Ch 10

Outside the bar a Dabo girl tapped her foot impatiently with her hands on her hips. O'Brian and a Bajoran waited as well.

"It isn't like the boss to be late," the Dabo girl said. "I left my boy's schoolwork in my locker last night, and I need to get it."

O'Brian put his face up to the window, straining to see inside to no avail. "It looks deserted."

Dr. Bashir joined them. "What's happening?" he asked.

"Don't know," O'Brian said. "Quark isn't here."

"Now that is strange," Bashir said. "As oddly as he's been acting lately I hope this isn't serious. I can't imagine him risking losing profit over anything."

"I'm just about to go on shift," O'Brian said. "I need my breakfast."

"And the other breakfast customers will start showing up soon," the Dabo girl said. "They always do."

"Something about this isn't right," Bashir said. "Do you know where Rom's quarters are?"

"I do," the Dabo girl said. "You know where the lower residential district is, right?"

Bashir wondered why she would call an area on a station a district, but Dabo girls weren't known for their intelligence.

"I do," he said.

"He lives on Corridor 11. The one near the recycling station."

Bashir knew where she meant. The section stunk from the recycling, and no one took a place there that could afford better. The constant garbage scent kept anyone away who could afford anything better.

Quark could at least pay him more than that, Bashir thought. It wasn't a good place to live, and the residents were shady. He'd treated more than a few stab wounds inflicted there, and he found that he had more respect for Rom having to raise Nog there. Nog was a lot of things, but he wasn't a criminal.

"I'm going to go find Rom," Bashir said. "I just have a bad feeling about this."

"I don't' have time to wait," O'Brian said. "I'll have to get something from the replicator." He made a face as he said it. "One of these days I'll find out why everything has such an oily taste and fix it," he said.

As few people ate from the replicators as possible, with most preferring to either eat from their own stored dry goods until later in the day, or on Bajor if possible. "This place needs a decent donut shop," O'Brian grumbled before he left.

Bashir wasn't listening. Instead he was listing in his mind all the odd ways Quark's behavior had changed since he'd returned to the station with a concussion. He hadn't even asked after the status of the skin graft that Bashir was growing for him, and considering his vanity that was surprising. He had at least expected to have to barter with Quark over the price.

He wasn't surprised that Quark was flirting with Dax. That was normal for him, but to offer her an expensive beverage at no price? It was so unlike him that Bashir wondered if he could have missed some subtle brain trauma from the concussion.

"I'll go with you," the Dabo girl offered, and she batted her eyes at him. She was homely for human standards, a race Bashir was only vaguely familiar with. She had oddly small eyes and reptilian scales – definitely not his type.

"You should stay here in case he returns," Bashir said.

She looked disappointed, but she didn't follow him. Just as he left the commercial area his com badge beeped. "Odo to Dr. Bashir."

"Yes?" Bashir asked.

"We have a medical emergency in Access Corridor 5B. Do you know how to get here?"

Bashir searched his almost flawless memory to no avail. "I don't remember it."

"Where are you?" Odo asked.

"I'm just leaving Quark's bar," Bashir said. "He isn't here, and it's so unlike him I'm concerned for his health."

"That would be because he's here," Odo said, "and he's in significant distress."

"Did you injure him?" Bashir asked. He went to the information board and typed in Access Corridor 5B and saw that it was nearby. The corridor was behind the bar and led toward the docks. He headed that way.

"Yes," Odo said. "It wasn't easy either. He put up quite a fight."

"Did I just hear you correctly?" Bashir asked. "Did you say Quark tried to fight you?"

Bashir reached the turn where the map had showed a connection between his way and the Access Corridor. A wall stood in the way. They need to update that map, he thought.

"He said the station was under attack and he had to make sure Rom and Nog were safe. My attempts to correct his assumptions failed."

"So he attacked you?" Bashir asked.

"He didn't exactly attack me," Odo said. "He had a phaser out, and I couldn't let him wander around the station in a delusional state of mind with a weapon drawn and ready. I had to subdue him. He knows who I am, but he's convinced that I'm stopping him from getting to his family."

