"Cardassia Prime is tearing herself apart." It didn't even sound like Damar's own voice. It sounded small, helpless. He felt as helpless as when the Dominion had wiped out all the bases in the Resistance. Perhaps even more so, since he had nothing to blame, nothing to fight against.

"Why is this happening?!" he heard Garak cry frustratedly. The other Cardassian was desperately trying to coordinate relief efforts, punching buttons on his console with an energy that almost seemed like rage.

Suddenly, another shock hit the building. Damar was horrified to hear the rafters start to creak, but the shock was barely three seconds long.

"An aftershock," Kira said.

"Garak, I want you to link up to our geographic satellites and perform a full scan of the planet. I want everything: tectonic arrangements, temperature readings, radiation levels, anything that might tell us what's going on."

"That may take some time, considering that the Dominion destroyed all but two of our satellites, and all of the ships in orbit are completely taxed with relief efforts."

"As long as it takes, Garak. Kira, I want you to coordinate relief efforts; get some rescue teams together for some of the collapsed buildings. I'll go with the first. Vornar, Naret, you're with me."

The two men he had named were out of the room faster than he was. As he walked out the door behind them, he heard Kira's voice. "Damar!"

He turned around to face her as the door closed behind her. The two men stopped and looked back, but he motioned for them to go on.

"About what happened in the corridor..."

"I'm sorry, Kira, but neither of us have the time--"

"I know," she replied, crossing her arms uncomfortably. For the first time, Kira looked... how did she look? Almost... well, she looked uncertain, at least. That definitely was not like her. She took a deep breath, and the uncertain Kira vanished. "You'd better come back so we have a chance to talk," she snapped.

He chuckled. "Talk." Knowing Kira, it would be more like "Pummel." "I will."

Three days. That was how long he had been without sleep, at least by his count. One day before the earthquake, then two days digging through rubble and dodging through unstable buildings, looking for survivors. Aftershocks still ripped through the city now and again; every time he entered a damaged building, he found himself praying involuntarily that an aftershock wouldn't choose just then to hit.

Vornar and he had started a running tally, almost a contest of how many people they could save apiece. It seemed rather cold-hearted, but the competition gave Damar energy to keep going. Just when he thought he was about to collapse from exhaustion, Vornar would trot by and shout, "Thirty-eight!" or "Fifty-six!" and Damar knew he had to keep going. The younger man's energy encouraged Damar. And he felt he almost lived for the moments would Kira's voice would come out of his communicator, though most often it was to give him another mission. There was a reason he'd put her on coordinating rescue teams instead of Garak. Hearing Garak's voice every hour or so would just get annoying.

He was vaporizing shattered slabs of concrete with his phaser when his communicator chirped. "Damar here."

To his immense pleasure, it was Kira. "Damar, I think it's time you brought your team in for rest."

He sighed. "You know that's out of the question. Who knows how many people would die while I was sleeping? I couldn't live with that."

"I know, but I can't afford to have you dropping dead from sheer exhaustion." "I." Was it just him, or did that sound more personal than it had to be? He should his head; he really did need some sleep.

She seemed to be getting impatient on the other side. "Damar, it's been four days since the earthquake. You need sleep."

"Four days?!"

"Yes."

"I thought it had only been two."

"That only shows how much you need to rest. Vornar and Naret have been going as long as you have. Your men deserve a break."

He hesitated, then decided he was far too exhausted to argue anymore. "Very well. I'll bring them in."

Half an hour later, he laid down on the cot and barely had time to reflect on how good it felt to be off his feet before he fell asleep.

It seemed as if only seconds had gone by before he heard his communicator beep. Groaning, he turned over and picked it up. "What?!"

He felt a twinge of regret at being so gruff, but it evaporated when he realized that the voice coming over the comm was not Kira's, but Garak's. "I've completed the scans. I think you'll find the results very... interesting."