4 The Rigel System: Inner Worlds
IV
Major Kira Nerys looked around the room with unconcealed distaste. Of all the sectors in the quadrant, the Orion Sector was the most disreputable, and of the systems in the sector, the worst had to be Rigel. She knew that in one ancient Terran language Betelgeuse (another system in the Orion sector) meant 'the armpit', but that epithet was surely more appropriate to Rigel.
She was on Rigel IV, in the mansion of Gaila, a Ferengi merchant and cousin to Quark. Gaila's speciality was arms, but he would trade in anything as a sideline. Today he'd come into possession of one of the Orbs of the Prophets, which was why Kira had travelled to this place, to try and negotiate its purchase. This kind of black market deal repelled Kira, but the Bajoran people only had two of the nine Orbs in their possession, and one of those, the Orb of Wisdom, had only recently been returned to them by the Grand Nagus Zek. She was partly relieved that Odo was not around on Deep Space 9 when she left – he was on a mission to Unefra III with Garak – because she felt sure he would have disapproved. On the other hand, having the Constable with her would have been reassuring. At least there would have been someone within several parsecs that she didn't despise thoroughly.
Quark had arranged for Kira to be present at the auction of the Orb, due to take place the following day on stardate 48750. He had also insisted on journeying to Rigel IV at the same time (on separate starships – the Major had drawn the line at them sharing transport) no doubt to ensure he got a healthy commission for his trouble. She thought of the rape of her planet by the Cardassians, of the theft of the Orbs, and how her people were still paying for the occupation. And opportunists like Quark and Gaila were the ones the Bajorans were paying. But even Quark seemed almost decent compared to the other people with whom she shared the banqueting room.
Gaila had provided them with an evening meal, and accommodation in his large mansion. For a price, of course, Ferengi never did anything for nothing. As one of their Rules of Acquisition stated, 'there's no such thing as a free lunch'. Kira had agreed to join the others for the meal – at least it would give her an opportunity to see against whom she would be bidding.
At the head of the table sat Gaila, Quark sat to his left, Kira to his right. To Quark's left sat Draim, reputed to be a member of the Orion Syndicate. Quark and Draim were deep in conversation. Kira knew Quark had been hoping to join the Orion Syndicate for a long time, and was probably hoping to flatter Draim into accepting his membership. Next to Draim sat Lewty, a buyer for Alexander, the owner of Hephaestus Holdings and reputed to be the wealthiest person in the sector. She guessed that he would be the person against whom she would be doing most of the bidding for the Orb, since Alexander was known as a wealthy collector of such objects. Lewty's two assistants sat opposite him, to Kira's right. The first was an Andorian female who introduced herself to Kira as Anthas. The second was a young human male named Cochrane. Cochrane's chief distinguishing characteristic was a prosthetic right arm, the silver metal hand holding a knife poised above his food. The type of prosthesis must have been an affectation. It would have been simple enough to construct one that looked natural. Kira wondered at what could have motivated him to choose to look disfigured.
The two stood out from the other people seated at the table in that they had not chosen the meal as an opportunity for ostentatious displays of wealth. The men at the table, even Quark, wore expensive tailored evening suits, and extravagant accessories. Both Anthas and Cochrane wore simple clothing. Whether this was a statement, distancing themselves from the others, Kira didn't know. She herself wore her Bajoran militia uniform, and this was a statement – she was here on official Bajoran business as the government's representative.
At the other end of the table from Gaila sat a large uncouth human called Maxill. This was probably the man Kira despised more than anyone. He was generally believed to be a drug smuggler, and was why Kira would have spent all of the gold-pressed latinum on Bajor to purchase the Orb, even if it wasn't one of the most sacred objects of her people. The Orb that Gaila possessed was the Orb of Transcendence. The Vedeks of Bajor had used the Orb to transport themselves mentally to alternative planes of existence, to open the doors of perception, and gain mystical insights. Used as part of a religious ritual it could be a profoundly life-enhancing experience. Used without discipline it could be simply an hallucinogenic. That was why Maxill was here, Quark had informed her, to purchase the Orb to provide drug-like trips for the rich brats of the Orion Sector. Nothing could have struck Major Kira as more sacrilegious, to pervert the gift of the Prophets in such a way.
Maxill also disgusted Kira for his display of another expensive object. Seated on the floor to his left was an Orion slave girl, whom Maxill had not deigned to name. She sat cowed, and silent, wearing rags of clothing and a leash around her neck, one end of which Maxill had tied to the arm of his chair. She occasionally looked imploringly up towards her master, in response to which he fed her small pieces of food from his plate. The sight sickened Kira. She had thought that the practice of owning Orion slave girls had died out in the previous century, but evidently in the Rigel and adjacent systems the green-skinned women were still prized as particularly exotic pets.
The sight of these disreputable people all in one room brought to Kira's mind thoughts of Bareil. His loss only a few months before was still painful. Bareil was a man whose worth was greater than all of these people put together. Yet Bareil was dead, having given up his life to help the peace process between Bajor and Cardassia, while this rabble survived and prospered. Kira knew the ways of the Prophets were difficult to understand at times, but the injustice of it taxed even her faith.
Kira ate in silence, not wanting to engage anyone in conversation, certainly not either of the Ferengi that sat near her. However, the Andorian woman to her left decided she wanted to talk.
"So Major, do you believe the Dominion to be a threat to the Alpha Quadrant?"
Kira shrugged. The others had been discussing the prospect of war for most of the evening.
"Yes I do." She looked up from her meal to look Anthas in the eyes. The clear light blue eyes looked back at her with intelligence and humour. Perhaps she had underestimated the woman. "They are powerful, and harbour a deep resentment towards all solids. They will invade. Perhaps this year, perhaps next."
"But what of your new alliance with the Cardassians?" Lewty added. "Aren't you strong enough now to stand against them?"
"Bajor and Cardassia between them aren't enough. It will take the Federation, the Klingon Empire, the Romulans and the Tholians to stand together for us to defeat them."
