THE AGREEMENT
By The Collaborators
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CHAPTER SEVEN
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Dukat was silent and grave as the ship left Bajor. Kira and Odo were returning to the station with him, but Quark had opted to stay on the planet, ostensibly because he had some "unfinished business". The Ferengi was probably organising some other profitable deal for himself; Dukat doubted he had stayed on purely to finalise the Bajoran/Cardassian trade agreement. In the meantime, Dukat had had time to convince the little troll to do something useful -- time would tell if this had been a wise decision or not. It would take a couple of hours for the Jem'Hadar ship to reach Terok Nor, and Dukat settled in a corner of the command centre to read the reports from Gul Kerritza and his Jem'Hadar fleet.
Preliminary information suggested a small Starfleet task force had attacked from Minos Korva. Kerritza reported his fleet had contained the attack, but Dukat was concerned about the situation. He had known, of course, that the Federation/Klingon alliance was planning to attack, but he was surprised they had concentrated such a small force on a relatively unimportant area of the Cardassian border. On the face of it, there wasn't much to worry about. But Dukat understood Weyoun's concern. Part of their work during the past few months had been to try and move arms depots and other military targets back towards the galactic core, away from Cardassia's border with the Federation. This meant Starfleet would have to strike far into Cardassian space to take out key targets, something they had only managed to do once so far. The area around Minos Korva was no longer as strategically important as it once had been. So why was the Federation attacking there? This was probably a ploy designed to distract Dukat's attention from some other, more important target. He mentally evaluated the key installations of his empire to determine which ones the Federation/Klingon fleets were most likely to want to attack. He dismissed the idea they might want to strike at Terok Nor; as long as the minefield was in place, the station was of no strategic use to the Federation. They had only put up a fight for it in order to have time to set up the minefield. He thought about that for a moment. On the other hand, perhaps the Federation did have plans for Terok Nor. After all, Starfleet couldn't be sure the Cardassians wouldn't dismantle the minefield eventually, and the safest way for the Federation to control the Dominion's access to the wormhole would be to occupy the station again. If that was their plan, then the attack from Minos Korva was probably designed to lure Dukat away from the station.
He read through the latest report from Kerritza again and pondered what to do next. Much as he enjoyed being back on Terok Nor, he knew he would have to return to Prime in order to coordinate his defences. If Starfleet did choose this moment to launch a full-scale attack on Cardassia, he needed to be at the heart of the action, where he could, if need be, take counsel from the Empire's senior strategists. He did not doubt that he could successfully organise Cardassia's defences on his own, but he had never been interested in conducting defensive warfare, and was hoping to leave some of the more boring details to his advisors. If the Federation's plan was to attack the station, on the other hand, his presence on Prime might facilitate their task. But he could not take any chances; his main priority had to be the protection of his homeland, and right now, his people needed him on Prime. In any case, he was pretty confident the Jem'Hadar would defend Terok Nor efficiently without him. Weyoun had a vested interest in reopening the wormhole, so Dukat decided to put the Vorta in charge of dismantling the minefield. If he left Damar in charge of the station and Weyoun in charge of the mines, then Dukat was pretty confident Terok Nor would come to no harm in his absence.
That matter being settled in his mind, Dukat decided he would need to give a few heartfelt speeches to bolster public confidence in his government. Something about the Federation's dastardly and unprovoked attack on Cardassian soil... yes... perhaps he could work in the Klingons somehow, or make some reference to the Bajoran aid to prove what a generous and peace- loving government he was running...
His speech was taking shape quite nicely in his mind when he noticed Major Kira was looking at him. Her expression was less than amicable; it was difficult to believe this woman had been kissing him so passionately barely a couple of hours earlier. In fact, her lovely features bore exactly the same expression of contempt and hatred they usually took on when looking at him. But he didn't believe that expression anymore. When he looked at her now, he remembered how willingly she had leant into his kiss, without so much as a protest, wrapping her arms around him, returning passion for passion. The very thought of their moonlit encounter wracked his body with a bolt of desire as searing as a phaser shot. She must have known what he was thinking about -- how could she not? His thoughts were so intense he was certain even the Jem'Hadar, who had no sense of smell and knew no desire, could feel his passion for her. She lowered her eyes, and he wondered if she felt the same desire as he did in this moment, as they observed each other across the couple of meters that separated his chair from hers.
He smiled at the thought that she probably did, that she was probably longing for their kiss to resume, to fulfil the passion they had both felt in the light of the Bajoran moons.
"What's so funny?" she asked him defensively, her sharp voice cutting into his erotic musings, as if daring him to reveal what had gone between them.
He was about to make some flirtatious remark when he noticed Odo's cold blue eyes on him. He wondered how much the shapeshifter had seen of their encounter in the woods. Evidently not enough for him to think ill of Kira, since Odo was standing protectively near to the major and directing an unmistakably hostile glare at Dukat. Perhaps the constable was under the impression Dukat had kissed Kira by force. Whereas nothing could be further from the truth.
"There's nothing funny, Major," said Dukat with a gentle grin.
For one insane moment, he felt like telling Kira what had happened at Minos Korva, and asking for her opinion as to what he should do next. She was a skilled tactician whose advice would probably have proved most useful to him. But he dismissed the impulse almost immediately; though he now knew that she desired him, that didn't mean she would collaborate with him. However, he still wanted to get her away from Odo and beckoned for her to approach. It was obvious she was reluctant to simply obey his gesture, especially when Odo was there.
