The Last Temptation of Odo – Chapter 13

By

Creek Johnson and Nance Hurt

Disclaimer: We are but fleas on the elephants' posterior that is Paramount.

No infringement on their rights is intended. We hope none is taken.

"The Madness," prompted Vivian gently. They had worked through the night trying to bring the runabouts systems back up with little success all the while gently grilling their companion about what was going on.

sanKe sighed and wiped the perspiration from him brow. "You must understand," he said. "We knew nothing of the universe beyond our own world. No concept of the war that raged out in space. We did not know what to make of the ship when it crash landed."

"So, the Dominion had made no contact with you before?" asked Julian.

"None," replied sanKe. "When the Federation made contact several years before, we were assured someone would be sent to assist us but no one came. We assumed the Dominion…"

"Apparently," observed Vivian. "Someone forgot to notify you about the war or seeing as how you had just developed warp technology, the Federation most likely just assumed you would not be of interest to the Dominion."

"So," prompted Julian. "A Dominion ship crash landed. What happened next?"

"The Ruling Counsel was not a good form of government," said sanKe. "We found it impossible to put aside our petty regional disputes and fought over everything and as a result nothing was ever accomplished. When the Dominion ship crashed, different factions in the Ruling Counsel thought that by cooperating with the Dominion they alone would be able to harness the vast technology the Dominion offered. Their weapons and ships were vastly superior to anything we knew how to build. So, each faction sought to make a separate alliance with the Dominion."

"But that wasn't what the Dominion had in mind was it?" asked Julian.

"No. It was not. Finding no single faction in power, the Founder ordered the Ruling Counsel to be rounded up and taken to their stronghold high in the hills above here. Their ship beyond repair, the Vorta and the Jem'Hadar then began to build the orbiting platform you found on your arrival. They began monitoring space, hoping for rescue, but none came."

"What happened to the Ruling Counsel?" asked Vivian. "How did you survive?"

"Dead," replied sanKe. "In order to ensure the cooperation of the populace, the Vorta left a few of us in position to maintain the day to day running of the government while the Dominion set about their business. It actually worked well for a while. Petty restrictions to trade were set aside, the people prospered. That was until, the Madness…"

"Tell us about the Madness," said Julian gently.

"As time passed, it became clear the Founder was not well. As he struggled with his illness, the Vorta became more and more distracted and relations between the Vorta and the Jem'Hadar became strained. Then one dark night, the Founder died. The Vorta ordered all the Jem'Hadar to the castle and the gates were locked."

"You were there that night weren't you?" asked Vivian.

"Yes. The four remaining members of the Ruling Counsel were ordered here as well. It is a night I shall not forget as long as I live. We were all assembled in the inner courtyard. The Vorta made the announcement that the Founder had died and ordered the Jem'Hadar to destroy themselves as a tribute, a sacrifice, to his memory. They refused. The Vorta ordered them again to make the sacrifice saying that if they would not die with honor, they would die in agony. Again, they refused. He ordered them a third time and the Jem'Hadar replied by killing him there on the spot."

"And then?" prompted Julian.

"Then the Jem'Hadar, the one they called the First, took the box that held the drug and held it up for all to see. He declared that they were loyal to the Founders until death and that they would find a way to take the body of the Founder back to his home. The others cheered and called for a distribution of the white. When the First attempted to open the box, it exploded, destroying the contents and killing several of the Jem'Hadar."

"And you?" asked Vivian. "What did you do?"

"We hid. Taking advantage of the confusion, we hid in the nether regions of the castle. For days we cowered in the dark, listening to the shouting and fighting while the Jem'Hadar set about slaughtering each other. Then all was quiet and we waited another day before creeping out into the night. There were bodies everywhere and not a single member of the Dominion left alive."

"An orgy of death," said Vivian softly.

"Yes," agreed sanKe. "We gathered up the bodies and burned them in the courtyard."

"What then," asked Julian. "How did you get from there to here?"

"We soon discovered that the gates to the castle were not merely locked, but protected by a force field. We assumed it was put in place by the Vorta to ensure none of the Jem'Hadar could escape their fate. Which meant that no one on the outside knew of what had transpired. They may have heard, but they could not have seen what happened. Here we were, alive, but left with having to explain why not only the Ruling Counsel was dead and gone, but having to explain our role in cooperating with an alien conqueror as well. It was not a prospect any of us faced with equanimity."

"So you came up with the idea of taking the place of the Dominion," volunteered Vivian.