"Perhaps if the Dominion bring us all together, then something good could come out of the war," Cochrane suggested.
"Hah! I grew up under the Cardassian occupation. I had to watch my family and friends die, and learn to kill too. Nothing good ever comes of war," Kira answered. Cochrane nodded, conceding the point.
Gaila disagreed. "War is good for business, as the thirty-fifth Rule of Acquisition says."
"Even in the worst of times, someone turns a profit," Quark agreed.
Draim added "I'm sure Dominion rule wouldn't affect us. Everyone, even the Dominion, need people like us." He took a mouthful of wine from his goblet. Kira noted with disgust that Gaila and Lewty were nodding in agreement. These people couldn't care less about war, she realised. As long as they could make money out of it, the whole Galaxy could go up in flames as far as they were concerned. She put down her fork.
"I'm leaving," she stood up.
"But you haven't finished," Gaila objected. "Don't you like the food?"
"The food is fine – it's the company I find distasteful."
Kira headed for the sanctuary of her room. She only had to put up with them for one more day, she told herself. She would acquire the Orb and then she would leave this place as quickly as possible.
One of the visitors to Gaila's mansion had not attended the dinner. Arissa, Draim's assistant, had stayed in her room. She had been space-sick during the journey there, according to Draim, and was still not well. While the others were at dinner, Arissa entered Gaila's study. Somewhere here was the information Draim wanted. Arissa had been a net-girl, the dataport in her neck allowed men and women into her mind, where she could provide them with whatever memories or fantasies they wanted. It had been a role she had detested, so when she had met Draim a few months before, and he had offered her a job within the Orion Syndicate, using her dataport purely to access information, for more money than she'd ever seen before, she'd jumped at the chance. It seemed ideal.
The reality was quite different, however. This was only her second job for Draim, but already she was aware of the many dangers it involved. Not only could she easily get caught in the physical world, but if she also encountered any encryption lockouts she couldn't handle, the feedback loops could destroy her. However, her life on Finnea Prime had given her the talent for breaking and entering, and with any luck she could survive any malignant subroutines she ran across when hacking through any computer's security protocols. Maybe that would be enough.
In fact, the main motive behind Draim's visit to Rigel IV wasn't to acquire the Orb of Transcendence but to get Arissa access to Gaila's records. Draim's main business was extortion and blackmail. He had little interest in objet d'art such as Bajoran Orbs.
Someone had beaten her to the access port. A human male, white, quite young, long brown hair. He had a prosthetic right arm. He stooped over the control console, oblivious to her, his metal fingers tapping on the inputs. Arissa was about to withdraw, then saw what he was doing on the display. Another second and he would set off every alarm in the building and there'd be no chance of her getting the data.
"Stop!" she whispered urgently.
The man stopped what he was doing and turned in surprise.
"I … er .." he floundered for an excuse to be there, then realised that Arissa wasn't meant to be there either. Arissa leapt to the console and keyed in a cancel command, deleting the man's search.
"You were about to hit a security protocol," she told him. He looked confused. Arissa thought rapidly. The quickest way of getting rid of this moron was to find the information he needed, then get on with her search.
Arissa plugged her portable transmitter into the machine's access point. Immediately she began retrieving information directly into her brain via the connection in her neck. She bypassed the security lockouts with ease, finding her way into the datacore. "What data?" she asked.
"What?" the man was still confused. Arissa was painfully aware of the slowness of normal organic communication, compared to the speed of her neural link.
"What data do you want? If I get them for you will you get out of here?"
The man nodded.
"What data?" Arissa repeated.
"Two names: Kirk Cochrane and Harriet Plasus. I just want to know what happened to them. If Gaila knows anything about them."
Arissa ran a search through Gaila's database. A couple of microseconds later she had the answer.
"One reference – stardate 40650. Kirk Cochrane was working for Hagath – a business partner of Gaila - transporting goods to Rigel II." She looked up. "That's all."
She turned away from the man, dismissing him from her thoughts, and returned her mind to exploring the datacore, downloading information into the eidetic sections of her brain. She had no idea what Draim would use the information for – that wasn't her business – she just needed to get the information and get out.
The data were downloaded, Arissa removed the portable transmitter, and looked around. The human had left. In his place a young, green-skinned girl was coldly observing her.
"You have a dataport," she stated, looking at Arissa's neck. "Good, you can help me access the Ferengi's database.
Arissa was amused. "Why should I?"
"Because otherwise I'll raise the alarm, OK?" the girl answered threateningly.
Arissa returned to the computer. It seemed that everyone wanted to dig into Gaila's background and had come here under false pretences in order to do so. Sometimes she thought she was the only person she knew who was exactly what she seemed to be, a net-girl turned hacker, and nothing else.
"What do you want to know?" she asked the green-skinned girl.
"Drug movements, anything Gaila might be involved in – especially Venus."
Arissa scanned further through the files. This information was more sensitive, she didn't want to risk looking for too long. She came up with one datum only.
"Gaila makes regular arms shipments to a group of narcotics producers on Rigel VII. They are located at …" Arissa relayed the information to the girl. "No reference to what they produce, but it's the only lead."
The green-skinned girl nodded, then smiled. "Thanks – you saved me a lot of time." She slipped out through the door into the corridor.
Arissa retrieved the transmitter from the access point, and removed the connection from the port in her neck. She left the room, her spirits lifted by what had just happened. Whatever those two were up to it could well have a damaging effect on Gaila, Draim or any of the other people connected to them. Something inside her that she hadn't recognised before told her that that, more than anything, was what she wanted.