"The map is out of date, and the way it said to go is obstructed," Bashir said. "I'll have to find another route. Describe his injuries."

"Only a broken arm," Odo said. "I tapped his fourth vertebrate, and he went down like a ton of bricks. Feringhee have that little place back there where they're vulnerable. He broke the arm when he fell."

"I don't hear him," Bashir said. "An injured Feringhee makes a lot of noise."

"Don't I know it," Odo said. "I put something in his mouth to shut him up."

"Odo!" Bashir said. "You do not treat an injured man like that! Take it out immediately. He might tell you something that could help me diagnose him."

"I'll take the gag out when you get here," Odo said. "The noise was giving me a headache."

"I know you can't get headaches, Odo," Bashir said. "I also know how much you dislike Quark, but practice some compassion. He's obviously ill."

"That's why I called you instead of simply arresting him. I do suggest you hurry. He's a bad shade of beige right now, much lighter than his normal color."

"Are you restraining him by his injured arm?" Bashir asked.

"He's still struggling," Odo said. "I have no choice."

The next passageway was blocked as well, this time by a small store that wasn't even on the map. It was a new place that sold Bajoran crafts, and it was open. Bashir walked in and took the place in. It smelled like flowers and had some hand-woven things that old women would find attractive. An elderly Bajoran woman smiled at him from behind the counter.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"This is going to sound odd, but does this store have a back entrance?"

"Young man, I won't put up with foolishness in my store," she said. "I don't want to have to ask you to leave, but that entrance is for employees only."

"There's an Access Corridor back there, and I need to get through to it," Bashir said. "The ways that I know of are blocked, and I was hoping I could get through here. There's an injured man in the corridor."

"Why didn't you say so?" she asked, and she led him through a cluttered, musty smelling backroom to a door. "Shouldn't you call a doctor for him?"

"I am one," Bashir said. "Thank you for your help."

The corridor was dingy, even by DS9 standards, but it was also empty for as far as Bashir could see. It curved with the shape of the station, and Bashir could only assume that Quark and Odo were out of sight.

"Bashir to Odo. I'm in the Corridor, but I don't know which way to go."

"I'm down here!" he heard Odo yell, his voice echoing down the Corridor. Bashir ran, hoping Odo hadn't injured Quark badly. Quark had enough damage to his head recently without any more problems, and Bashir didn't relish the idea of dealing with Feringhee. They were the most temperamental, complaining, whiny patients he'd ever dealt with.

He stopped when he turned the corner and saw what Odo had transformed himself into. He didn't like snakes, at all. When he was a child he'd seen a few cobras, and they always terrified him when they raised themselves and spread their hoods. One of them was within striking distance when he was younger, and it was only his mother's quick aim with a stone that drew the Cobra's attention toward her so she could distract it. He really wished they weren't a protected species.

He also wished Odo hadn't chosen that exact form, with the exception of a humanoid mouth. He was wrapped around Quark, covering his face up to his nose, showing eyes that were alert and furious.

"Would you come here?" Odo demanded testily. "This is a hard shape to keep."

"That's a disturbing transformation," Bashir said. "Drop it so I can look at him."

Odo let Quark go, and Quark immediately grabbed his left arm with his other hand. Bashir could see where the arm was broken and hung limply at an odd angle.

Quark stood, but he leaned against the wall as if to keep himself from falling. "I'm warning you Odo, if you stand between me and my family I'll kill you! "

Odo transformed back into his humanoid form, held up a small phaser, and dangled it in front of Quark. "With what?" he asked.

"Stop teasing him!" Bashir said. "He's injured."

"Why are you two bothering with me anyway?" Quark asked. "You should be seeing if any of these people are alive!" He waved his hand as if to encompass the area around them.

"There's no one here," Odo said.

Bashir held a hand up toward Odo. "Hush."

Odo grumbled at the indignity of being hushed, but did as he was told.

