Exiting the shower feeling much more like a full human instead of like a grime covered rock Winifred got back into her clothes and stretched. Nothing seemed to need healing but these clothes were much more noticeably gross now that she was clean. Poking her head into the bridge Erott was still passed out at the communications console. She'd wake him up after she cleans her clothes. Outside Dukat and Damar were talking about something or other aways from the ship while Nintem and Prec sat around the fire. To say it was day would be a bit of a misnomer. It was definitely lighter but the sun hanged low and didn't look like it was planning to get much higher. If they didn't have secure, heated spaces this cold would be worrying. For Winifred it still sucked because she had to walk back to the runabout in it while the moss on the grounds usual moisture that collected there each morning had frozen over. Every step had a firm crunch under her feet and she was glad her shoes had good grip because it would be easy to slide in it without it.
The guys seemed to be minding their business and left her alone to walk back to the runabout. Once she was there she stripped and ran the disinfectant over her clothes thoroughly. How she wished she had a refresher right now. Sure she'd still be wearing the same clothes but they would feel much cleaner. While the disinfectant did clean it it didn't do much to preserve or maintain the fabric itself. The blue of her shirt had faded a bit in the past month. But disinfected clothes were still better than days old, sand covered ones. Putting them back on she combed out her hair which she hadn't had a chance to do since yesterday. She then spent the next hour or so taking apart the tricorder, drying the internals with a cloth and laying them out to air dry for awhile. Hopefully it would still work. While they had discovered edible flora and fauna to go without a way to detect possible changes in the environment would suck. Especially since this planets seasons seemed to shift rapidly.
Finished with the tricorder she walked back to the Naprem. The frozen water on the moss still there, the sun still really low in the sky, but thankfully no wind to make the bite of the cold worse. Back at the Naprem most of the crew was hanging around near the fire. Prec and Nintem were thawing out some of the frozen crab. Dukat and Damar looked to be bundling themselves up. She didn't want to talk to him but Dukat addressed her.
"Ah ensign you're back." His tone chipper, "We have good news. Erott was able to find a way to code out to just Cardassian and Federation frequencies."
"Oh that's fantastic." She was genuinely happy to hear that.
"Yes he's spread out the range as far as the Naprem's systems will allow. So we should hopefully have someone coming to pick us up soon." He pulled on some gloves. She didn't even know they had those.
"Wait than where are you going?" She asked.
"Just to retrieve the equipment we left in the forest last night. It's not wise to leave behind Cardassian technology for others to find." As if anyone would find much to exploit from a grappling hook and some climbing equipment.
But she didn't say that she just told them good luck and to stay warm. Going into the Naprem she headed towards the bridge. Erott wasn't there but she could see on the console that the distress call was going strong. The range looked farther than she'd expect from such damaged systems but she supposed he did have the runabout's tech to boost them. With this kind of range there's no way they wouldn't be heard. They had warped near the Klingon border and while they didn't know which system they landed in the Federation was punctual about checking it's borders and keeping their sensors wide. Wondering where Erott was she did a quick look through of the ship. She found him snoring loudly in bed. After his weeks of little sleep she left him be. The sleep you get after finishing something long and difficult is always the best kind. Heading back outside she found Oyut and Lejac sitting by the fire talking. Winifred wished she had gloves because the cold was really seeping into her fingers. She joined them by the fire just staring at it for a bit.
"What are you gonna do when you get back?" Lejac asked her pulling her from her thoughts.
"I'm definitely changing into some new clothes. I never thought I'd miss a refresher or anything till this. What about you? She asked.
"I am getting myself a glass of Kanar. Damar drank us through our stores pretty fast and being stuck here sober has been awful."
"What about you Oyut?" Who seemed to be whittling.
"Oh, I'd probably get myself a steaming bowl of zabu stew." He swiped off anther sliver of wood, "Nothing like food to remind you when you've made it home."
"What about you Prec?" Prec and Nintem were sitting on the other side of the fire.
"My father and I planned on going out to some of the nature preserves when I got back to Cardassia Prime. Now I'm not so sure that would be very enjoyable. I think'd I just want to spend the day in my own home and relax." She couldn't quite see him since the fire was between them but she could catch glimpses of him every now and then.
"Nintem?"
"I'm gonna go and spend some time with my eldest. Missed her birthday through all this. She's 10 now, I think she'll understand though. She's like her mother that way." Nintem didn't look up from the herbs he was chopping. Winifred was surprised he managed to find some since it seemed the less hardy vegetation was freezing over.
