The Intendant dragged him from his cell and shoved him into a shuttle. She barked an order and they launched into space. Four hours later they were aboard a space station, her personal kingdom. Antos still wasn't sure if he was dreaming or not. She wasn't explaining anything to him in the meantime. She dug her nails into him as she gripped his arm and he decided thanks to that he must be awake after all.
"He smells like trash!" she said to her servants. "First rule you must adhere to on my station, Antos, is this; Cleanliness is next to godliness!"
She thrust him toward the others. Her servants were a mix of men and women of different species. They washed him, scrubbed his skin raw, then they removed nearly all his body hair. The hair remaining on his head was carefully trimmed and combed. They measured him and weighed him. They sprayed him with cologne and gave him new and clean clothes to wear.
"Is this some sort of colorful night robe?" he demanded when they handed him the clothing.
"The Intendant needs to see how close the resemblance is. Clothing and manners maketh a man," they replied. "You will wear what you are given or you will remain naked."
"Fine!"
He put on the robes of orange and red and only then was he allowed back in the Intendant's presence. She clapped her hands together with delight.
"Much better! The resemblance is uncanny! You also just look and smell so much nicer! Now it is my turn to be pampered. I love Bajor but I've grown accustomed to the sterility and silence of space. I need to soak in hot fragrant water for a while."
"May I join?" Antos asked eagerly.
"No," she said firmly.
"I knew it wouldn't be that easy!" he chuckled. "It was worth a try."
"Aw," she adopted practically a baby voice, "I do find it encouraging that you are trying!"
"What am I to do with myself while you're gone?"
"Read some literature."
"Is it spicy literature?"
"You'll see."
He tried not to let his thoughts wander along with her as he glanced at the literature she wanted him to read. He was disappointed that it was dull accounts of religious doctrines. He found it very hard to believe that the Intendant was the soul searching type. Why would she want him to read this rubbish?
When he looked up from the words he was startled to see a full grown hara cat inches from him and crouched like she was going to lunge. She was such a silent predator that he didn't hear her coming. He froze in absolute terror for a moment. Hara cats were nearly extinct on their native Bajor. Then his human brain checked back in. He made himself as tall as he could, spread his arms to look wider and more menacing, and he roared as loudly as he could in an attempt to scare the big cat away.
The hara cat looked confused. Then she batted him with surprising gentleness and licked his nose. Her tongue was sand papery and her breath hot as dessert air.
"Looks like she likes you!" a young woman's voice said.
"That's a relief, right?"
"Then Intendant will be pleased. She relies on Mia to judge a man or woman's character."
Antos nudged the tamed beast away to identify the speaker. He stared because the girl's appearance was more unexpected than the existence of the animal. She was clearly a Cardassian and Bajoran hybrid. Such a mix and relations between those two species was frowned upon in his universe as well as the other. Did the Intendant have a macabre habit of collecting freaks of nature and wild and dangerous things?
"My name is Ziyal," the young thing did have a sweet and lovely smile. "I'm happy to meet you, Bareil Antos. The Intendant told me to avoid you but I couldn't stop myself."
"Why would you be so excited to meet me?" he asked. "I'm just a thief she seized from a prison! How do you know I won't hurt you?"
"I own a hara cat, silly! She can still tear your limbs off and devour them."
"Good point."
"I wanted to see you because I'm hoping that you will be good for her and make her happy."
"And what exactly are you to her?" he asked nervously.
He had heard dark rumors about the Intendant's tastes. He was worried this hybrid might be a favored and secret lover.
"She is my sister."
"What?"
"She's not my biological sister obviously. We were raised by the same man though."
"A Cardassian man?"
"Yes, but I'm afraid I can't say anything more about that. She'll be very angry I mentioned it. Mia, it's feeding time! Let's go, kitty!"
The hara cat followed Ziyal out of the room, yowling like a hungry house cat. Antos was worrying over the idea of trying to escape this labyrinth of horrors in space when its queen returned dressed in a beautiful golden evening gown. Her eyelids and nails were painted with powdered gold and she wore gold anklets that rang almost like bells with every step she took. She took his breath away. She apparently always had to make a dramatic entrance.