"Quark, what do you see?"

"What do you mean what do I see? The same things you see. Why aren't you helping these people?"

"So you see people that need my help," Bashir said. He kept a calm, neutral voice.

"Are you blind?" Quark asked. "Were your eyes injured when we were hit?"

"We haven't been..." Odo started, but he stopped when the angry look from Bashir reminded him that the doctor was now in charge of the situation.

"I know we don't know each other well," Bashir said, "but you must know by now that I take caring for the people on this station very seriously."

"Yes," Quark answered irritably.

"I've treated you before," Bashir said. "You know I'm trustworthy, don't you?"

"As much as any hew-mon is," Quark said.

"I'll take what I can get," Bashir said. "Look at how we're standing. If there was something wrong with the anti-gravity generator we'd be falling too."

"That's true," Quark said. He looked around at the bodies sprawled about. "But I see the corpses. I smell the burning flesh."

Bashir stepped towards Quark, but Odo put his hand out against his chest. "I insist that you treat this with at least a little regard for your own safety."

"You don't want to hurt me, do you?" Bashir asked Quark.

"Of course not!" Quark said. "I just want to get to my family!"

"If you'll come with me I'll bring Rom to you. Would that work?"

"Not if he's dead!"

Bashir stepped close to Quark, ready to defend himself if need be. The first thing he noticed was that Quark's pupils were extremely dilated.

"Have you been doing illicit drugs?" Bashir asked.

"No. What? Where are these ridiculous questions coming from?"

Quark fell again, and Bashir offered a hand to help him stand. Quark leaned against the wall again. "How are you upright?" he asked.

"Because what you're experiencing is a hallucination," Bashir said.

"I suppose it must be," Quark said, "but it's so real."

"No, it's just very persistent. What were you doing before this happened?"

Quark glanced at Odo.

"Odo, I need you to leave," Bashir said. "I can take it from here."

"I'm not sure you could handle him alone," Odo said. "He landed a few good hits on me, and if I was a solid they might have killed me."

"That's right," Quark said, "and don't you forget it."

"Who ended up bound and gagged?" Odo asked.

"Enough!" Bashir said.

Odo left, and Bashir saw how Quark relaxed.

"He really does get to you, doesn't he?" Bashir asked.

"Is it that obvious?"

"It is, yes. Are you still seeing the corpses?"

"As clearly as ever," Quark said.

"Do you accept that what you're seeing isn't real?"

"It only makes sense," Quark said, "but I can't shake it."

"Did you ingest any sort of chemicals before this happened?"

"I had a shot of Alterian Water," Quark said. "I was curious after watching Dax's reaction."

"Just one shot?" Bashir asked. "I need you to be honest with me."

"Yes," Quark said, "but it went badly. The memories it brought me were from a time in my life that was, well, traumatic."

"Did it have to do with the planet Sarafina came from?"

"How did you know?"

"I guessed. A lot has changed since you came back from there. I'd like you to tell me what happened there. I feel like you kept back important information from me, and I want to help you. For the moment I just want to get you to a safe place so I can treat you. What I want you to do is to close your eyes, take my arm, and let me guide you to sick bay. That way you won't have to see any dead bodies."

"That's a lot to ask."

"Do you think you can make your way there yourself?"

Quark looked at the corpses. If they were hallucinations he would have to walk right through them. "No," he said.

"Then take my arm or I'll have to send for a stretcher. I want to take you voluntarily, but you did pull a weapon and fight Odo, even if he started it."

Quark closed his eyes and took Bashir's arm, and they walked along the corridor slowly, with Quark moving as unsteadily as an old woman. "It still feels like the floor is slanted," he said.

"It isn't," Bashir said. "Is there another way out of here besides through your bar? One of your girls is there, and unless you want to deal with her right now I'd find another way out."

"If you keep going on for about a quarter mile it comes out near the docks," Quark said.

"It's in the right direction, at least," Bashir said.