"Yes. During their time on the planet, no one outside the castle had ever seen the Founder; few had seen the Vorta, so we thought it would not be difficult to play those parts. The Jem'Hadar were a presence in the Capital, but that was about all. We made up a story about the troops being sent off and recalled the military to act as the new Jem'Hadar guards. Looking back on it how," he said with a laugh. "I am amazed we managed to make it work. I can only assume the people were so grateful to have a government that did not interfere in their lives that they would have accepted anything."

"But what happened?" asked Julian. "Why give it up now?"

"A government based on a lie is no government at all," remarked sanKe. "A government based on a lie is a government that lives in fear. There is too much at stake now, Hiroto, our Jem'Hadar and Kasuka, our Founder, fear losing what power they possess and will do anything to protect it. It is not right. As a boy, I was taught the ways of the god Usa. Usa teaches that if you fear losing something you never truly possessed it in the first place."

"Usa?" asked Julian.

"The god of the people," replied Vivian.

"Yes," continued sanKe giving her a look of gratitude. They were startled by the cry of a large bird. Looking out the hatchway, Julian could see the pale light of dawn breaking over the castle walls.

"I must leave you now," remarked sanKe. "I have duties to perform but I will be back as soon as I can. Help us," he entreated pausing in the doorway. "It is not as though we harmed anyone with our pretence. But I fear that if we continue we will end badly and harm many in the process. It should end now."

Across the expanse of the courtyard groups of contestants gathered by profession to start the tournament, iSamu lead Quark to the space designated for toy makers.

"What now?" asked Quark shifting his shoulders under the weight of his jacket.

"You can stop squirming," remarked iSamu. "For the first round contestants will be called by number. The winners from this round will then move up to the next, and then the next, until each profession has only one contestant."

"I'm not squirming," protested Quark. "Od…this jacket is just uncomfortable."

"Pay no attention to your discomfort," cautioned iSamu. "You only need to fight with honor to succeed."

"Hear that Odo?" muttered Quark addressing his clothing. "How I allow myself to get talked into these things I'll never know."

The skies to the north were heavy with darkening clouds. The horse gently nudged the gate of the garden open and ambled in. As the wind whipped up, the horse took a good look around; flaring its nostrils; it took in the scent of rain as well as the smell of the various plants.

Shaking its head and uttering a short whinny, it eventually spied the abandoned pack on the ground, ambling closer, recognizing the scent. Muttering softly to itself, it nibbled on the rough fabric, but found nothing to its liking. Eventually detecting another familiar scent nearby, the horse glanced over a stone bench to find a body lying in the dust.

When snorting and pawing the ground elicited no response, the horse edged closer, nudging the prone figure gently with its muzzle. Then cautiously extending rubbery lips, it began to nibble at the figure, stopping only when a small metal object came lose.

Rolling the object around on its tongue, it only took an instant for the horse to realize it did not like the taste, before spitting it out and moving on. The horse had long forgotten about the rejected snack and paid no attention when moments later it disappeared in a small swirl of light.

"Well?" asked Julian. "What do you think?"

"I think," replied Vivian frowning at her tricroder. "That we are dead in the water. Navigation checks out okay, but the propulsion systems are off line. Targeting is fine, but weapons are off line. Communications are okay, but the sensor array is a bit wonky."

That is not what I mean…"

"I know what you mean," she said looking at him with a stern look on her face. "And I don't think it's a good idea. What I do think is a good idea is getting the engines back and on line and getting out of here."

"But they've asked for our help."

"No, sanKe's asked for our help. We are supposed to be here to offer assistance not over throw a government. I don't need to remind you Starfleet regulations are very specific about…"

"You're right, of course," Julian conceded. "It's just, I wish there was something we could do."

"Well, you can try the sensors. See if you can get a lock on either Odo's or Quark's comm. I think I've got the transporter back on line."

"I can read the signals," remarked Julian after a moment. "But the sensors can't distinguish specific life signs, so I don't know who belongs to which signal."

"Where are they?"

"Quite close actually. One signal is coming from the inner courtyard and the other from just outside the walls of the castle."

"Okay," said Vivian pushing her hair off her forehead. "Inner courtyard is most likely too public. We don't want to expose our cards too soon. Outside the walls will be our best bet. I'm locking on, begin transport."

They waited breathless as the transport sequence began. There was the familiar swirl of lights and then nothing.

"What happened?" demanded Julian. "What went wrong?"

"Nothing," replied Vivian. "The buffer is in alignment. The transport should have worked."