The rest of the day the guys started packing in the supplies they had moved out of the ship. Due to the damage it suffered the Naprem and the runabout would need to be towed back to DS9. Dukat and Damar came back when the sun was setting. With it being so low in the sky already that didn't take long. They got back in time for supper. It was when Winifred had her bowl in hand just about to take a bite when she found herself in a transporter beam. With a blink she was in a transporter room bowl still in hand. Looking up she saw the tech staring at her weirdly. They were the one who beamed her out without warning not the other way around.
"So you were on the planet we have seven other life signs and what looks like two downed ships?" They asked.
"Yes that is Dukat and the crew of the Naprem. I and two others who didn't make it were shot out of warp by Klingons and crash landed. We were taking the Naprem back to DS9 for repairs and we only just managed to get a signal out." She explained, "Where exactly are we?"
Apparently they were less than three hours warp away from DS9. However being shot out of warp had them deviate into a different system than was along their flight path. Meaning that the search crew didn't find them because they were out of the usual spots and happened to not magically pick where they were at when looking randomly. The ship that picked them up was a galaxy class starship. It easily managed to tow the Naprem and the runabout. They beamed up Dukat and the crew of the Naprem. But before they left she showed the captain where they had buried Dr. Elis and Ensign Drury. She was allowed to go back to the ship while they got dug them out to be brought home. Dukat showed them where his lost crew member was. Overall after the month of being on that planet she felt both relief at being back in a familiar setting but also a little unsettled at it felt so sudden. The trip back wasn't noteworthy other than Dukat and the rest of the Naprem seemed to avoid her.
Back at DS9 the first thing she did was change into some clean clothes. The second thing she did was file a report about her being MIA. She then got a bite to eat at the replimant, the hubbub felt much less annoying and much more reassuring after spending so much time with so few people. After that she went and got debriefed. She kept the whole Ghroketh stuff out of the report and her debrief. The last thing she wanted was for her Starfleet file to get her labeled as the Ghroketh girl or some other nickname she'd get from such an incident. It was after this she went to the one place she was dreading, the medical clinic.
She went into the clinic and Dr. Bashir smiled when he saw her, the nurse busy running some tests through the computer, "Ah, Ensign Decker I'm glad you came. Was wondering if I'd have to drag you in, some people are just not fond of required medical examinations." He started walking her towards a table in the center of the clinic.
"Could we go to a more private table?" She asked, depending on the results he got she did not want it to be said in front of others.
"Sure," He said with an understanding smile.
Going to a more walled in area he pulled the curtain to give some privacy, "Now is there anything you'd like to tell me before I run a scan?" His voice was even and patient.
She hesitated, "It'll be confidential, just between us unless you want me to inform someone." He reassured her.
Feeling more secure she started, "Well, I had quite a bit of sex on that planet." She started her voice oddly higher in the way someone gets when they're admitting something uncomfortable.
"Okay and I'm not saying it wasn't but was it all consensual?" He asked his voice free of judgment.
"Oh yeah that's not what I'm concerned about here." She clarified.
"So you're worried about a pregnancy?" He asked.
"Yeah pretty much. I didn't plan to have kids to begin with and since I hadn't had any in a year it wasn't like I was keeping up on my birth control." She explained.
"Okay well if there is one we can go from there. You have options here." He pulled out his scanner, "Are you ready for a scan?" He asked.
She nodded. It took only a moment for him to scan her. The familiar sound of it humming seemed louder than normal.
"Well first things first. Congratulations you're not pregnant." He smiled, "However you do seem to have a parasite in your intestines. It seems to mostly just be eating your food rather than doing any damage." He went and filled a hypo spray, "This will take care of it but you may have some rough times in the bathroom over the next day or two. If it's any longer than that let me know." She gave him the go ahead to give it to her.
She stood from the table, "Well thanks Doctor, I appreciate it."
"If I may," He stepped a bit closer to her, "Was it Dukat? I'm not judging you if it was but it might be something you should talk to someone about."
She hesitated, understanding what he meant but still a little uncomfortable with him knowing the full story, "Well yes and no." The confusion clear on his face, "How much do you know about Ghroketh doctor?" She asked.
"Not much most files on it are labeled as biased and Garak has found a way to never answer my questions about it every time I ask. Are you saying he was in Ghroketh?" His voice was soft, tone even.
"They all were. I slept with six of them." He was giving her an alarmed look, "Oh don't worry I had it covered. In fact I think I need to try and learn more about it because they were all acting weird by the end there. Dukat was like deferring to me which is the last thing I'd expect from such a narcissist. It was a really strange, but an enjoyable experience." A blush bloomed on her face, "To be honest there was something kinda nice about having so many men at my beck and call. I might end up missing it a bit." She admitted.
Dr. Bashir listened to her patiently the whole time, "That does sound odd. I could try and ask Garak again. Maybe bringing up Dukat..," She gave him a look, "Not in that I'd mention you only with how much Garak dislikes Dukat I might get him to tell me something by mentioning him."
