Chapter 13
It had been some time since Jahzara had recovered from her little "accident" and she was fully healed now. Actually it'd only been two weeks, but who's counting?
Nothing had happened that was out of the ordinary and everything was again becoming boring to Jahzara.
But little did she know that something was about to happen that would change her forever.
You see, now that The One had been awakened, it was prepared to destroy the Pah'Raithes. And there was a little problem: the leader of the Pah'Raithes wasn't exactly waiting around.
It was probably a good thing that The One could smell the leader of the Pah'Raithes. At this time, he was inside a mortal…not human…and he was heading…to the station!
What luck! Within hours the Pah'Raithe would board the station and she'd be waiting.
The Cardassian walked beamed into the Bajoran shrine and saw the woman kneeling before the Orb.
"You stupid woman. Why would you put your faith in someone that doesn't hear you?" the Cardassian asked rudely. The woman turned around and revealed herself to be Dax.
"Dukat," she spat. She reached up to tap her badge but a red beam from the Cardassian's hands stopped her and put a hole through her abdomen.
The Cardassian approached the Orb and began to kneel when a younger, female voice cleared her throat behind him.
"I wouldn't do that unless you'd like to surrender to the Prophets right now." She said in an unearthly voice.
The Cardassian (who was possessed by the Pah'Raithe leader) slowly turned around and looked at the young human girl who seemed to want death.
"Foolish child. Do you know what I am?"
"Yes." The girl answered firmly. "But do you know what I am?"
The Pah'Raithe snorted at this as if it was the stupidest question. "You are a mere child—a human at that!"
"No. That is the shell you see." The girl said calmly. She let out a ball of white light, but Dukat dodged it.
"I am The One, sent by the Prophets to deliver you and the rest of your kind to your final deaths. They could not kill you, but I can. And I now shall." The girl said.
The Pah'Raithe seemed amused. "It seems you are right about some things. You do have power and you are sent by those aliens the Bajorans call prophets. But you seem to lack skill."
"Than I propose a match—out on the Promenade. We will each rest for four hours and at 18:00 we will begin our battle. If I win, you and your kind will immediately die. If you win, I die and you must face one of the prophets themselves." The girl said. "Understood?"
"And if I don't agree?"
"You will die right here, right now."
"Than by all means, I agree to your conditions. I will see you shortly." The Pah'Raithe said. He walked out of the shrine and stopped in the entryway of Quark's bar. He put his feet together and held his hands out. Red electrical charges immediately came to him and his eyes closed.
The girl followed and chose the entryway to Garak's tailoring shop. Once she had assumed the same position of the Pah'Raithe's shell, blue charges came to her and she too closed her eyes.
"Odo to Sisko."
"Sisko here."
"I think you'd better get down here—and the Doctor too. There's something you might want to see." Odo answered.
"On my way."
Odo continued to watch Gul Dukat and Jahzara Bashir as they stood in the entryways of two shops, draining the station's electrical powers. When the Doctor and Sisko arrived, they were just as shocked. Bashir made to approach his niece, but stopped and stood stock still as she suddenly opened her eyes and the electrical charges stopped coming.
The One took a step forward and immediately looked towards the Pah'Raithe, who had awoken also.
The Promenade was strangely desolate and it seemed very convenient that it had been abandoned right before the two possessed beings had awoken.
They came towards each other, both with venom in their eyes and assumed a position across from their opponent. As the Pah'Raithe began to create a black ball of energy in his hands, The One did so also, except hers was pure white.
They shot their energy at each other at the same time and the energy balls collided with each other.
From the Doctor's point of view, it looked as if Jahzara were loosing and Dukat was to win. But then, slowly but surely, she began to win the Cardassian over.
"Hope you enjoy death, Pah'Raithe." She spat as she gave her last bit of energy and forced a huge amount of energy into her beam.
The Promenade was filled with a white light and that's when everyone on the Promenade blacked out.
Julian opened his eyes and sat up. Where was he? He looked around and saw the unconscious forms of his companions.
"Feeling all right, Doctor?" a rough voice asked. It was Odo who had injected him. It seemed that either the Changeling had not been affected or he'd woken first.