They hadn't moved far when Quark fell heavily again, and this time he had more difficulty getting up. He had opened his eyes when he fell, and Bashir watched closely as Quark looked about him. His breathing quickened, and Bashir saw raw fear on his face.

"There's nothing there but a wall," Bashir said. "Close your eyes."

Quark did, but as Bashir let him take his arm again, he felt the smaller man trembling. "Be still a moment," he said. He checked Quark's pulse, which was fast, even for Feringhee.

"Take a few deep breaths," Bashir said. Quark continued breathing heavily.

"Match my breathing," Bashir said. He took a large breath, and Quark took one as well. When he exhaled Quark matched him. After several breaths he was breathing more normally, and the trembling had stopped.

"I know you're afraid," Bashir said. "I'd be afraid in your situation. Just trust me and I'll get you to a safe place. You want that, don't you?"

"More than you can ever know," Quark said.

Bashir heard exhaustion in his voice. "Do you want to rest here a bit before we move on?"

"No," Quark said. "The sooner we get to sick bay the sooner you can find out what's wrong with me."

They moved slowly, and when they left the corridor they came into the loading area of the docks. It wasn't being used much, as most freight came in the middle of the night, but they still passed workers who gave them curious looks. Bashir ignored them. It looked like Quark had hurt his eyes and Bashir was helping him to sick bay. If they wanted to assume that then it was all the better for Quark.

He ignored curious glances and stares as they walked, and he focused on Quark. When they finally reached sick-bay he had another problem. As Quark tried to climb onto the medical bed it was obvious that he still felt like the station was tilted at a 45 degree angle.

"I'm going to have to restrain you to keep you on the bed," Bashir said.

"No!" Quark said. "Absolutely not."

"I'm not going to do anything to your arms and legs. I'm just going to put the monitor over you, and I'll tighten it down a bit, just enough to hold you still."

Quark allowed him to help him onto the bed and tighten the monitor over him. That is one persistent delusion, Bashir thought. Quark hadn't opened his eyes at all since he'd fallen.

"Tell me more about the events that lead up to this," Bashir said. "I'm going to take a blood sample while we talk."

"I had a falling out with a friend yesterday," Quark said, "probably permanently. It cost me a lot of money too, more money than I might ever see in my life."

"I can see how that would be distressing," Bashir said.

"I was up all night thinking about it," Quark said, "and this morning I just couldn't face another day. Everything seemed so pointless. I remembered how happy Dax had been when she drank the Altarian Water, and I thought a small drink might help. It didn't.

"When did the hallucinations start?" Bashir asked. He wasn't sure if Quark knew the answer, but he hoped that he'd get some useful information.

"The Water didn't do what I expected," Quark said. "When I was in the Merchant Marines I saw some bad things, and one of the worst of them came back to me. It's something I never even told Rom about, and I used to tell him everything."

"Do you think it might be time to talk to someone about it?" Bashir asked. "It seems like it isn't going away."

"No," Quark said. "I don't think it is. I got as far away from the military as I could, and I'm still affected by it."

Bashir took a blood sample, and when he pricked Quark, Quark said, "ow! Stop that!"

He was in the Merchant Marines? Bashir thought. Something told him Quark wasn't lying. He took out a tool and began a diagnostic on Quark's arm.

"Have you ever seen a dead child?" Quark asked.

Bashir almost dropped the tool when Quark asked that. "Yes," he said. "I lost a five year old patient once. She was barely alive when they brought her in. Head wound from falling in a play area. It still gives me nightmares."

"Can you imagine a room full of them?" Quark asked. His voice had sunk, and Bashir leaned closer to hear him.

"No," he said. "I can't imagine it, but it must have been horrible."

"That's what I saw when I drank the Water, the memory I had to relive again in all its original detail. Those Romulans tortured the children for no reason other than their own twisted pleasure. I couldn't believe it the first time I saw it, and it's still hard for me to understand why anyone would want to do that. What profit could there possibly be in torturing children?"

