Chapter 6: Reunion

Ziyal let out a yawn. She had stayed in the infirmary for most of the time after the fight between the Klingons, Nausicaans and the Bajoran crew started. That had been several hours ago. First she had helped by keeping the children in the infirmary calm and occupied. Later on she had stayed with Kira, who had osteo-regenerators on her broken leg and wrist. Since Kira couldn't write or type, Ziyal had been taking notes while Kira sorted out everything.

Lavelle and T'Rea had been dealing with things in Ops, while Ro, who had also snagged her husband to help, and her deputies had been scrambling to find the space to lock up everyone who needed to be locked up. Nog and his staff were fixing the Promenade, while Bashir and his staff were fixing the people. And Dax had been all over the station, dealing with angry captains who had not yet been allowed to leave, welcoming a few officials who needed welcoming and she was now dealing with several distraught shopkeepers whose livelihood had been damaged.

But now things were settling down somewhat. The infirmary had become less crowded, a small cargo bay had been converted to an extra holding area and the Promenade was at least cleaned up, although not yet completely fixed.

"Do you need to stay here tonight?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen anyone since they put these on me." With her free hand she gestured towards the osteo-regenerators on her leg and wrist. "If I don't have to stay..."

Ziyal laughed. "Yes I know. You hate being cooped up in the infirmary. Let's see if can find someone to give us some answers." Ziyal headed to the main room of the infirmary.

"Doctor Bashir?" She managed to snag him on the way to his office.

"Yes, Ziyal?"

"Do you think you could take a look at Nerys? I am not sure how much longer I can keep her there."

Bashir smiled. "I take it she is getting restless? She lasted longer already then I thought she would." He followed Ziyal to the small chamber where he had put Kira, so she could do her work without disturbing the rest of the patients.

Kira glared at him when he entered. "How long am I going to be stuck here?"

"Let me take a look." He grabbed his tricorder and scanned both broken bones. "They are healed. But they are still vulnerable. You need to stay off your leg tonight. For your wrist I have this." He held up an immobilizer.

Kira still glared, but she held out her hand. "Anything to get out of here."

Bashir fastened the immobilizer on her wrist. "How do you want to do this?"

"Do what?"

"Well, you can't walk back to your quarters. So we can get you there on an anti-grav lift, we can transport you... or I can get someone to carry you there in his arms."

If looks could have killed, Bashir would have been dead on the ground. "I will take the transporter."

During this Ziyal remained in the background, but at the offer of having Nerys carried back to her quarters she burst out laughing. "I would have liked to see that." Seeing Nerys glare at her. "That glare doesn't have any effect on me, Nerys."

Kira only rolled her eyes and tapped her combadge. "Kira to Ops."

"Yes Colonel ?"

"Transport me to my quarters at my mark."

"Standing by."

Kira looked at Ziyal, who said: "I am heading there as soon as I get these notes to Ops." She held up the PADD.

Kira nodded. "Energize." And her form dissolved into energy.

Ziyal turned towards Bashir. "Goodnight Doctor . I need to get these to Ops and then I am going to bed."

"Goodnight, Ziyal. Pleasant dreams."


After a meal of zabu stew and rokassa juice, a luxury difficult to get on Cardassia in the current circumstances, and a sonic shower Garak left his quarters and headed in the direction of the Promenade.

"Computer, location of Tora Ziyal."

"Tora Ziyal is in the infirmary." The computers bland voice announced.

He took a little used corridor that provided a shortcut to the turbo lift near the infirmary. A few minutes later the turbo lift arrived at his destination. The Promenade was a lot less chaotic, although engineering personnel still were hard at work. Entering the infirmary, someone bumped into him, her head bowed over a PADD.

The young woman looked up and her eyes widened. "Garak!"

His eyes widened slightly as he took in Ziyal. Her hair was done up in a traditional Cardassian style, and she wore a simple, ankle-length dress from green-gray wool. She almost looked exactly the same as he had seen her the last time, except for one thing.

Her eyes.

Although she was smiling, her eyes were sad and the twinkle he remembered so well was gone.

"Hello my dear. It is good to see you again." He held out his hand and Ziyal responded, pressing her hand against his.

"I am very glad to see you too."

It was silent for a bit, both not knowing quite what to say to each other. Finally Ziyal looked down at the PADD in her hand. "I promised Nerys I would get this to Ops."

"Shall I walk with you?" He offered her his arm and she took it, as they had done so often before.

"They didn't tell me that the Trager arrived already."

"Lieutenant Dax asked me if I wanted to inform you, but I asked her not to. Everything seemed... chaotic."

"Did she tell you of the fight on the Promenade?"

"She did. She had to inform Gul Macet that station leave for his men was not yet possible."


When they neared the turbo lift that went to Ops, Nog looked from where he was waiting for the lift to arrive. Ziyal and Garak were heading in his direction.

When they arrived, Garak nodded at him. "Lieutenant."

Nog nodded back. "Garak... Ziyal... Also going to Ops? "

"I am. Colonel Kira asked me to take this PADD to Ops for Commander Lavelle."

"How is Colonel Kira?"

"According to doctor Bashir her leg and wrist were healed, so he allowed her back to her quarters."

