Chapter Thirteen: Back at the Ranch

Dr Bashir squeezed Jake's shoulders before releasing him, then nodded toward Dax and O'Brien and strode toward the portal without looking back.

Once more the room was plunged into darkness, the only sound a tinkling as of something falling to the floor.

A moment later the emergency lights came on, dimly illuminating the suite.

Dr Bashir's combadge lay on the floor among a dozen or so scattered hypospray vials.

"Of course," Dax groaned. "We should have realized if it wouldn't let the combadge through, it wouldn't pass any other technology either; we could have given him glass bottles for his medicines."

"But…if he doesn't have his medicines…how will he treat Dad?" Jake whispered.

O'Brien reached to put a hand on the boy's arm. "Don't worry, Jake. Dr Bashir is good at improvised medicine; he'll manage somehow. And before you know it, we'll have both of them back." He bent to pick up one of the vials, and a strange expression crossed his face. Cocking his head, he shook the vial beside his ear.

"What is it, Miles?" Dax questioned.

A wry smile crossed O'Brien's face. "Well, his bag must be in an awful mess…" he murmured. "That portal stopped the vials but let the drugs through…these things are empty!"

Despite the gravity of the situation, or perhaps even because of it, Dax couldn't restrain a small laugh at picturing Dr Bashir's expression when he opened his bag.

"We could send some to him," Jake suggested desperately.

"How, lad?" Miles asked.

"In glass. You said it'd make it through…"

Miles and Dax looked at each other. "Worth a try," the chief suggested.

Dax nodded permission. "Replicate some glass vials, and have the infirmary fill them with whatever drugs Bashir took — I'm sure he left a record there. Jake, I think you'd better get on back to the O'Brien's quarters."

"But…I have to know…"

"Come on, lad," Miles encouraged, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'll walk him down, Dax, and then get those medicines. Don't worry, Jake; I'll figure out how to get your father back."

Jake sighed and let himself be led from the holosuite with only a last lingering look back.

oOo

In less than half an hour Miles returned with the vials of medicine, packed in a bag and well wrapped to guard against breakage. Dax had started the holoprogram again, and Miles stepped into the holosuite to find the portal already glowing with its strange green allure and Dax staring at it as if fascinated.

"Don't get pulled in yourself," he warned her, half teasing and half serious.

She jumped and turned toward him. "Oh…I was just thinking. You have the medicine?"

Miles nodded. "Just toss it through, I guess?"

"I'm not sending anyone else through there to carry it," Dax said firmly.

"Right." Miles swung the bag several times, then released it toward the portal. "Here goes!"

For an instant, the bag seemed to be going through. Then it bounced back as if it had hit a wall, falling to lie on the floor below the portal and making O'Brien grateful he had wrapped the bottles so well. "…nothing," he finished the sentence under his breath.

Dax put a hand on his shoulder. "It was worth a try," she said softly. "To comfort Jake, if nothing else."

Miles glanced sideways at her. "And we're not telling him it didn't work, are we?"

"Only if he asks directly; he's worried enough about his father as it is."

"I'm sure they would go through if someone carried them…"

"No," Dax insisted firmly. "Two trapped in the holosuite are enough; I won't risk a third, especially when we don't even know for sure the commander needs medical care."

"It seems more likely than not," Miles maintained.

"In that case, even though you were only trying to comfort Jake, what you told him is true; Julian is amazing at treating people with inadequate supplies."

"I know," O'Brien admitted. "I just wish we could find out if he's all right."

"Maybe we can," Dax suggested. "The portal itself is off limits, but there's no reason we can't have people explore the holoworld; maybe Sisko and Bashir will appear as holograms. I'll get some people on that; you start trying to figure out how to get the two of them back."

"Aye, sir; I'm on it," Miles agreed, tapping his combadge to call several of his technicians.

Not wanting to risk disrupting the files that might have the doctor and the commander encoded within them, Miles had copies made from the holosuite onto the main station computer. There he and several of his technicians began going through them with a fine-tooth comb, looking for anything that might offer even a hint of how the portal worked and how to get their crewmembers back.

Miles had been working on it nearly twenty-four hours, eating abstractedly when food was placed in front of him and barely aware of the passage of time until Dax came on duty the next day.

"Miles, if you've been here all night, then I'm ordering you to bed for some rest," she told him, motherly concern infusing her voice.

Miles looked up, his eyes bleary and red-rimmed. "I can't, Dax. I have to find —"

"Whatever it is you're looking for, you'll be more likely to find it if you're fresh. And you certainly won't find it if you collapse from exhaustion and have to be taken to sickbay."

O'Brien sighed. "I can't go back and face Jake and tell him I haven't gotten his father back yet," he admitted hollowly.

Dax rested a hand on his shoulder, her face softening. "I know. But he knows you're doing all you can. And who knows? Maybe one of the technicians will have a breakthrough while you're gone."

O'Brien glanced toward the young men diligently working at their stations. "I hope so. Any sign of them in that holoworld?"

Dax shook her head. "I still have people looking, but I'm beginning to doubt they'll find anything. Now go home, and don't let me see you back here for a full eight hours — and if you can't sleep, call the infirmary for a dose of something to help."

Miles smiled hollowly. "It wouldn't seem the same without Julian injecting it."

"We'll get them back," Dax promised softly. "We have to believe that, Miles."

Next chapter coming next week! …hopefully. The library is closed due to the coronavirus threat, so I'm trying posting from my phone with the wifi at work. If I end up not having access to that (I don't think they'd close grocery stores, but some people are afraid they will), posting will be delayed until the library opens again.

I proofread all my stories at least once before posting, but if you see any mistakes I might have missed, please let me know!

Please note that I have internet access only once a week, and may not have time to respond to all reviews/messages. If you have questions regarding my Deep Space Nine alternate history, check my profile first to see if they're answered there. Thanks for your understanding! Barbie