"Just fine, thanks." Julian answered. "What happened?"
"It seems that The One or whatever the Bajorans call it otherwise known as your niece, let out a large amount of energy that she apparently absorbed while regenerating. Gul Dukat is dead and the Pah'Raithe along with him." Odo answered.
"And Jahzara?" Julian asked, dreading the answer.
"I have yet to find her."
Obviously, this wasn't the answer Julian had been looking for. He frowned, confused at the Constable's answer.
"What do you mean?" Bashir asked.
"Well look around, Doctor and let me know if you can see her from where you're sitting." Odo said. He continued looking for Starfleet and Bajoran officers as he turned over bodies.
Julian stood to his feet and looked around him. The entire population of civilians was lying unconscious on the Promenade.
"They're not…?"
"Dead?" Odo asked. Bashir nodded. "No."
Julian saw a med kit lying nearby and fished out a hypospray. He began looking for bodies immediately and found Sisko.
After waking Sisko, Bashir briefed him.
"Well," Sisko said. "we have a hell of a lot of people to wake up. Have you been able to contact any one else on the station?"
"No," Odo cut in. "I tried the minute the flash had gone out, but no one answered."
"Then we should assume that we are the only ones on this station awake at the moment and must find all officers." Sisko said.
Bashir thought for a moment. "Wait a minute. We don't have to wake up everyone one at a time. We could flood the station with the contents of a hypospray and they'd wake up on their own."
"Brilliant idea, Doctor. Proceed at once. But you might want to beam your niece to the infirmary just to be safe." Sisko commanded.
Bashir watched as his niece appeared on the medical bed looking frightfully pale. The minute he felt her skin a chill went through his body and he dreaded what the tricorder would tell him. But nevertheless, Bashir flipped it out and read the scans.
His eyes went wide and he dropped the tricorder to the ground, following it quickly.
Odo had been coming with Major Kira to see if Jahzara was all right when they'd heard a thud in the back room.
"Doctor?" Kira asked, jogging into the back room where Jahzara lay.
Her eyes scanned the room and found Doctor Bashir on his knees staring strait ahead into nothingness.
"Doctor!" Kira shouted, shaking the young man.
Odo, meanwhile was looking down sadly at Jahzara's body. "Leave him."
Kira stopped shaking Bashir and frowned at Odo. That didn't sound like the Odo she knew. He'd never say that. Unless…no, it was impossible.
"She's not." Kira argued. "She can't be. They would allow her to live."
"If it's not meant to be, than it's not meant to be." Odo said simply. He pulled a sheet over Jahzara's body just after closing her eyes. Those green-red eyes—unique in every way. They would never see light again.
Julian sat next to the empty medical bed that his niece had been laid on. The one she'd been bored on, the one where they'd first bonded as uncle and niece. He wanted to cry, but all his tears were gone.
Five hours ago, he'd discovered that Jahzara was dead. Not one hour ago, Sisko had come to tell him the sad news that Jadzia had been killed as well. Commander Work was no doubt mourning as well.
He could practically hear her angelic voice calling to him.
'Uncle Julian.'
What a great memory he would keep of her.
"Uncle Julian."
It sounded so real.
"Open your eyes, Uncle."
What? Julian opened his eyes slowly and saw a glittering, glowing white figure standing before him.
"Jahzara?"
"It's me, Uncle." Jahzara answered. Julian smiled and stood up slowly. He rushed forward to hug her, but almost fell over when he ran right through her image.
"I don't understand." He said. "Is this some kind of joke? Computer delete holograms."
"Order impossible. There are no holograms in this room." The computer answered.
"Are you a ghost?" he asked softly.
Jahzara shook her head seriously.
"The Prophets have made me one of their own. I am the first human to join their leagues." Jahzara said softly. "I am here to tell you to live your life without me. I need no mourning from you."
"So, they did give you life, didn't they?"
"In a way, yes." Jahzara said, smiling once more. "Now go. Tell them of our meeting. Tell them not to mourn."
Bashir nodded with tears in his eyes and watched sadly as his niece disappeared for the final time.
THE END.
