convince anyone otherwise.
In Sickbay, Beverly Crusher was calibrating some equipment she had beamed over from the Enterprise to help restore Voyager's EMH when Troi entered.
"Hello Counsellor, are you OK?" Crusher put down the diagnostic tool she had been using to setup the Database recovery module and picked up her medical Tricorder. She noted with some concern that Troi was quite pale.
"I'm sorry to disturb you Doctor," Troi said apologetically, "It's just, I have a terrible headache…."