DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but the character of Rebekah. Everything else belongs to someone else and I've only borrowed their characters for my own personal enjoyment.
Will had Dukat escorted to the conference room and joined his sister, Ben, Miles, Julian and the rest of the Enterprise senior staff on their way to the conference room.
Julian wrapped his arms around Rebekah the minute they were alone.
"I was so worried about you," Julian said, kissing Rebekah.
"I'm sorry I took off like that. I had to see if my theory was valid. I admit, though, I wasn't expecting Dukat to realize I knew what happened," Rebekah said.
"That was totally crazy. You can't be doing things like that," he said, taking her in his arms again.
"It's my job, Julian. It's what I do," Rebekah said.
"Although, I did like you playing the part of the hero. I had no idea you could be so forceful," Rebekah said.
"Neither did I. The only thing I thought of was getting you back and seeing Dukat ready to attack you... I guess my instincts took over and my desire to protect my woman came out," Julian said, smiling slightly.
"Well, I liked the caveman mentality. Made me feel special. No one's ever acted like that. At least not anyone that isn't my brother," she said.
Julian was about to speak when Rebekah's comm badge beeped.
"Dr. Crusher to Rebekah Riker. Commander, I need to see you in sick bay. You need a physical to make sure you are fine after your ordeal."
"OK, doctor, I'll be there shortly. Riker out."
"You'd better go. I'll meet you in the conference room," Julian said.
Rebekah nodded. "That would be great. I'll see you then," she said. They shared a quick kiss and Rebekah headed out the door to sick bay.
Bekah entered sick bay and was immediately enveloped in a hug by her former mother-in-law.
"Beverly," Bekah said.
"Sorry, but when Will told me where we were going and why, I was so worried. Just because you're not married to my son doesn't mean I don't still think of you as my daughter. I'm glad you're safe," Beverly said.
"So am I, but you know anything is possible when you're in Starfleet," Bekah said, sitting on the exam table.
"I know. Doesn't make it any easier. Now, I'm going to do a quick scan and make sure you're not suffering any ill effects from that," Beverly said, taking out her tricorder and waving it over Bekah.
"OK. I have to meet everyone in the conference room," Bekah said.
Beverly consulted her tricorder and was shocked at what appeared before her. She didn't know how to tell Bekah the information, but she knew she couldn't mention it to her before she reported to the conference room.
She took a deep breath and turned back to Bekah.
"OK. I'll let you know if I find anything out of the ordinary," Beverly said.
Bekah got off the bed and headed to the conference room.
She entered the conference room and found, not only her friends and ship mates from the Enterprise and DS9, but also several high ranking members of the Cardassian government.
"Thanks for coming," she said.
"You know the cause of this virus that has infected our planet's computers," a Cardassian identified as Nentauk asked.
"I do and I want you all to know I have proof to back up my allegations," Bekah said.
"Of course, please go on Commander," Captain Picard said.
"I've been working with Chief O'Brien on identifying a cause behind the computer failures on Deep Space Nine, which everyone knows is a former Cardassian outpost Tarak Nor. During my investigation on DS9, I discovered where the virus originated from on board the station. It came from Commander Sisko's office," Bekah said.
"What did you find on the computer terminal," Ben asked.
"That the virus was originated from Ben's office, but it was implanted in the computer long before the Federation ever took possession of the station," Bekah said.
"Why," her brother Will asked.
"Excellent question, dear brother. And I wondered that myself until I realized who'd placed the virus on the station's computer. Then the motive was simple. The virus was implanted into the computer and was set to activate by a subspace carrier wave. This allowed the virus to be activated without the person being physically on the station. Thereby giving them an alibi when the virus became active. The only person who could have done it and have something to gain is Gul Dukat," Bekah said.
All eyes shifted to the Cardassian in shackles at the head of the table.
"That is absurd Commander Riker I don't know what your animosity is toward Cardassians but that is a crazy accusation," Dukat said.
"Really, Dukat? Care to explain why you were getting ready to try and discredit me to not only your own people but to the Federation," Bekah asked.
"What happened, Commander," Captain Picard asked his officer.
"Dukat figured out when I asked for permission to come to his planet to figure out what happened with the virus. He knew I must have suspected something. He was going to tell the Cardassian Central Command I was trying to sabotage the government and I was the originator of the virus. He was going to have me executed. He would then tell the Federation that I had suffered some unfortunate accident while uncovering the cause of the virus. His plan was to have some rogue Cardassian faction take the fall for the virus. No one would ever know about Dukat's involvement," Bekah said.
"Wait! He planted the virus in his own computer and activated it himself? Why," Julian asked.
"So Bajor wouldn't get Federation acceptance. He knew if the Federation accepted Bajor, they would have the Federation backing them should anyone project some aggression toward them. That would end the Cardassian's conquering ways," Bekah said.
"But why try to set you up," Ben asked.
"Who would believe a saboteur and disgraced Starfleet officer? Dukat stood to gain a lot of popularity if his campaign succeeded," Bekah said.
"But what did that have to do with the station computers," Miles asked.
"Dukat implanted the virus into the computer of the station. The virus was dormant until a subspace carrier wave, sent from Cardassia Prime activated the virus. The virus showed as originating from the station because it did. It produced a subspace wave that sent it directly to the Cardassian mainframe. When the virus started wreaking havoc on the planet it also affected our computers on the station because they were also Cardassian in origin. Not having the originals wiped out completely made them susceptible, but the Federation software on top of the Cardassian protected the computers to a degree. The virus affected little subroutines that activated the various Cardassian memos and things still stored in the computer banks. When I started digging around to find the cause of the stations computer malfunctions, I discovered the virus' signature. I traced it back to Ben's office, the former office of Gul Dukat. I never once suspected Ben was behind the sabotage, I just put two and two together. Once Dukat held me in his office, I knew I was right," Bekah said.
"Brilliant piece of detective work, Commander Riker. You have done a great service to the Cardassian people. Thank you for everything and I promise you, Dukat will be dealt with by the Central Command. May we leave, Captain Picard," Nentauk asked.
"Of course, Legate. Thank you for your understanding in this matter and we wish you luck. If you need anything of Starfleet, please ask," Picard said.
"Starfleet will send some engineers to take care of that virus, sir," Bekah added.
"We'd be in your debt. Come let's get this traitor back to Cardassia," Nentauk said. His group exited the conference room, leaving Bekah with Julian, Ben, Miles and the Enterprise senior officers.
"What the hell were you thinking," Will asked his sister.
"Before you start yelling, you're right. I wasn't thinking and I'm sorry, but I had to do something. I couldn't let Dukat win after everything he put the Bajorans though," Bekah said.
"What ever gave you the idea to look in that direction," Geordi asked his friend.
"'How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains,however improbable, must be the truth,'" Bekah said.
"Sherlock Holmes. An excellent point, Commander," Data said.
Bekah looked at the android and saw the smile on his face. "For a while there, I felt like Watson. Only I didn't have the intelligent Sherlock Holmes waiting in the wings," Bekah said.
"You did just fine. Now why don't you head to your quarters and get some rest. We'll set a course back for DS9 and return Ben, Miles and Julian back to the station," Will said.
Without another word, Bekah left the conference room, followed by Julian. She'd sent him a look that told him to follow and he needed to talk with her before they arrived back at the station.