Jonah Cochrane walked along the corridors of Gaila's mansion, returning to the dining room. He wasn't sure what to do with the information now he had it, but his first step would be to get to Rigel II. He would probably be able to persuade Lewty to travel there next. Once there he could decide what to do. After that he'd talk to Anthas about quitting their work with him. They had been working with Lewty since leaving Veridian III several weeks ago. Although assigned to the Enterprise-E, that starship wouldn't be commissioned until the following year, and Starfleet was very open to its people taking sabbaticals at points in their careers, to widen their experience. Some people took extended holidays, others went back to studying. Worf, Anthas had heard, had entered a monastery on Boreth. Alexander had asked them to work for him until the end of the year. Jonah had finished his convalescence after losing his arm, and had learnt to use the prosthetic replacement, and then began his role of advisor to Lewty. Lewty was Alexander's chief buyer of antiquities for his own private collection. Jonah's speciality of xeno-ethnology and his experience of trading gave him a valuable background in identifying and validating objects and works of art from around the Galaxy. Anthas's piloting skills were also extremely useful. They had enjoyed their new roles for a while, and got to see a side of life around the Alpha Quadrant they probably wouldn't have seen working for Starfleet, but they were beginning to tire of Lewty and the people with whom they had to do business.
Working in the Rigel system had also given Jonah the opportunity to do something he'd been thinking about doing more and more over recent years – finding out who'd killed his parents. He had been studying at the Academy, towards the end of his second year, when word got to him that his parents had been killed on Rigel II. He had travelled back there on compassionate leave, and had stayed with friends on Rigel II while the local police had investigated his parents' deaths. They had uncovered nothing. Jonah had returned to the Academy, but soon left. He had tried to let their deaths go, trusting the authorities to do what they could, being a responsible Federation citizen, but the lack of justice had increasingly preyed on his mind. Now seven years after their deaths he found himself working in the Rigel System, and in contact with people who might know something about what had happened to them. Now he had a name, Hagath. It was somewhere to start.
One of Gaila's flunkies interrupted his thoughts.
"Mr. Cochrane, sir," the man said, "Mr. Gaila and his other guests have retired from the dining room for some after-dinner entertainment. If you would follow me, please."
Jonah followed the servant to the large, luxuriantly-decorated room. Fabric swathed the walls, a plush carpet lay underfoot, and Gaila and his guests were all reclining on cushions scattered over the floor. Only the Orion girl and Kira were missing.
"Ah, Jonah, you're just in time for the entertainment. Yaana has just gone to change," Maxill explained.
Yaana returned, now heavily made up and wearing translucent wisps of fabric that swayed revealingly as she danced. The leash had gone, but she wore other symbols of her slavery – a metal circlet around her upper arm, and a small chain fastened to a collar round her neck.
Orion dancers had become legendary in the previous century for the erotic sensuality of their dancing, and Jonah could see why. He glanced at Anthas a couple of times to observe her reaction, and the Andorian seemed mesmerised by Yaana, reaching up to receive one of the proffered veils that the dancer removed and handed to the audience as she gyrated in front of them. The comments by the other members of the group, were more than he could take, however.
"Maxill," Gaila spoke without taking his eyes from the dance. I must congratulate you. You are the first non-Ferengi I have met who knows the correct way to treat women. Although I still disapprove of you allowing her to wear clothes." Quark nodded in agreement, also without taking his eyes from Yaana.
"Don't worry, Yaana will soon correct that oversight," Maxill informed the Ferengi.
"Most reassuring," Gaila responded. "I commend you on your training of her."
"Ah, you approve of my pet, then," Maxill commented. Yaana danced on, Jonah felt sure she must be able to hear the three men discussing her as if she was an object, but she seemed oblivious to them. "I'm hoping to upgrade to another model soon," Maxill continued. "Something meatier. When I do I will be happy to sell her on to either of you – if you can afford her."
"I assure you, Maxill I am quite capable of finding my own on the open market," Gaila replied, matching Maxill in his game of one-upmanship. He looked away from the Orion girl briefly to fix Maxill with a stare. "And I can afford any price." Quark seemed very envious of that last statement. Apparently the dancer's real value to the others in the room was not even that of a sex symbol, but only a status symbol, Jonah observed. He decided to leave.
Anthas knocked on his door later that evening.
"A present for you," she said, giving him the small piece of silk she'd taken from Yaana earlier.
"Thanks," Jonah said carefully, unsure of what to make of the gift. He looked at it closely. "Hhmm that's odd. This is Terran silk. I wonder where she got it from." He looked up at Anthas. "Did you have a good time?" he asked.
"She's an excellent dancer," Anthas answered evasively. "I've had as much as I can stand of Lewty and the others, though. How soon before we can get away from this and back to Starfleet?"
"We have a few more stops in the Rigel System, then we're back to Alexander's place on New Athens. We can get a shuttle to Starbase 327 from there, then get the first ship to Earth." Jonah calculated in his head running the piece of silk absently between his fingers. "Rigel's about 270 parsecs from Earth, so three weeks. Maybe four."
"Let's do it, I want to spend some time on Earth before we join up with the new Enterprise. And I've had enough of this," she indicated in the general direction of Lewty. "Or how would you like to visit Andoria?"
There was a noise in the corridor outside. Footsteps. Jonah looked briefly into the corridor, and saw Maxill and Draim entering Lewty's room. "What's Lewty up to?" he asked Anthas. She shrugged.
Jonah tried to listen for any sound coming from the adjoining room. He guessed that he wouldn't be able to hear anything, the man probably had an acoustic-dampening device since the rooms were almost certainly bugged, but Jonah couldn't suppress his curiosity.
"I don't know, Joe. I don't trust him," Anthas replied. Jonah nodded his agreement.
He could hear voices however, which became louder, then he heard a woman's scream and a thud. Jonah looked into the corridor again, and saw Maxill with Yaana at the door to Lewty's room. Maxill was holding Yaana's wrists in one hand. He struck her across her face with the other and she fell to the floor. The man looked up at Jonah with a completely expressionless face. Jonah felt cold. He started to say something, but couldn't find the words, then Maxill turned and re-entered the room.
Jonah ran to the girl, who was now sitting where she had fallen, and was now sobbing quietly.
"Are you OK?" he asked, realising how inadequate the question was.
She looked at him with fear and doubt, then saw the silk he still carried in his hand. She smiled weakly and put her fingers to the material.
