Jessica closed the door behind her and then leaned back against the cold metal, head bowed. Before she faced Crell Ekoor, she wanted to gather first so as not to show any weakness. She raised her eyes to start to speak, which she had rehearsed in her head and repeated several times, but her eyes met his. He had been staring at her since entering his cell and smiled smugly. No word came over Jessica's quivering lips.
Ekoor was not so speechless. Erected confidently, he stood in front of her in his bonds. "Jess, there you are again. It took you a long time. What's next now? Let's get it over with, I don't want to wait anymore."
She stretched her chin out in the hope of giving her voice the strength it needed. "If it were up to Garak, I would torture you as long as possible before I kill you." Ekoor gave a short, bad mood laugh. His eyes wandered briefly to the window before his eyes drilled into hers again. "And considering how you have influenced my life over the years, I have to agree with him there." She turned to the table and picked up a slim, long knife with an excellently ground blade. Slowly Jessica turned around again and looked at the elegant grain of the Damascus steel in her hand. "On the other hand, I cannot see animals suffering, and I redeem them immediately if necessary. I am tempted to redeem you like an animal. I just want to get it over with." She stepped right up to him, pressed the blade with its point to his throat against his chest and whispered so that Garak could not hear the next door. "And yet, despite what you did to me, my conscience tells me that it would not be right. I don't know if that makes me a particularly good or a particularly stupid person." Jessica looked him straight in the eye as if looking for an answer in there. His eyes softened. "Have you considered a third option? Can't it easily be that you feel something for me after all?" Ekoor came closer with his head and looked at her mouth. His lips closed and offered her a kiss.
As if mesmerized, she stared at his Lips and noticed, confused, how she was stretching her body towards him. Jessica jerked her head back and pushed the blade an inch higher. The tip pierced Ekoor's skin and little dark drops emerged.
The blood roared in her ears, and she felt her heartbeat in her head. Jessica became dizzy and the desire to lean against the man in front of her quelled the impulse to run away.
Smiling confidently, the Cardassian stood over her. The woman heard his voice as if through a thick fog. "You don't want to admit it to yourself, especially not to witnesses. But in the end you just want to be mine again, even if that contradicts your federation morale. I am not resentful, Jess. If you can forgive me, then …"
His voice was replaced by a wet gurgling, a gush of warm, sticky blood pulsed from Ekoor's severed throat and splashed Jessica in her face, still holding the handle of the long knife with both hands. Holding her breath, she watched through the rain of blood as the Cardassian's eyes broke, the large body lost tension and then sagged. The shackles prevented her from being hit by Ekoors body, but a weakening fountain of blood still came from his throat and soaked her clothing down to her skin.
Jessica winced as one hand lay on her shoulder and another clasped her hands with the knife. She blinked several times until she recognized Garak through the red veil, who was looking at her with concern.
"My dear, do you hear me?" He must have asked her this question more than once because when she nodded his face relaxed noticeably.
"Give me the knife, you no longer need it now." Garak carefully extracted the blade from her and simply dropped it in the dark red puddle on the floor.
The tailor directed her out of the cell through the door and into the lock. Jessica followed Garak apathetically through the narrow rock passage into a kind of living area and into a small bathroom.
"Jessica, you should undress and shower. Can you manage that alone?" She nodded briefly and her glassy eyes tightened somewhat. She looked down at herself and was startled as if only now that her clothes were soaked in Ekoor's blood. With a disgusted look, she awkwardly tore at her slippery top.
Garak discreetly turned away. "If you need help, my dear, please let me know, I'm behind the next door and meanwhile get you new clothes."
It took the woman a long time to get rid of the greasy clothes and even longer to wash all the blood from her hair and the rest of her body under the lukewarm water jet. When the water finally stopped turning pink from blood, she left the shower trembling, wrapped the only towel around her body, and tiptoed around the pile of blood-stained clothes and her own greasy, auburn shoe prints.
In the living area of the quarter, Garak was waiting with some clothing on his arm. He put it down and left the room with the message "I'll get us a drink quickly."