Quark's voice broke, and with it the tears came. He put an arm across his face. "What use is it if I couldn't use any of my skills to help those children? All the latinum in the universe couldn't reverse what happened to those children. It's all a lie. The profit motive is a lie. The Grand Inquisitor probably doesn't even exist."

Bashir was silent for a few moments while he tried to think of the right thing to say. "Your people built a powerful civilization on the Rules of Acquisition and the ideas around it. There must be some truth in there." It wasn't something he could really believe, but he wanted to say anything to give Quark hope, to pull him back from the precipice he was approaching.

"Rom thinks I'm a heretic," Quark said. "He's worried that I'll corrupt Nog with my ideas. I think he might be right. I don't know any more. I just don't know."

"You seem depressed," Bashir said. "I want to check again for brain damage from the concussion. It sounds like being with Sarafina brought back traumatic memories, and you might be dealing with things that you've repressed."

He read the diagnostic. "Well, the good news is that the arm had a clean break, so it should heal quickly. The bad news is that when I set it it's going to hurt a lot."

"Isn't there another way?" Quark asked.

"No," Bashir said. "For someone who was military you have a low tolerance for pain."

"That's different," Quark said. "I didn't know what was about to happen there, and I was so focused on surviving that..."

Bashir quickly wrapped the special cast around Quark's arm that would cause the bone to set and begin to knit. He heard a distinct crunch as Quark's bone was rearranged.

Quark arched his back and screamed his eyes wide. He kicked and thrashed and made those high-pitched Feringhee sounds that they all made when injured. Bashir waited patiently until he calmed and lay panting on the table.

"That was the worst of it," Bashir said.

"Sadist," Quark snapped.

"No more than necessary," Bashir said. "Pain can't always be avoided, but I can give you some medication to help with it. I need to make sure the Water is out of your system. What do you see?"

"Just sick bay," Quark said, "like it always looks."

Bashir looked into his eyes. "Your pupils have shrunk to a more normal size," he said. "Do you still feel like the room is slanted?"

"No," Quark said. "I don't know when it stopped, but everything seems normal now."

"Being forced to lie still might have helped. I'm going to loosen the monitor," Bashir said, "but I want you to stay here until I can find out what happened."

"Odo should be back soon," Quark said. "He won't miss this opportunity."

"That isn't your concern," Bashir said. "We should be focusing on diagnosis and treatment, not Odo."

"You say that now," Quark said. "He'll complicate things. You'll see."

Bashir couldn't disagree with him. He'd never seen Odo treat an injured, ill man like that, but he suspected that Odo and Quark didn't realize how odd their relationship was. They occasionally seemed like two old, bickering sisters to Bashir. He usually found it amusing, but not when it interfered with his patient's progress.

"I'll take care of Odo," Bashir said. "This one time only," he added quickly in case Quark wanted to make any presumptions in the future. Bashir had found that dealing with Quark was a bit like dealing with a five year old child, in that he would remember every spoken word that could be troublesome and use it against someone.

He watched Quark carefully, looking for signs of abnormality or mental deterioration. "Do you know that you've been behaving uncharacteristically since you returned from Genora?"

Quark's eyes narrowed. "Why?" he asked. "What did Sarafina tell you?"

"I take it that she has something to do with your recent personality changes," Bashir said.

"That isn't something I want to talk about," Quark said.

"That's your decision to make, but you obviously need treatment for more than a simple allergic or racial reaction to Altarian Water. I'm not a psychologist, but I'll try to help, or at least get you to the right person that can help you. What you told me sounds like PTSD and depression. Neither of those should be ignored."

Quark looked at Dr. Bashir for several long seconds, and Bashir thought he was probably weighing the risk of trusting him with extremely sensitive information versus how much pain he was in emotionally.

"How much would it cost to buy complete confidentiality from you?" Quark asked.

"I don't think I heard you right," Bashir said. "I couldn't have."

"Ok, odd negotiating tactic, but I can work with it. I can lay my hands on a bar of gold-pressed latinum. It's worth that much to me, and it's the going rate on Faringar."