She shrugged. "You're welcome to try." Finished in medical she had one place left to go before she was done with her back home errands.
She found Lieutenant O'Brien repairing something in a Jeffery's tube near ops. When she called in for him it startled him and had him bang his elbow on the wall of the tube. She heard him make a noise of pain before he crawled out. It took him a moment to recognize her.
"Ensign Decker? Where have you been? You were missing in action for over a month." He asked.
"Oh trust me I know. Got shot out of warp by Klingon's and spent a month on planet waiting for the Naprem's engineer to fix comms. Just got back a few hours ago." She answered.
He let out an annoyed sound, "That probably means Dukat is still alive isn't it?" He asked.
"Yes." She answered.
"Can't ever expect some bad things to just clean themselves up can you." He then looked up at her, "Wait what did you want to talk to me about right away?"
"You still hold those engineering training and seminar sessions right?" She asked.
He gave her a look, "I recall inviting you several times to those and what was it you said?" He paused for affect, "Ah, that you'd rather play the knife game but instead of trying to get between your fingers," He gestured stabbing a knife down between his spread fingers, " it'd be your toes because and I quote 'learning about engineering would be a more painful experience'." He said looking smug.
And unfortunately for her he had a right to it right now, "Yes well being stranded on a planet that was less than three hours warp away for a month because the engineer wasn't Federation trained has really warmed me up to it." He laughed at that.
"Well I am still doing those you're welcomed to join in. It would help avoid a repeat of that, that's for sure. Wait so you were on that planet for a month with how many Cardies?"
"Seven Cardassian men. Honestly wasn't the worst experience I've had but I am definitely glad to see other human faces again." She replied
"No doubt it." He said before turning to crawl back into the tube, "See you later ensign."
Afterwards she went back to her quarters. Quickly grew bored and decided to head to Quarks. The noise and clatter of the bar was a welcome sound after so long with just humming trees. It was early evening when they got back so the bar was relatively full. But what attracted her eyes was the entirety of the Naprem sitting at a table together. And when they saw her, shit you not all of them except Erott started weirdly fumbling with their drinks . A little confused she walked towards them. Like cats caught eating something they shouldn't they scattered at her approached. Erott was laughing by the time she got there, drink in hand.
"What the hell was that about?" She asked more than a little pissed at that kind of response.
Erott slowly came down from laughing, "Well after this last month I don't think any of them is gonna wanna spend time around you in public." That more than a little offended her.
"What? Why?" Not that she really wanted to. It's not like she wanted them as friends or anything but after a month alone on an alien planet and after having some casual sex she'd expect a little more of a welcome than that.
"You really don't know much about Ghroketh huh?" He gestured to a chair next to him, "You should sit down. You'll find this amusing."
Winifred sat down, "So this has to do with Ghroketh?"
"Yes," He took a drink and nodded, "You see Ghroketh isn't just a rutt. It's why a lot of Cardassian soldiers lied or exaggerated it to their Bajoran mistresses or whatever. Because while it was used as an excuse for some terrible actions that's not really what Ghroketh does to a man." He took another drink, "It's more like establishing a connection with someone. It's why a lot of the Cardassian military are allowed to visit home when they're actually in it. Most people try to spend all their Ghroketh's with their wives or partners because who ever you spend it with ends up….having influence over you. However it's not something we can truly hide as it happens often, a few times a year usually. So Central Command turns a blind eye to lying about it as both a means to excuse their soldiers actions but also so it can't be used against higher officials by...persons unfriendly to Cardassia." That was not what she was expecting.
"So what? I can control them now?" She asked a little baffled.
He shook his head, "Not in a mind control or manipulative sense. It's more like," He made a frustrated sigh, "It's more like they'll now see you as apart of their family if that makes sense? Not like a sister or anything more like another romantic partner no matter how little time you have or will spend with them, how little you have in common or even if you don't like each other. They'll always have a desire to impress and please you which is why upper Cardassian officials mistresses and partners are so scrutinized." Oh, OH!
"Well of all things that's not what I thought was happening." That certainly made certain things make more sense, "So since we didn't there isn't that problem between us?" She asked.
"Yeah if anything this has made my whole evening. I haven't seen that many grown men flee from a woman since the cover up around my sisters wedding. It was hilarious." At least he's having a good time with it.
"So what they're just gonna avoid me from now on?"
He shrugged, "Who knows I'm not their keeper." He took another drink of Kanar, "Some of them might come back to visit you others might avoid you as much as possible. Either way since Central Command as it was is gone we won't get punished for it but old habits die hard." He said finishing his glass.
"Well thanks for the explanation. With how much you Cardassians hate telling people things I was worried I wouldn't ever know what the hell was going on." She was thankful and he was right she did find it amusing.