"It did," remarked Julian going to the pad and picking up the small metal object that lay there. "Let's just hope that whoever this comm. badge belonged to wasn't wearing it at the time."

"Where are they?" asked Bekko glancing wildly around the assembled contestants.

"Who knows?" replied Chaho. "They could still be on the road, or they could be in jail. There is nothing we can do except represent our profession as best we can."

"Aya. You are right. It is up to us, eh?"

"In the meantime," cautioned Chaho. "I will ask around. There are other Minami here, perhaps they have seen our group."

"Where are they?" demanded the Jem'Hadar. "I know they are here I can smell them."

He smacked the balcony railing with his open palm; the assembled officers and dignitaries paused in their conversations to glance nervously in his direction before quietly resuming their conversations. In the distance, storm clouds assembled on the horizon. In the courtyard below the tournament continued.

"Most of the betting," said a Lieutenant standing next to Ogon. "Is on the tall Higoshi from Bakyra winning the tournament. But a friend tells me the smart money is being placed on the Minami fighting for the toy makers of SansHoku. Do you know him? They say he was personally trained by iSamu."

"No," replied Ogon curtly. "I know of no Minami who fights for the Hoku."

"iSamu?" asked the Jem'Hadar rounding on the Lieutenant. "She is here?"

"Doa," replied the Lieutenant averting his eyes. "She comes every year."

"Show me."

"There," he said surveying the crowd. "She stands there with her pupil."

"Do you know that man?" asked the Jem'Hadar turning to Ogon.

"Doa, no," replied Ogon. "I have never seen him before in my life."

"And you would recognize one of your own," said the Jem'Hadar softly to himself. He smacked the railing again. "Of course! You there!" he said to the Lieutenant. "You know the ship that is housed in the back courtyard?"

"Doa."

"Go there and find the Vorta. Tell him to concentrate on having the ship locate its crew. A ship should be able to recognize one of it's own, yes? You, Ogon go with him. In the meantime I will have a little talk with this zoRi and her pupil."

Kira Nerys placed her hands on either side of the small view screen and leaned toward it, thinking once again how much the man on the other end of the signal reminded her of a particular Cardassian rodent.

"Minister Vole," she said without thinking.

"Val," he interjected.

"Val. Sorry. But I don't think you understand the situation. Now, I'm sure Admiral Pendergast is simply ignorant of the facts, but I will not allow him to partition the Promenade. He has no idea what that will mean to the people of Bajor."

"Do you understand what it means to the people of Bajor, Colonel?" asked Val shortly. They had been arguing for over an hour over the lease of space to accommodate the Admiral's staff. "What do you know of Bajor? When was the last time you lived on Bajor?"

"Excuse me?"

"Over ten years. Bajor's changed in the last ten years, Colonel, but apparently you haven't noticed. We've put the past behind us. The days of lamenting over the Occupation are over. I would hate to see you turning into one of those old soldiers who mourn the glory days of the resistance…"

"Now you just wait one minute…"

"There's a new wind blowing across our homeland, Colonel. The wind of Commerce and it's up to you to choose where you want it to take you. I will tell you outright that in my opinion, Deep Space Nine's days as a military installation are numbered, Colonel…"

What?"

"And if you are smart, you might take the time to start considering your future. Cooperate with us now, make the Promenade a money making proposition, and I think you might find you have a nice job waiting for you back home."

"Are you insane?" she demanded. "Are you really considering leaving the wormhole open to allow just any force to come barreling though?"

"Force? What force? The Dominion?" he laughed. "We aren't at war with the Dominion, Colonel. The Cardassian Empire is in ruins. Who are you going to protect us from? We are at peace and according to scripture we will be for the next thousand years. Snap out of it Colonel, you and your precious Station are quickly becoming antiques…"

She cut the transmission in mid-sentence - a voice sounding quite clearly in the sudden stillness of the room.

"Choose."

Odo woke to the sensation of fat greasy raindrops striking his face.

It took him a moment to collect his scattered wits and regain his feet. He looked around him, realizing he was alone. He remembered sitting on the bench. Remembered thinking of Kira…and then nothing.

Stumbling to the garden gate, he looked out. No sign of either Quark or iSamu. The horse stood in the tall grass nearby, happily eating despite the rain. Looking back at the garden, he saw a single pack tossed aside, its contents half lying in a puddle.