"Quark, you don't understand," Bashir said.

"Then what do you want?" Quark asked.

"Human doctors don't work like that. Confidentiality is part of the job."

"Now you're just messing with me," Quark said. "We've never talked about it before, because I never had to worry about what I told you getting around the station, mostly because I've never told you much."

"And I take it that what you need to tell me would compromise you if it got out?" Bashir asked. "I can't accept bribes. It isn't allowed."

"I can't confide in you then," Quark said. "I've lived this long with this problem. I can make do."

"That's one option," Bashir said, "but I doubt Sisko will simply let you return to the bar as if life was normal after you pulled a weapon on Odo and attacked him."

"It wasn't like that," Quark said. "I thought the ship was under attack, and I couldn't let him stop me from getting to my family. I'd do it again, too."

"Rom and Nog really do mean the world to you, don't they?" Bashir asked.

"Of course they do," Quark said.

"And you wouldn't want to hurt them, would you?" Bashir asked.

"I don't know what you're suggesting, but I've never wanted to hurt them, not seriously anyway. There were a few times I'd like to have knocked Rom's head off a wall, but that's normal for brothers."

"I'm sure it is," Bashir said. "My brother and I fought all the time when we were younger. You could hurt your family if you don't accept some help. Not physically, but financially. If you get worse and can't run the bar anymore Rom would try to take over. You can imagine how well that would go."

"He'd do a good job," Quark said, but he couldn't even make it sound realistic to himself.

"And Nog needs you," Bashir said.

"I'm not going to let him down," Quark snapped. "What are you getting at?"

"When your machinery breaks do you fix it or do you keep trying to use it while it's broken? You fix it, of course. If you don't fix this you'll be using broken machinery."

"You're too smart for your own good," Quark said.

"I've been told that before," Bashir said. "Your pupils have returned to normal, and you seem to be aware of your environment. Now that the reaction has run its course I can let you leave, but I'd rather you stay here for a few hours for observation."

"Unhook this medical contraption and I'll leave," Quark said. "I've had enough of being observed, and I have no idea who's running my bar."

"If you must," Bashir said. "I'll keep what was said here confidential, at no charge," he said with a smile. "I hope you can come back so we can talk about what happened while you were in the Merchant Marines. It sounds like you haven't worked through it as much as you'd like to think, and to be honest it sounds quite interesting."

He unhooked the monitor and swung it upwards so that Quark could sit up.

"I can't help you with whatever Odo might charge you with, but I can testify if it comes to that. I would suggest you leave any other psychic experiments to races with more normal brain chemistry - those with two lobes instead of four. Betazoids can't even read Feringhee. You're just lucky this didn't turn out worse."

Quark stopped at the door and turned around. Bashir had already turned to a screen and was working on something new, his brows furrowed in concentration.

"Dr. Bashir?" Quark said.

Bashir looked up.

"Thank you." As he turned to leave he collided with the broad chest of the station's Commander.

Sisko put a firm hand on Quark's shoulder. "I don't think so, Quark. Why don't you stay here and explain to me why you shouldn't be in a jail cell or on your way back to your rain soaked planet."

Odo stood behind Sisko with a maddeningly neutral expression, and Quark turned around and went back into the sick bay with a feeling of defeat, but working his mind to find all the excuses that would get him out of this situation.

"Dr. Bashir," Sisko said, his deep voice filling the room. "I want to know your professional opinion. What happened here?"

Bashir glanced at Quark, who looked worn and tired. "That's confidential," he said. "I can tell you that I don't think he's a danger to anyone but himself, and I don't think he's suicidal - just a bit self-destructive."

"Doctor, I order you to tell me what happened," Sisko said. Quark had the urge to sidle carefully away from the two of them and start running. They held eye contact entirely too long for humans, and he'd never seen that without trouble following soon after.

"I can't give out that information without consent from my patient."

Quark tried to fathom what the doctor was doing. He'll want more money later. If he's showing me that he'll keep a bargain even in the face of a direct order he's a better negotiator than I ever gave him credit for.

