2376, Deep Space Nine
A loud female voice was calling his name from the opposite side of the skeletal, charcoal black form of the stairwell at Quark's. A hand beckoned furiously. "Join us!"
The bar was barely half as crowded as it had been on the previous day, but there was still enough activity within to obscure the speaker - however briefly - from the doctor's view. He moved slightly closer, and grinned at the sight of Dax's smooth, white face. But his steps were suddenly hesitant, smile fading, as he saw the others in their party.
Ro, Kira, Dax… Ezri beamed at him and patted the only available seat, and Ro turned towards him, just in time to see an open scowl pass momentarily between Julian's dark brows. No-one else appeared to be paying much attention to their silent exchange, but it was her remaining companions who had particularly caught his eye. And the empty chair was positioned directly between Ezri and Professor Amy Dowling.
You set this up on purpose, didn't you? He wished for a moment that he could have possessed even a basic level of telepathic ability, so that the irritable thought he had sent her way would not fail to reach its target. But Ezri's expression was far too innocent for his liking.
"Doctor Bashir?" the Vulcan woman commented as soon as Julian had settled into his chair. Her slender eyebrows arched precisely upwards, with what might possibly have been just a hint of irony. "So. The same young man whom we came so close to meeting just a single afternoon before this one?"
Julian was spared the need to reply as one of Quark's waiters shuffled closer with a tray of tall, multicoloured drinks balanced in both his hands. The grey-eyed Ferengi - whose face was not especially distinguished, except for a slightly rattish overbite - was silent as he set the drinks upon the table. But he cast a surreptitious glance at the clear, palm sized disc that Kira still held in her hands.
He paused a moment, as though secretly calculating the value of this tiny container. But his gaze lasted for only as long as it could barely be noticed - or until he was sure that there was no great amount of Latinum to be gained from whatever was inside.
Then, just as wordlessly, he left.
There was a brief silence at the table. But then Kira glanced at the retreating waiter, and chuckled. "All right." She held up the transparent container as though merely picking up on a previously unfinished conversation. "You've got me. What is this?"
For a moment, Julian imagined that he'd caught a glimmer of excitement in Amy's eyes - identical to that which he occasionally sensed behind his own. Ro's expression was just slightly pained, and Julian allowed himself some passing amusement. He supposed that of all those present, the mahogany-haired Security Chief was the least attuned to the delights of scientific discovery.
Kira Nerys was no scientist either. But she was a far more practised diplomat than she'd been when they first met. At least she managed to appear somewhat interested.
Which wouldn't have made an awful lot of difference, Julian supposed. He'd seen that wide-open grin on too many faces not to know that Amy would most likely have carried on regardless.
"It's for storing and cataloguing bio-samples," she told them all. "Professor M'Pel and I - and the rest of our team - are all quite eager to see her new innovations in ecological research being put into practice."
With a fleeting glance at M'Pel, Julian struggled to imagine how the stoic Vulcan scientist could ever be particularly eager about anything. But Amy continued without even seeming to notice his scepticism. Her smile grew still brighter with every word.
"I'm actually looking forward to testing it as well. I mean, it's so basic, it's ingenious. With every new species we find, we gather the genetic data first. And then we scan the habitat for similar DNA, and from that we can get an idea of the population density without even having to bother with individual tags. Er…" Her voice trailed to nothing.
"Don't stop," Ezri encouraged her. "We're all fascinated. Right, Julian?"
He glared, longing once more to be able to send her secret telepathic messages. Whatever it is you're trying to gain from all this, don't.
Suddenly, Amy laughed softly. "Truth or dare," she said - not quite under her breath.
Julian's head jerked around towards her. "What?"
"Truth or dare." The professor repeated her challenge, and grinned still more broadly at the circle of confusion around her.
"It's an Earth game," she explained, but glanced around the table with a troubled sigh. Her smile faded as she stared back down at her hands. It was difficult to maintain a clear view of her face, especially in the dim, unnatural lighting, but Julian imagined that he may have even seen her blush. "Private joke…" she muttered. "Never mind."
Two pairs of questioning dark eyes were now unexpectedly directed at Julian. Their aim was as sure as guided torpedos, and every bit as unlikely to release him from their hold. Trying to appear indifferent, he shrugged at Kira and Ro - and also at Professor M'Pel, whose statuesque face was every bit as curious, regardless of how practised she might have assumed herself to be at concealing it.
"There is something like that on Earth," he said. "But…" He wanted to lie to them - to assure the others around the table that he didn't understand the reference. But he found himself glancing at the suddenly uncertain face of Professor Amy Dowling. He couldn't possibly be that cruel.
But neither could he confess to all the rising doubts he still had of his own. He realised that he'd been peering anxiously over his shoulder, and that Ro was casting none-too-subtle frowns in his direction. "Will you stop doing that?" Ezri hissed in his ear.
"Sorry." Julian Bashir forced a chuckle from deep inside his chest. There was no more sign of sinister activity than there'd been when he arrived. "I guess you have to be Human to understand our jokes sometimes. It's just one of those things."