"My friend gave it to me," Jonah felt at a loss for what to say. Because of her lack of response was he wasn't even sure if his universal translator was communicating properly what he was saying. "You know, the woman with the blue skin and the …", he made a sign for antennae by wiggling his fingers near the crown of his head.
Yaana smiled, briefly, and looked past Jonah at something. Jonah turned and saw Anthas by the door to his room. She imitated his sign for antennae and made a face. Yaana laughed, and held out her hand to be helped up. Jonah took it and lifted. The woman stood in a single fluid movement that obviously hadn't required any help.
Jonah looked at her lip. It was bleeding.
"Do you want to come into my room? I'll fix your lip."
Yaana nodded and let him lead her into his room. She sat on the edge of Jonah's bed. He dabbed the piece of silk at her lip, wiping away the blood, and removing the red lipstick, to reveal the dark green skin underneath.
"I'll just clear this away, then …" he looked round. Anthas was behind him holding a dermal regenerator. He stepped back making way for her. Instead Anthas handed it to him. She seemed amused at something. "No, you do it, Joe. You seem to be doing very well on your own."
Jonah ran the regenerator over the cut. It healed immediately. Then he noticed the bruises around her wrists. He took her right hand, held it up and ran the regenerator over the marks. After a couple of passes the turquoise discolouration disappeared. Yaana meekly held her other arm up for treatment.
"You know … " Jonah started. "If there's anything we can do. Like the guy from Alnitak said," Jonah continued, referring to the only bit of Orionese culture he knew. "'Let me help,'" he quoted. Yaana looked puzzled. Jonah still wasn't sure he was getting through.
"Joe, non-interference. Remember?" Anthas reminded him gently.
The door slid open. It was Maxill.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he yelled at Yaana. He took a handful of her long green hair and began dragging her to the door. Jonah stood up.
"Now look …" he began. Maxill let go of Yaana and punched Jonah once in the stomach. He collapsed to the floor. Maxill lent over Jonah's curled up body.
"Stay away from her or I'll kill you," he warned. He pushed Yaana ahead of him through the door. And they were gone.
Anthas helped Jonah onto his bed. He'd managed to get his breath back, but was still in pain. Anthas found a hypo from the medi-kit and sprayed it into Jonah's neck. He untensed slowly and lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling.
"Damn pahtk," he swore.
Anthas sat next to him and gently stroked his hair.
"Non-interference, Joe. Non-interference." She didn't feel convinced.
Draim and Major Kira sat expectantly in the large hall. They were the only two people left who were interested in acquiring the Orb. Lewty had left earlier that morning. He said that he had been advised by his assistant not to bid for the Orb. As a sacred object of the Bajoran people it was inappropriate for Hephaestus Holdings to try to acquire it. Kira had been surprised by the uncharacteristic display of ethics by such a large commercial organisation. Maxill had also departed, claiming pressing business elsewhere.
Gaila brought out the ark, built to house the Orb. The box itself was invaluable, and was almost exactly 6000 years old, since it had been made at the time of the discovery of the Orb of Transcendence. Gaila placed it with reverence on the table in front of him. Reverence, that was, for the value of the object, not for its religious significance.
He signalled for the security guards to step nearer, and lifted up the lid.
It was empty.
Kira was incensed. To be dragged across the Galaxy as part of some Ferengi scheme was bad enough, but to use one of the Orbs of the Prophets as the bait exploited her faith, and the gift of the Prophets. She took a step towards the Ferengi. Ignoring the guards that surrounded him, she grabbed a handful of his shirt. "Is this some sort of trick?" she demanded. But she could tell by the bewilderment on his face that Gaila had expected the Orb to be there.
Gaila recovered from his surprise and released himself from the Major's grip.
"Guards!" he stepped away from Kira. "Hold her until her ship has been searched. And him," he indicated Draim. "Find the Orb."
Quark was not having a good day. Gaila had not only searched Kira's and Draim's ships, he had also torn Quark's apart. Since Quark's ship was hired for the trip, Quark was concerned about losing his deposit on the small shuttle. He had protested as much to Gaila, and had used it as an opportunity to remind his cousin about their bargain, that if Gaila were successful in his arms business, Gaila would give Quark a spacecraft of his own.
"Cousin Gaila," he had pleaded, as panels were removed and circuits torn from the cockpit of the shuttle. "This will cost me latinum. The Ferengi who rented this to me won't refund the deposit."
"Hah," Gaila had been derisive. "If you hired this from a Ferengi, you won't see your deposit again anyway. Have you forgotten the first Rule of Acquisition?" Gaila shook his head pityingly. "It's no wonder you're still just a bartender."
"So, I'm just a bartender. Remember that it was this bartender that lent you the money to get started. And since you're so successful, isn't it about time you fulfilled our bargain? The spacecraft, remember?"
"Of course I remember, Quark." Gaila hesitated. "But I'm afraid this business with the Orb is going to leave me a little out of pocket. However," Gaila paused again, as if considering a way through the impasse, "if someone were to find the Orb of Transcendence and return it to me, then the chances of me being able to make good on our agreement would be much higher."
Quark rolled his eyes. He had expected as much. Gaila would never give him his ship, since it meant he would always have some sort of hold over him. Still, he may as well play along, just in case.
"What do you want me to do, Gaila?"
"Maxill, the tall fat human with the green dancing girl. My sources tell me he has gone to Rigel VII. I want you to follow him. Find his spaceship and search it. If you find the Orb I want it back. Understand?" Gaila paused and thought for a moment, then added: "Oh and bring the green girl with you too. As compensation for my time."
"And what about Lewty and the others? They could have the Orb, not Maxill."
"I have people out looking for them, now." He turned to leave. "Although, of course, Quark, if you hear anything, you will be sure to let me know, won't you?"
Quark reluctantly agreed and set about repairing his ship as best he could. He was still cursing himself for ever having got involved with his cousin's business dealings when Kira arrived.
"Quark," she used his name as if it were a profanity. "If I find out you were behind this."