"Report to my office after this is over," Sisko said. He turned to Quark. "What happened? I've heard Constable Odo's report, and I want to give you the chance to explain yourself before I make a decision."

"I had a bad reaction to a new liquor," Quark said. "It has a psychic component, and I should have known better than to use it. It turned out to be hallucinogenic for Feringhee. I thought the ship was under attack."

"And why did you attack the Constable?" Sisko asked.

"If someone tried to come between you and Jake while the station was under attack, what would you do?" Quark asked.

"Well said," Sisko allowed. "If this ever happens again we won't even discuss it. You'll be in jail faster than you can say "latinum". Doctor, my office, now."

Dr. Bashir left with Sisko, and Odo stayed, as Quark had thought he would. "Humph," Odo said. "That's quite a story. I think the only reason Commander Sisko isn't still questioning you is that he wants to question Dr. Bashir further. He's much more likely to get the truth out of him than you."

I wonder, Quart thought.

"Who did you think was attacking the station?" Odo asked.

"Changelings," Quark said. "It's happened before."

Odo cringed. Quark was sure he didn't like being reminded of what his own people were capable of.

"I expect you won't be serving this to anyone else."

"I doubt it. It's insanely expensive," Quark said, "and I only know of one person who's tried it."

"And who would that be?"

Quark almost wanted to tell him it was Dax, and that Dax had looked at him as if she might want to kiss him. He wanted to tell Odo that he had gotten further with Dax in days than Odo had gotten with Kira in years. He didn't though, because Odo was sneaky enough to get information out of Dax without her realizing it.

He'd never realized it before, but he knew beyond a certainty that Dax would never betray him.

"Well?" Odo asked.

"I don't see why it's any business of yours. There weren't any ill effects."

"I can investigate, or you can tell me," Odo said.

Quark sighed dramatically. "Fine. It was Morn. He likes trying new liquors, and I poured him some Altarian Water. Have you ever heard of it?"

Odo shook his head.

"It gives memories, and makes a person see, feel, smell, and hear everything associated with that memory. He had a nice little walk down memory lane, met an old girlfriend all over again in his mind, ate some treat that his mother used to make, and came back down. No harm done."

"I see. And if I question Morn he'll tell me the same thing happened to him."

"Be my guest," Quark said. He knew from past experience that if Odo tried to question Morn he would simply stand up and walk away. Since he wasn't a Federation or Bajoran citizen Odo had no jurisdiction over him without hard evidence.

"Unless you plan to arrest me we're done here," Quark said. "I can get Dr. Bashir to testify that I was under the influence of a hallucinogenic substance. He took a blood sample."

"We're not quite done here," Odo said. "There's the small matter of an illegal weapon."

"Was that illegal?" Quark asked. "I was told that if they were under a certain size there wasn't a problem."

"There will still be a fine - a substantial fine," Odo said.

That hit home. "I'll fight it," Quark said. "You can't prove I knew it was illegal."

"Ignorance of the law isn't any excuse for breaking it," Odo said. He pulled out a small data-pad, and when he handed it to Quark, Quark squeaked at the number on the pad.

"You can't be serious!" Quark said. "That's a full day's worth of profits from the bar!"

"Then that should be enough incentive to keep you from "forgetting" the laws again," Odo said.

Quark looked at the data-pad again and gulped.

"Now you can go back to your seedy bar and water your drinks," Odo said.

I'll pay you back for this, Quark thought. No one takes a full day of profit from me and gets away with it.

As he hurried back to his bar he went over the conversation with Bashir in his head. He doesn't know anything that could get me in trouble if he talks to Sisko.

At least he didn't have one problem to worry about any more. He hadn't been a disgusting, charitable failure. He had just been reacting to shock, and his impulse had been to stop the horrible display of violence against children. That wasn't charitable. It was basic survival. In one moment he had been presented with the choice to become a monster or kill the monsters, and he was sure he'd made the right choice.