Jessica got dressed. She had to turn the sleeves and pants legs up a bit and luckily, there was a belt in the bundle of clothes. Apparently Garak hadn't found shoes, but a couple of oversized, very thick socks complement the ensemble.
The Cardassian came back with a fresh bottle of Kanar and some Starfleet field rations.
"Don't ask me where I got it from," he said with a wink, "but it's the only edible thing I could find quickly. Would you like 'Meatballs in white caper sauce' or something called 'Italian pasta dish'?"
She reached for the noodles. "I don't like capers," she explained. They ate in silence and after a few bites, Garak began to puff the sour, spicy balls out of his meal.
The meal and two glasses of Kanar later the man broke the silence.
"How are you, my dear? I'm a little worried. Your ... solution to the problem surprised me." Jessica felt his eyes but was unable to look back.
"Honestly? I don't know. I feel numb or detached from my body. Remote controlled. Tired. I think I just want to lie down on the bed and sleep. Is there time for that? When will we be picked up?"
Garak nodded. "You're in shock, that's no surprise." He pulled a pad out of his pocket, tapped it, and got a response a short time later.
"If I give the signal now, our ship will be here in nine hours at the earliest. Lie down my dear. Meanwhile, I have a lot to do. Please call me if you need anything."
The captain of the Lissepian freighter reported to Garak, who was just hiding some pads of important information in a secret compartment in the side wall of his cave bunker. "Garak, you should be where I started in 20 minutes. Should I beam down the cleaners first?"
Jessica shouldn't know who was involved in this extremely illegal operation, he shook his head vigorously before submitting his answer. "No, please beam us up first. You can drop my team off, when we left the transporter room. We will be there in 20 minutes." The Cardassian ended the communication and went to the living area to pick up Jessica.
The woman was still lying on the bed, curled up in a blanket, and sleeping. Garak touched her shoulder cautiously at first, but she slept soundly. Finally, he shook harder and the woman's eyes opened. "We have to leave, Jessica. Our ship is arriving shortly." She looked at him sleepily and her eyes betrayed confusion. But then she nodded and started to stretch her limbs.
She got up, went over to the bathroom and opened the door a crack, noticed her blood-stained clothes on the floor and quickly closed the door again. "I guess it doesn't matter what I look like, is it?" This question was not for anyone, but Garak decided to answer, "My dear, the daring arrangement of your ensemble completely detracts from the rest of your appearance, and if we do entering the station again, I'm looking for a quiet way to the quarters."
Jessica followed Garak back through the corridors and up to the dim surface of the moon. Without saying anything else, they waited for the transporter beam to catch them.
When the freighter set course for DS9, the two were already back in the guest quarters that the two had also had available on the outward journey.
The Cardassian cleared his throat after many minutes of silence. "My dear, I think I don't have to mention this fact explicitly, but you mustn't talk to anyone about what happened today." He watched her closed face. "Except for my humble minority, of course."
Jessica only nodded casually and Garak tensed.
"I don't think you understand, my dear. I'm not worried about federation law." He leaned forward, took her hand, and pressed it hard. "With my help, you ended the life of a member of an extremely influential Cardassian family prematurely. And although I have done my best to make his disappearance a mystery forever, I must be able to rely on you to remain silent. Our two lives depend on it."
The woman looked at him and returned the handshake. "Excuse me Garak if I seem absent to you. There is a lot of going on in me at the moment, but even if I appear to be unfocused, I am absolutely aware of the danger. I promise you, it will remain a secret between us forever." She took her hand back, sat up as the chair allowed, and stripped away the drowsiness that had covered her head like a thick cloud since she woke up.
"Garak, I have to let this whole thing sag first, it looks so surreal. And I think at some point I will need to talk to them about it. About how and why you made it possible. But not now, it rattles in my head like in an old engine and suddenly life feels different." She took a deep breath. "Thank you, Garak, thank you so much. That must be enough for today." She lifted her feet on the armchair, adjusted the pillows and closed her eyes.