"Major," he started defensively. "I assure you that …"
"I'm following Lewty," Kira's guess was that it had been him who had stolen the Orb. Somehow that story about not wanting to bid against her out of respect for her religion didn't ring true – and yet she'd been naïve enough to fall for it. "I want you to find out where the other one went, that fat misogynist Maxill. One of them must have the Orb. I want you to follow him. Find his spaceship and search it. If you find the Orb I want it back. Understand?"
Quark nodded in agreement. If there were some way out of this, some way he could avoid making an enemy of either Major Kira or Cousin Gaila, he wished he could see it.
II
In the first to third centuries CE, around the time that the Roman Empire ruled a large proportion of Earth, terrible wars tore the peoples of the planet Vulcan apart. Those that stayed followed the teachings of Surak and turned towards logic. For the people of Vulcan it was a Time of Awakening.
Other Vulcans chose different paths. Most journeyed to other stars and settled on planets light years away. A war-like offshoot of the Vulcans, the Romulans, colonised the plant Romulus and founded a great Star Empire. The Sedrick also founded a civilisation, as did the Debrune. One group headed towards the Orion sector, colonising several star systems in the region. These people settled on Mintaka, on Alnilam and on the fifth planet of the Rigel System. Those on Mintaka reverted to a pre-industrial culture: the others flourished as traders and inter-planetary travellers.
The Vulcan descendants of Rigel V built a strong economic base throughout the sector over the following two thousand years, which remained independent of the Federation when the Federation became the dominant political entity in that region of space. Although the peoples that had created the wealth had developed a Spartan and stoical culture, the allure of wealth - and independence from the Federation - attracted a wholly different kind of person.
In the two thousand years between founding the Roman Empire and founding the United Federation of Planets, the human race had undergone its own Time of Awakening. By the 22nd century humans were, on the whole, peace-loving, enlightened, intelligent, intrinsically ethical, altruistic, agnostic and uninterested in material gain. They had renounced war, God, money, imperialism and xenophobia in more or less that chronological order.
On the whole.
Those that were still as greedy, avaricious, salacious and just purely nasty as ever felt increasingly alienated and isolated from their society and their culture.
The Orion Sector became their new home. Business prospered, as did crime. Huge cities sprang up, but these cities were accompanied by slums. Gangsters ruled the streets, pirates dominated interplanetary space, slavers plied their wares. For the humans dispossessed by the new-found nobleness of Earth it was like coming home. Eventually the economy of the system was largely based on criminal activity, and organisations such as the Orion Syndicate held the reigns of power.
Up until the Syndicate was formed there had still been room for the indigenous peoples in the system. On Rigel II there were turtle-like reptilians with a long and noble cultural tradition. In the 21st and 22nd centuries they had been recognised by the Federation as the true representatives of that world. But since the start of the 24th century they had been reduced to living on the marginal areas of that world. The Kaylars of Rigel VII had faired even more badly. A medieval society in the 23rd century, their culture had been displaced by the influx of 24th century immigrants, and now they were either begging on the streets of the alien cities that had been built on their planet or performing mock gladiatorial combats for the tourists.
The Federation helped where it could, but it had really only limited the effects of the corruption rather than removed it. Trade into and out of the Orion Sector was permitted, but was closely monitored. The governments of the Rigel System had made one concession to the Federation: they allowed all their planets to be screened by a transporter dampening field, preventing shipments from being beamed in or out, and allowed the stop and search of ships travelling through the systems. It was a satisfactory compromise. It wouldn't stop the supply and sale of drugs, arms, slaves, prostitutes, genetically engineered life-forms and illicit holosuite programs, but it kept it as much as possible away from the decent sectors of the Alpha Quadrant.
There was little the people who lived in the Orion Sector could do either. Governments kept some control, but had to face the fact that the vast majority of the people living there had emigrated to the Orion systems because crime, depravity and corruption were what they wanted. The first settlers, the descendants of Vulcan, responded by retreating to Rigel V and being very careful about immigration. Other planets, such as Rigel IV and, less superficially, Rigel III, managed to claw themselves back some respectability.
For Rigel II, however, there was no hope.
Jonah Cochrane had spent his youth in the Rigel System, his parents having chosen that as a home when they knew their ship was never going to be warp-capable again. With seven inhabited planets in the one system, it seemed the best place for a small independent trader to make a living without interstellar drive. Jonah had spent seven years with his parents, travelling between Rigel II and IV, with occasional forays to the other planets, until joining the Starfleet Academy Preparatory Programme, at the Orion annexe of the Daystrom Institute on Rigel III.
Returning to Rigel II was the closest Jonah had to going home.
He had tried persuading Lewty that morning to leave before the bidding started. He had used the argument that it didn't seem ethical to bid against the Major for one of her planet's sacred objects and that there were better things to look out for on Rigel II. To Jonah's surprise, Lewty had agreed. The next stop on the itinerary was Two anyway.
Jonah, Anthas and Lewty had left on the Hermes a short while later, and docked with the Zeus that was parked in orbit above them. The Zeus was one of Alexander's largest ships, and was gathering supplies from throughout the Orion sector, the Hermes was one of its runabouts. Lewty, Anthas and Jonah's itinerary was built in around the Zeus's. As the Zeus's crew journeyed through the systems making the trades that created the wealth for Hephaestus Holdings, the three on the Hermes travelled with them, spending that same wealth on personal items for Alexander.
Rigel II and IV were in syzygy, more or less, which meant the trip was a short one. Within a couple of hours they were landing at the spaceport at Miramoto, the largest of the cities on Rigel II. The Hermes had a large ground car, which Anthas unloaded and insisted on driving. Jonah planned to stop with some people he knew in Miramoto, and so directed her as she drove through the streets of the city.
Anthas found some of what she saw in Miramoto reminiscent of her home back on Andoria – the noise and exuberance, poverty and wealth in juxtaposition, but what really struck her were the large ruined monuments and shells of building that stood like gargantua amongst the settlement. They had arrived at night, and the street lights lit up the colossal monoliths with an eerie glow.