"That is good news." Nog surveyed the couple for a moment. "Why don't you give me the PADD and I will take it to Commander Lavelle. I am sure you have a lot to talk about."

Ziyal hesitated for a moment, then handed him the PADD. "Thank you, lieutenant."

"Your welcome." The turbo lift arrived and Nog disappeared out of sight.


"Would you like to go somewhere?" Garak asked.

Ziyal smiled a bit. "Let me think for a moment... Everything is closed and I am staying with Colonel Kira... Perhaps we can just walk around the station?"

"Of course." They walked for a bit, both lost in thought. "How have you been the last few days, Ziyal?"

"Quite busy. There is so much I have missed. Mostly I have been reading a lot. And asking people many questions. How are you doing on Cardassia?"

"Like you, my dear, I am quite busy. I have been serving as a liaison between the current government of Alon Ghemor and the Federation relief workers."

"Ghemor? Is he family of legate Tekeny Ghemor?"

"He is a nephew of Tekeny Ghemor."

They emerged on the second level of the Promenade and Garak guided them to bench which he knew from which they had a view out of one of the large windows, but which was also secluded from casual looks.

Ziyal sat down next to him and stared outside. Garak surveyed her and asked: "How are you really doing, my dear? You have said very little."

"I have no idea what to say... Things have changed so much..." Ziyal was silent again.

"What do you mean?"

"I think you know better then me how much has changed the last two years, Garak. I have seen nothing of it actually happen... But people I cared for are gone... others have changed so much... And the people who cared for me... they lost me and mourned for me when my clone was killed... There is no place for me in this ..."

"Then the answer is very simple. You must create a place yourself."

"That sounds very easy."

"Oh, it is not. It is one of the most difficult things to do. But you have done it before. When you came to live here the first time you had to do the same. Why could you not do it again?"

Ziyal looked like she wanted to argue, but after a moment she subsided, not being able to find an argument. "It all seems so... much..."

"You do not have to do it all at once. And you don not have to do it alone."

Ziyal looked at him and for the first time her smile seemed to reach her eyes. "Thank you." She leaned into him and he put his arm around her waist, giving her the comfort she craved. Both stared out of the window for a long time.


It was very late when Garak walked Ziyal back to the quarters she shared with Kira.

"It helped a lot what you said. Thank you."

"I am at your service, my dear. Sleep well." They pressed their palms together and Garak headed back his quarters. Ziyal looked after him for a moment, then entered.

She was surprised to find Nerys still sitting on the couch. "I thought you were going to sleep, Nerys."

"I couldn't sleep. My leg and wrist are itching like crazy."

Ziyal winced. "Ah, I understand why you can't sleep."

Nerys regarded her closely. "Did you enjoy time with Garak?"

Ziyal searched for words for a moment. "It was very awkward at the beginning, but what he said helped a lot."

"I am glad." Nerys saw Ziyal regarding her quizzically.

"I thought you didn't like Garak."

Nerys reached over and put her hand on Ziyal's. "I am not exactly fond of him, Ziyal. But you are. And that is what counts here." Nerys started to stand up and winced. "Would you mind helping me to my bedroom? I need to get some sleep before Julian decides to confine me to quarters tomorrow."

"Of course not." Ziyal helped Nerys to her bedroom and then went to sleep herself.


"From what both the Klingons and the Nausicaans said, it were the Bajorans who started the fight. And while I would not trust the word of a Nausicaan, three Klingons swore it to me on their honor. Further more, I have questioned other crew members of the Bajoran freighter. These three men and the captain have been seen talking with a high-ranking member of the Bajoran Militia while they were on Bajor. Credits apparently changed hands..."

People were decidedly bleary-eyed when they gathered around the polished wooden table in the ward room for the daily morning briefing. Bashir had dark spots under his eyes and Riker yawned discreetly behind his hand. T'Rea was the only one who didn't show any outward signs of tiredness.

"And they declared that they had seen the same Militia member onboard later, but now dressed in casual clothing.." Ro finished this part of her briefing on the events after the massive fight yesterday.

Dax looked worried. "Do you think that could be Yaren? It was so hectic yesterday, he could have easily slipped on the station and disappeared."

"I strongly suspect it was Yaren who was on board. The descriptions matched."

Kira looked grim. "I want to go to Yellow Alert until he is found."

"I already have teams on the lookout for him. Unfortunately we cannot easily detect his biosign among the Bajoran population on the station."

"Would it be prudent also to alert some members of the crew of the Trager? Gul Macet bears resemblance to Dukat. If Yaren wishes for revenge, he might also make a viable target." Ensign T'Rea commented.

"The same goes for Garak. Probably he will also spent a lot of time with Ziyal the next few days."

"I will inform Ziyal, Garak and Macet. Lieutenant Ro, I want you to find him. Request any help you might need."

"Yes sir."

The meeting broke up half an hour later. Ro quickly approached Bashir. "Doctor."

"Yes lieutenant."

"We had planned a checkup and inoculations for both Loral and Neelas this morning. I would like to push those back to later in the afternoon."

"No problem. I will see you when you have the time. I will contact you if anything comes in between."

"I will see you this afternoon, Julian."