"You're not doing your homework, lazy bones!" she chided. "If you disobey me, I will punish you. Don't test me!"
"I'm confused by my assignment," he responded. "It's really not my subject."
"No, but it is your counter part's subject. That's the point: To make you more like him. The clothes help."
"I'm sorry, but who is this person that you want to make me more like? Do I have a long lost twin or clone that I don't know about? Do I get to meet him?"
"Close but no cigar! Be good and I'll give you a sugar cube though!" the Intendant teased.
"You mentioned making me a god emperor or something. We have a Klingon emperor. What is a sugar cube?"
"A Terran treat. Those filthy rats are fighting us now but I still enjoy some of their cuisine once in a bloody while. Would you like to try some?"
"What's the catch?"
"For what exactly; the sugar?"
"For all of this!" Antos gestured all around.
She replicated a perfect cube of white crystallized sugar and held it out to him in the palm of her hand, "The catch is that you will belong to me, Bareil Antos. That includes every hair on your body until the day you die most likely by this very hand."
"Hm. Shame you had so much of my hair removed then."
"To be fair, I prefer all my partners' clean shaven. I hold myself to the same standard."
"Cardassians prefer it that way too."
Her eyes flashed at the mention of that species. "I have a plot to unite the Bajoran people and crush the Alliance and put the Klingons in their place! I've learned some lessons from our alternate universe. The other Bajor is filled with zealous idiots but it gives them something our people lack. You and I will invent a religion and be the leaders of it. That will make us leaders of the galaxy as the faith and our power and influence spreads in time."
"How is that going to work?"
"You are a thief. You are going to steal an Orb for me and then you will become your alternate Vedek Bariel Antos."
"Vedek?"
She sighed, "This is why I told you to read!"
"What am I getting out of this if I agree to this insane plot of yours? Is the Orb thing so powerful it could really give us some sort of edge against the Alliance and Klingons? Is it a weapon? That would be far more useful than converting our people. Have you spent much time down there? It's awful! I don't have faith in anything but money and I look out for my interests. I am a thief and I like money. Do I at least get that much for selling myself to you?"
"Antos, Antos, Antos!" she began to stroke his chest with smooth, circular motions. "Well, let's see about that. You would get me, so much money that you couldn't possibly spend it all in your lifetime, power, respect (I can tell you've never truly had that) and last of all you will get me!"
"You mentioned yourself twice," he pointed out.
"Anything worth having is worth repeating!"
"You might be right, but are you really worth having?"
Her mouth twisted into a mask of pure malice. She struck him hard in the jaw. He was astonished by the strength of her arm. She caused part of his lip to slide over a jagged part of tooth. Blood blossomed on his bottom lip. He struggled to keep his balance and temper.
"Fight back, I dare you!" she roared like the hara cat.
"I'm not stupid! There's guards outside the door and countless others on this station that can do your dirty work for you."
She reverted back to an angelic smile so fast it was scary, "Good! Did I knock out a tooth? Let me see!"
He winced as she took his chin in her hands, shoving the sugar cube between his teeth first. She saw they were intact with the exception of a chipped tooth. That had been chipped since childhood though.
"You are quite handsome!" she said softly and traced his jawbone. "The Major has good taste! She had better! She is me!"
"Thanks," he murmured.
"You're very welcome!"
She kissed him and he instantly forgave her for striking him. His impulse to say whatever was on his mind was a terrible flaw now that he thought about it. She twirled her tongue expertly around his. It still had traces of sugar. He groaned with disappointment when she pulled away. Then she gave him another kiss, not open mouthed, but a sweet kiss as though she were leaving a signature upon his lips. Some blood was let imprinted on hers.
"Intendant, there's a little something-"
"Yes, I know."
She licked her lips and smirked, "You taste iron deficient, Antos. Better add some red meat to your diet."
"Are you dictating my diet now too?" he complained.
"Do you want me to hit you harder? Please don't make me do that!" she pouted.
"You could persuade me more gently," he suggested. "Maybe I could surprise you and please you?"
She shook her head, "I'm starting to think that the only man or woman that can truly please me to my full satisfaction is me. I'll let you try after you read that material and prove you somewhat understand it. Got it?"
He sighed and began to read obediently.