The native Rigellian culture had once been incredibly powerful. Now all that was left of them were their tombs and their monuments and a few of the turtle-like reptilians eking out a living at their feet. Huge pyramids, endless catacombs, giant statues depicting animal-headed Gods. Comparison had been drawn to similar buildings on other planets - Earth, Mars, Juhy'tigsr, Yuyune and Kurl all had similar structures - and there were probably more still to be found elsewhere. No link had been found between them, and the most plausible explanation was pure coincidence – another demonstration of Hodgkins's Law of Parallel Planet Development. However, the pyramids and monuments of Rigel II did differ from those on the other planets in their size. Some of the largest structures were close to a kilometre high, and many of the monuments stood well over 150 metres. In Miramoto the two worlds existed oblivious to each other. The people who inhabited the city carried on their lives without a glance at the statues and immense walls around which they scurried like ants.
During the day, of course, the streets would be almost deserted. Rigel was a supergiant star, which meant it was far larger and hotter than most other stars. During the day the immense blue-white sphere of Rigel filled the sky, pouring down its radiation relentlessly. Life in the open was only bearable during twilight and night-time, and even then the temperature was hotter than most inhabited worlds' maximum temperatures.
The streets of Miramoto were like a warren, but although it had been more than five years since Jonah had been there, he remembered the route precisely. Eventually, after a length of time almost as long as the time it had taken to get from Rigel IV to II, they arrived outside an ornate building, surrounded by intricately-irrigated lawns, and large security screens. For all its splendour it was poorly lit – only a single red light shone at the entrance to the grounds.
Jonah stepped from the car, and spoke into a grille by the entrance.
"Hi, it's me."
A face appeared on the viewscreen by the speaker. An elderly, maternal-looking woman. "I'm sorry we're fully booked. If you don't have a reservation I'm afraid we can't accommodate you. If you would like to make a reservation now ...?"
"Business is good then, Majj?"
"Excuse me, do I know you?"
"It's me, Jonah. Jonah Cochrane, you know, Harriet and Kirk's son."
"Joe? Joe? I thought you were ... My God you've changed. You're so much .." The woman, previously so business-like suddenly became flustered."
"It's been seven years, Majj. Seven years."
The gates swung open and Anthas edged the car forward. Jonah climbed in and they headed up the drive to the front of the house. Lewty seemed very ill at ease.
"Am I wrong Cochrane, or is this a house of … errm … ill-repute?"
"Not really Lew," Jonah replied, seeking an opportunity to annoy the man. "It's a brothel, yes, but it has an excellent reputation." He and Anthas exchanged grins and entered the house.
"Joe!" someone screamed and Jonah was immediately enveloped by the woman he had spoken to on the commlink, whose size the small screen had not done justice to. Jonah eventually prised himself away.
"Hi Majj," Jonah held the elderly woman's hand. He indicated the other two with his free hand. "This is my friend Anthas, and my boss Mr. Lewty. We're visiting Two for a couple of days and I insisted we stop in and see you while we were here."
Majj shook their hands and welcomed them, then excused herself to fix up some rooms for them.
"They seem to know you very well here, Jonah. A frequent visitor were you?" Anthas asked with feigned innocence.
"I grew up here. This was my home. Majj took me and my parents in when we had nowhere to stay. When we got here in '54 all my parents had was a clapped out old Sydney-class starship and a hold full of rubbish from assorted star systems. Majj looked after us, took care of me when my parents were off elsewhere, and helped me get into the Institute Programme on Three. I liked it here – I guess I didn't make friends easily here on Two, but there was always company here, people who didn't judge you or hassle you." Majj returned and Jonah acknowledged her with a smile "It was like having a large selection of aunts looking out for me," he continued. "And a few uncles."
"We cater for every taste here," Majj cut in. "Every species too. Although I've never met one like you before," she appraised Anthas. "You're Andorian aren't you?" She looked at Jonah. "She's very beautiful, Joe. You are lucky." She looked disapprovingly at Anthas's crew cut and her flight suit. "Although you should do something about your hair, dear. And your clothes."
"An's just a friend, Majj," Joe protested.
"That's what I meant, Joe. You're still lucky to have such lovely friend. I'll put you both in the same room, though. You never know, eh?" she winked at the two of them. Jonah shook his head.
"Majj, you're …" he groped for the right descriptor.
"I think the word you're looking for is 'incorrigible,'" Majj suggested, as she led the way to their rooms.
Kira had tracked the ion wake of the Zeus to Rigel II and was now hailing the security services. The government of Rigel II had been having a difficult time with the Federation in recent weeks. A consignment of arms, intended for the Maquis, had been intercepted near the Badlands. The arms had been traced back to Rigel II. Cut-backs in aid and trade sanctions had been carried out, and the negotiations over lifting the transporter dampening field around the planet had been put on hold. Although bad news for Two, this was good news for Kira since it meant that the Governor of Rigel II would be very keen to win his way back into the Federation's good books.
The Governor himself appeared on the viewscreen.
"Governor Tarkwin," the man nodded. "At your service. How may we be of help to the Federation?"
"Good day, Governor. I am Major Kira Nerys of the Bajoran Militia. I'm in pursuit of a suspect in the theft of a Bajoran religious artefact, and would be grateful for any help you may be able to provide in the matter."
"Ah," the Governor paused. Kira jumped in before he could say more.
"I am also the Bajoran liaison to Starfleet, and any favourable report I have concerning Rigel II will therefore go directly to the Federation."
"Please understand, Major," an element of pleading crept into Tarkwin's voice, "that Two is committed to upholding interstellar law irrespective of the demands of the Federation. We will be only too happy to help, whether Starfleet learns of our assistance or not." It was a lie, but Kira did not want an argument, so let it go. To a large extent her sympathies were with the Governor. The long-term economic future of the planet depended on maintaining good relationships with the Federation, which meant meeting their exacting standards. Yet clamping down on the illegal activities of its citizens, particularly against cartels as powerful as the Orion Syndicate was practically impossible with the limited resources that the government had. The whole system was anarchic, with a thin veneer of authority, and sometimes the veneer was so thin the holes showed.