The contest, he thought with a growing sense of panic. Quark…He had to catch up with them. He was halfway out the garden gate when he realized he had no sword and without a sword he would not be allowed into the inner courtyard. Fine, he thought judging the distance between the garden and the walls of the castle. He would just have to do this his way.

"How's that?" asked Julian adjusting the linkage on the relay. He glanced out the open hatch the courtyard obscured by driving rain. "It's coming down in buckets."

"Fine," replied Vivian. "Now try realigning the next series of circuits and we may just have propulsion back on line."

As Julian removed the next panel, he thought he heard footsteps rapidly approaching. He was just about to call out to Vivian when two figures burst through the hatchway. He barely had time to pull the hood of his robe back over his head before the first figure spoke.

"Excuse me," said the young man. "I have a message for the Vorta. Is he here?"

"Sorry," replied Julian keeping his head down. "Haven't seen him."

"And you are?" asked the young man.

"Repair crew. Specialists, from the North."

"Ah," replied the young man looking at the exposed circuitry. "Well, if you see the Vorta, tell him the Jem'Hadar requests he concentrate on getting this contraption to search for its crew. Do you understand?"

"Yes," said Julian. "Thank you."

"Well I'm glad someone does," remarked the young man with a laugh. "Still, it beats working in the rain."

"Yes."

Julian waited until he heard footsteps rapidly retreating. Pulling off his hood, he turned to Vivian.

"That was close…"

It wasn't until he turned did he realize he was staring into the mouth of a revolver. The man on the other end of the weapon smiled a slow, evil grin. It was the same man who had attacked the young Minami accountant.

"You?"

Gliding to a stop on the tower, Odo shook the rain off his feathers and surveyed the area below. The inner courtyard lay empty except for a few lonely figures that gathered up their equipment and sadly headed for the gates. Light spilled out from the first floor of the castle, where the rest of the contestants had gathered to shield themselves from the rain. Too many people, he judged, to be able to spot anyone from this distance.

Surveying the front of the castle, he saw lights and movement on the next floor up, but the rest of the widows were shuttered and dark. With one exception, high on the top floor one room was brightly lit, the window open to the elements. Taking wing, he flew up and settled on the windowsill.

A single figure paced the confines of the room. The man was tall and clearly of the same race as iSamu. Odo was just about to hop off the ledge when someone knocked on the door. The man called out and a man in uniform entered and saluted.

"Doa, Kasuka," he said. "The Jem'Hadar humbly requests you alert the Founder. The Jem'Hadar says to tell the Founder strangers have been located within the castle walls."

"Thank you," replied Kasuka. "I shall alert the Founder immediately." He turned and disappeared through a doorway only to return a moment later. "Come," he said to the man in uniform. "The Founder wishes me to see these strangers before he decides how to deal with them."

Damn, thought Odo, as he struggled between the desire to confront the Founder and the need to see that his friends came to no harm. Indecision gripped him, in his mind the struggle raged between loyalty to his friends and a longing to restore some sense of order to his life. Deep in his heart, he knew the two goals could not be mutually exclusive. He hopped impatiently from one claw to the other, before finally entering the room and forming his familiar humanoid appearance. Crossing quickly to the door, he flung it open.

"How's my head?" asked Quark. They had taken refuge in the corner farthest away from the crush of people.

"You do not lose color," replied iSamu calmly. "And you fought well."

"Toy makers apparently don't get out much. I was expecting this to be a lot harder."

"Keep your mind on the contest," warned iSamu. "And do not become over confident."

"Excellent advise," said a loud voice behind them. They turned to find a Jem'Hadar addressing them. Quark quickly ducked his head. "iSamu," he continued not giving Quark a second glance. "Still looking for the poDosai?"

"It is my destiny," she replied giving him a slight bow.

"And is this him?" asked the Jem'Hadar considering Quark for the first time.

"That has yet to be seen." iSamu smiled softly.

"Well, let's see you then," commanded the Jem'Hadar. "Look up man!" He placed his hand beneath Quark's chin and raised his face up. They stared at each other for a long moment as realization dawned on each of them.

"What manner of man are you?" demanded the Jem'Hadar looking at the spot on Quark's face where the paint had come off. He quickly snatched the headband from this head and smiled as Quark's ears were revealed.

"You're not a Jem'Hadar," replied Quark. In an instant, he had raised his sword just high enough to slip underneath the hose supplying the man with white. With a flick of his wrist the hose came free. No white spewed out. The man did not even flinch. "What the hell are you?"

"Very, very angry," replied the Jem'Hadar with a growl.