"Well we were on that rock for a while and you're the one who's gonna have six grown men connected to you. It seemed unfair to you to not let you know what exactly happened." He got up to get himself another glass, "Either way I like you ensign. You're tougher than Federation types usually are."
"Thanks." Unsure what else to say as he walked to get another glass from Quark.
Speaking of Quark she came here to get a drink. Heading to the bar she ordered her usual and went to sit down on the upper level. Before she got even halfway through her drink, just trying to enjoy some people watching Dax and Garak walked into the bar not even a few steps apart. What made this eventually funny was they seemed to be racing, looking around the bar before Garak locked eyes with her on the upper level. It was here she realized they were looking for her because Jadzia seemed to try and elbow Garak out of her way to get to her first. It and the light buzz she felt coming on had her giggling at them. They reached her at the same time, gave each other a look and seemed to decided on something. Both sat down at the table with her.
"So what did happen on that planet?" Jadzia said first leaning closer, clearly interested.
Dax was her commanding officer and Winifred always really liked Jadzia. She was very confident, supportive and considerate of those around her while still being really fun. They'd get lunch together sometimes. Garak however she had very little experience with. She'd gotten a dress altered from him once and he was always very polite but it was odd for him to just spring in to see her, especially like this.
"Yes I've heard you were there for a month, quite a long time to spend with someone like Dukat." Garak interjected when she hesitated to answer.
"Nothing horrible outside of the deaths of Dr. Eris and Ensign Drury if that's what you're concerned with." Was her vague reply.
She'd might be comfortable telling Jadzia about it. Out of any of her coworkers on station she'd be the first to understand.
"How very reassuring." Garak started, "However I can't help but suspect that something happened. The only crew member of the Naprem that is here is Erott. And with the good doctor asking me some odd questions earlier it's hard to imagine that nothing of interest happened in over a month, isolated, on an alien planet." The way he asked questions was to not really ask them just insinuate he had information while not saying what.
Jadzia was giving Garak a look, "And I'm just curious. We haven't detailed life on that planet yet."
"Well I don't know what Dr. Bashir told you or didn't tell you but it's not your concern." She answered Garak.
He gave her a polite smile, "Well you know where my shop is in case you need any hasty hemlines done." Before he turned to leave. She had heard a rumor that he used to be a spy and seeing as he left her with a statement that she see a double meaning to it seemed to fit.
She spent the rest of the night telling Jadzia about her findings on the planet. But she didn't stay out too late, she went home after her second drink. Federation funerals for Dr. Elis and Drury were the next day and while she didn't know them very well she was the last to see them so she was going to go to at least this one. Since this wasn't a time of war their remains were to be sent to their families to be dealt with as they saw fit once they had an official Starfleet funeral. While not drunk she was certainly tipsy as she went to her quarters. What she wasn't expecting was Dukat of all people leaning against the door frame.
"Ah ensign, I wondered how much longer you'd make me wait." As if she had asked him here instead of him just showing up.
She smiled, a lovely feeling was filling her. One that was blossoming because she was no longer trapped on a planet with just him and his men. Here, now, she had the upper hand. So she can tell Dukat what she actually wants to say.
"Listen Dukat," She said unable to keep the mirth out of her voice, "Just because I fucked you a couple of times does NOT mean I like you or want you hanging around OR that I want to have sex with you again. You having weird attachment issues is your problem not mine." Here she put her hand on his chest and pushed him off of her door frame, "You're probably the most self-obsessed man I ever met and I find your actions and politics to be horrendous. The fact you are walking around this station instead of in prison for your crimes infuriates me. No matter how good having sex with you is it is not worth having to deal with all of this," Winifred then gestured to all of Dukat, "So you aren't coming in, you're never coming in and now you're gonna turn around and leave me the hell alone." And there she stood waiting.
He opened his mouth to say something but seemed to think better of it because he closed it. He then put out his hands in a 'woah there' gesture before taking a step back.
"Well if that's what you want ensign. But I will be around Deep Space 9 in the future should you ever have need of me." Of course.
"Leave Dukat." She said.
He put his hands back up and walked away leaving her alone in front of her home. Sighing in frustration but pleased she got to tell him off after a MONTH of having to listen to him. Going on and on about how great Central Command was or how well he ran the Occupation. Winifred was glad she would not have to keep her mouth shut like that anytime soon.
Inside her quarters she sat on her couch for a minute deciding if she wanted to head straight to bed or take a shower in HER shower first. A ping from her padd caught her attention. Opening it up she had over 10 messages all coming from six different comms. And these comm codes were ones she recognized because she had logged them into her padd weeks ago. Opening them up each one was a varying degree of wanting to meet or talk to her. She might end up needing that hemming after all.
End of Crashing Through Cultures