And anyone who supplied arms to the Maquis was to be applauded as far as Kira was concerned.
"I'm glad to hear it, Governor," Kira replied. "I need some information about a shuttle that would have landed in the last three hours. It's the Hermes, registered to Hephaestus Holdings. If you could trace the movements of anyone who may have disembarked from the shuttle, and locate them for me, I would be very grateful."
"Of course, Major," Tarkwin assured her. "I'll oversee the task personally."
A few minutes later the Governor contacted her. "The Hermes landed at Miramoto Spaceport two hours ago. I'll give you the landing co-ordinates, and one of our security operatives will meet you there."
Governor Tarkwin was true to his word. As Major Kira disembarked from her runabout, someone was there to meet her.
"Garth," he grunted. Kira wasn't sure if he was announcing his name or had some sort of gastro-intestinal dysfunction. She gambled on it being a name.
"Major Kira Nerys." She got straight to the point: "You've located the crew of the Hermes?"
"Picked up their ground car on a surveillance camera," Garth replied. "I'll take you."
"Not yet," Kira responded. "First I want to search their ship."
The search proved fruitless, as Kira knew it would. She and Garth went through the deserted ship, moving everything that could be moved, but she found nothing. By midnight she decided it was time to track down Lewty and his two assistants.
Garth had a small sports car, which he drove at high speed through the traffic. Kira was relieved when they reached their destination, a large house in its own grounds.
"Madam Majj's," Garth announced.
Kira felt she should have guessed. The people she was pursuing land on a planet and the first place they head towards is a brothel. Typical degenerates. Garth spoke into the grille.
"Open up, it's the police."
Kira was astonished. "You just let them know we're coming?"
"Sure, they'll co-operate with us. If they don't we just revoke their licence."
"You licence this type of place?"
Garth was bewildered. "Of course," he answered. "If we didn't licence them, how would we keep tabs on them?" He shook his head at the stupidity of off-worlders. Kira began to wonder what kind of planet she'd landed on.
The gates opened and Kira and Garth entered. At the reception desk Majj confronted them.
"Officer Garth, what brings you here?"
He ignored her and pointed the computer terminal out to Kira. She tapped through the database and read out two room numbers to Garth. Majj remembered who was in those rooms.
"Joe? What's Joe done?"
"The rooms. Now. Don't try and raise the alarm," Garth instructed Majj. Majj obeyed, leading them up the stairs, protesting that she was sure it must be some mistake and that Joe wouldn't do anything wrong.
At the doors to the two rooms Kira motioned for Garth to take one door, while she took the other. She drew her disrupter and entered the room.
Two people slept in the bed. As she turned on the light they stirred and looked up at her.
"Major … Kira?" the male – Cochrane – asked sleepily.
Kira began to doubt her suspicions about these two. They didn't seem to have the behaviour of Syndicate Operatives, particularly allowing themselves to be caught like this, and then adopting the role of innocent bewilderment immediately on waking. Perhaps she had made a mistake. Or perhaps they were very good at their roles.
Anthas was waking now. She blinked and rubbed her eyes. "Joe, what is it?"
"We have a visitor."
The Andorian sat up. "Hi, Visitor," she said. "What can we do for you?"
"The Orb," Kira answered. "I want it back."
"The Orb?" Cochrane answered, still confused. "We don't have it. I thought Gaila did. Has it been stolen?"
"Don't play games with me," Kira snapped. "Get dressed, I'm taking you with me."
The human and Andorian climbed out of the bed and began picking up the clothing they had dropped on the floor. Kira stepped to the door and called out to Garth.
"Two of them are here, have you got the other one?"
Garth entered the room, his eyes following Anthas as she completed dressing.
"He got away."
"What? How could you be so incompetent?" Kira was incensed.
Garth didn't seem bothered. "I'll go outside and look for him." He disappeared.
"O.K., let's go," Kira motioned the two of them towards the door.
Majj was outside, almost hysterical with concern.
"Joe, what does she want? Why are the police after you?"
"Relax, Majj," Joe tried to calm her. "It's just a misunderstanding. They think I've stolen something that I haven't. I'll sort it out."
"I don't trust that Garth," Majj continued, accompanying Joe down the stairs, apparently oblivious to the Bajoran woman walking behind them with a disrupter pointing at them. "He took a bribe from that other fellow to let him go, and right now he's contacting some other people to come and get you. And I don't think it's the police."
Majj was right. As the four of them left the building they were met by Garth and a group of men they hadn't seen before – all wearing black, all carrying directed energy weapons – and all the weapons were directed at Kira, Anthas and Jonah.
"Garth, you scum, who are you working for?" Kira demanded.
"Like everyone else on Rigel II, I work for whoever pays me," Garth answered, and looked meaningfully at the man standing next to him. The man took out a bundle of latinum slips and counted out ten for Garth.
"You're sure these are the people Hagath was after?" the man in black asked the policeman.
"A Bajoran, a human and an Andorian all together, I think there's a good chance," Garth replied. "Besides, she thinks they have the Orb," he indicated Kira.
"OK, cuff them and hood them," someone behind the group of men ordered.
Anthas felt hands pull her arms behind her, then everything went black.
Anthas's hood was removed, which made little difference to her, since the room she was in was just as dark. She heard movement around her - someone walking away - and a door closing. "Joe?" she called tentatively into the dark. "Are you there?"
"I'm here, wherever here is. I guess we ran into someone else who wants to know where the Orb is."
"What I don't understand," Anthas spoke into the darkness of the room, "is why they don't just scan for the Orb and find it that way."
"Because it won't show up on any scans – it's not made of matter in the usual sense," Jonah attempted to explain, welcoming something to talk about and lessen his fear of what was to happen to them. "As far as anyone can make out the Orbs are more like … extrusions into lower dimensions of higher dimensional objects. The Bajoran people refer to them as the Tears of the Prophets, but they're not so much tears as tears. Each one is actually a hole into another Universe."
"How come you know so much about them?" Anthas asked.
"They've always fascinated me. The whole Bajoran culture does." Somewhere in the darkness he heard someone stir. Jonah guessed it was the Bajoran Major. "The Orb of Transcendence is particularly amazing. The Vedeks of Bajor used the Orb to take them on vision quests, to understand more about themselves, to dig away at their essential being. I though it might be interesting to have a go myself."
"I was on Bajor a couple of years ago," Anthas interjected. "The Enterprise was transferring some personnel to Deep Space Nine, which is near there. I took the opportunity for some planet leave. It's beautiful there. You should go, some time," she squeezed his hand.
"Great idea," Jonah said gloomily. "There's just one slight problem." He rattled his cuffs. "It doesn't seem like we're going anywhere."
The room exploded into light. After the darkness of the room Jonah and Anthas were blinded by it. Jonah tentatively opened his eyes. Standing before them were three of the men in black from the night before, all carrying phaser rifles. With them was a man with close-cropped grey hair and piercing cold eyes and behind him stood a tall pale-skinned woman with protruding frontal lobes. Jonah heard a noise and turned his head. Lying next to him was Kira. She seemed to be coming round. She groggily sat up, then glared at the men who held them prisoner.
I hope you've been made to feel comfortable," the man with piercing cold eyes said. Something about his tone managed to be both charming and chilling at the same time. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Hagath."
"Hagath?" Jonah responded with surprise.
Hagath looked suspiciously at Jonah.
"I see my reputation precedes me." Hagath lent down and met Jonah's gaze at close range. Jonah found the menace in that look difficult to withstand.
"I … I found your name in Gaila's records."
"Indeed? And why were you looking there?"
"I was tying to find information on my parents, Kirk Cochrane and Harriet Plasus – remember, they used to work for you?"
Hagath couldn't conceal his surprise at hearing the names. He straightened and took a step back, regarding Jonah with amusement.
"Like father like son, hhmm? In too far over his head and getting his fingers burnt. If that's not mixing my metaphors." He saw the look of anger fill Jonah's face. "Oh, don't get me wrong, I had nothing to do with their deaths. I valued them too much as employees."
Jonah watched the man warily. It was impossible to tell if he was lying or not.
"Then who did kill them?"
Hagath ignored him, turning instead to the woman who stood behind him.
"Talura! This one first"
The woman knelt beside Jonah, staring intently at him. Jonah started to hear a faint buzzing. Then he began to feel nauseous, and a faint prickling in his head, as if thousands of ants were crawling around in his mind. The pressure became greater, then painful. He squeezed his eyes shut, then yelled once, more from fear of what was happening than from the pain. Suddenly the prickling stopped. Jonah opened his eyes, swaying from the nausea he still felt.
Talura looked up at Hagath, then reported to him in clipped terse sentences. "Nothing. He doesn't know where the Orb is. He works for Alexander, but he's actually Starfleet – on sabbatical. He suspects Alexander is involved in the theft, but isn't sure. He distrusts Lewty – the third person in his party." Talura looked once more at Jonah. "It would be in your interest to tell him who killed his parents."
Jonah was confused, thinking that Talura was talking to him, but Hagath answered her.
"Very well. Check on the others." Talura knelt next to Anthas and ran her hand through the Andorian woman's hair, staring at her intently. Jonah saw Anthas's eyes glaze over. Then looked up at Hagath as the man spoke his name.
"Cochrane. A name. Burn." Hagath looked across at Talura. She had finished with Anthas and had moved on to Kira. "I'm not sure why Talura thinks you should know this." Hagath regarded the younger man carefully. "What will you do now? Track your parents' killer down and destroy him?"
Jonah didn't answer.
"Hah, excellent," Hagath smiled. "How entertaining." He directed his attention to Talura. She shook her head. Hagath smiled at his three prisoners.
"I know it was terribly ungracious of me as a host to have a telepath read you, but I'm afraid I had to know what has happened to the Orb. Since Talura assures me you know nothing I will let you go. I would very much like to meet this Lewty person, however. It is quite vexing that our friend Garth allowed him to escape." Hagath turned to the nearest of the men in black. "Please express our personal dissatisfaction to the gentleman at the earliest opportunity." The man nodded and left.
"I hold out little hope that you would actually return the Orb to me if you find it," Hagath continued. "However, there is always the consolation that in attempting to posses it yourself, you may well cause some considerable distress to whoever did steal it," Hagath smiled at Jonah, which sent a chill down his spine. Hagath turned to the two remaining men in black. "Take them to the spaceport. Make sure they leave."
Kira, Anthas and Jonah were driven to the spaceport through the sunblasted streets of Miramoto. There they discovered that the Hermes had gone, as Jonah and Anthas had guessed it would have. Lewty had ditched them. Kira led them to her ship, which was in the adjoining berth. The Danube class runabout sprang to life as it detected the signal from Kira's combadge.
"U.S.S. Anduin?" Jonah noted the name of the runabout.
"All the runabouts assigned to DS9 are named after Earth rivers," Kira explained.
"Haven't heard of the Anduin before." Jonah called to Anthas, who had run ahead of them into the ship. "Hey, An, you know all about Earth. Ever heard of the river Anduin?" but the Andorian was oblivious to the question. She had powered up the ship and was running her hands over the console.
"What's the matter with her?" Kira asked.
"Oh, she's in love," Jonah explained. "Anthas always liked the Danube class runabouts. Small enough to feel some connection with them, large enough that you can actually get someplace in them. She had one on the Enterprise, the Tycho Brahe."
"What happened to it?"
"Oh, she crashed it," Jonah admitted off-handedly and went to sit next to the pilot. Kira took a seat as well. She planned to go next to Rigel VII, to check up on Quark and his search for Maxill. She looked uneasily at the pilot, wondering what the odds were of surviving the trip.