Dukat wondered just what kind of hold Odo had over her that she was so terrified of his opinion. It was clear she hadn't consulted the shapeshifter about her plan to seduce Dukat in the first place, for instance, and she had been positively mortified when the constable came across them in the woods. The gul let his mind linger on that moment again. He wondered what would have happened if Odo hadn't interrupted them.
In the meantime, Kira made no move to come over to him, and he shrugged his shoulders as best he could in his carapace. "Ah well, if you don't come over here, you won't find out," he said simply, though he was conscious that was a rather childish thing to say.
There was a slight spark of mischief in her eye as she responded, "If you really want to tell me, you can always come over here."
"It would be better if you came here; I could show you something on the computer screen."
"You'd have to show me something really interesting to make it worth my while," she responded.
He leant his head on his hand, resting his chin on his thumb and his cheek against his finger. "I don't think you'd be disappointed," he said in his most seductive voice.
Her face became serious and she looked away from him.
There was nothing to look at in the Jem'Hadar command centre, but she stubbornly spent the rest of the trip avoiding his gaze. This gave him an excellent opportunity to observe her. While his mind constructed the speech he would give to his people when he arrived on Prime, he let his eyes run over her lovely features and the attractive curves of her body. He admired the small depressions the ridges on her nose formed in the smooth slope of her profile, and the sensual shape of her red lips. His gaze ran down her white throat, and he allowed himself a brazen observation of her chest. She must be wearing some kind of uplifting underwear -- he had noticed the wiring when she had her jacket off on previous occasions -- and he found that particularly appealing. She had a lovely slim waist, as well, and though he could not see that part of her body from where he was sitting, the thought of the sumptuous curves of her hips sent a renewed rush of warmth through his body. The memory of her lips on his accentuated his arousal, and he took a deep breath to calm himself down.
Kira had stopped her stony-faced observation of nothingness, and was now discussing something with Odo. Dukat couldn't hear what they were saying, but Kira smiled at the shapeshifter and he felt a terrible pang of... something in his heart. He recognised the emotion and was disturbed to find himself experiencing it with regard to Kira. She wasn't his lover, or even a close friend; she was just the Bajoran liaison officer to Terok Nor. He desired her, yes, but that was just a physical attraction. There was certainly no reason for him to be jealous. He hadn't felt like that when he saw her embracing Shakaar earlier that evening, so maybe this was nothing to be worried about. He couldn't possibly be getting emotionally involved. Not with Major Kira. A mere kiss in the moonlight was not enough to warrant such emotions. He dismissed the pang he had felt, blaming it on the stress of his empire's military situation.
As she continued to talk with Odo, Kira shuffled in her seat to get more comfortable, and crossed her legs with a graceful movement. The emotion Dukat felt now was far more reassuring, though he was angry with himself for focusing so much attention on a woman who did not deserve it. He had completely lost track of what he was supposed to be thinking about. His Empire was at risk, and here he was daydreaming about some Bajoran woman who wasn't even interested in him... and even if she was, this was hardly the time to be indulging in erotic fantasies.
As a result of these thoughts, he was unusually abrupt to Kira when they reached Terok Nor. After consulting with Weyoun and contacting Kerritza and some of the other senior officers in the Cardassian military, Dukat broadcast a speech to the Empire. He announced that the Federation had attacked Cardassia and he had to leave for Prime immediately. After this, he sent out a brief message to the senior staff on the station, as well as Kira. He informed them he was leaving Damar and Weyoun in charge of the station in his absence, and asked Kira to officially inform the Bajoran government that the finalisation of their trade agreement would have to be done with Weyoun.
Much to Dukat's irritation, Kira appeared at the door of his office just as he was about to leave for his ship. He had no desire to talk to her, particularly as there were still a couple of details he wanted to sort out with Damar.
"Yes, what can I do for you, Major," he snapped as he walked past her on his way to the airlock.
Damar was accompanying him, and Dukat hoped to get rid of Kira so he could talk to his first officer. "If you have any administrative questions, I suggest you ask Weyoun. I have to leave for Prime."
"What about Jake?" she asked, following them into the turbolift.
"What about Jake?" he retorted. "The boy will stay in custody on this station, as agreed."
"Do you really think Jake will be safe under the protection of your soldiers, now that the Federation has attacked Cardassia?" she insisted, as they stepped off the lift and made their way down the corridor to the airlock.
He stopped still, turning towards her as he exclaimed, "You really have a low opinion of me, don't you, Major? Please credit me with some control over my men! And perhaps I don't need to remind you that Odo is the security officer on board this station. Jake will be perfectly safe as long as I am giving the orders. If I don't return... that's another matter."
She looked suitably shocked by that idea. Dukat presumed she was horrified at the thought of Jake being executed.
"If you don't return..." she echoed slowly.
"I am touched by your solicitude, Major," he sneered, pretending to interpret her reaction as concern for his welfare. "But I doubt you would be very sorry if Starfleet shot me down."
Strangely enough -- and Kira was the first to be surprised by this -- Dukat was wrong. The thought he might be killed by Starfleet had not occurred to her before, and she found it most disturbing. Though she had never had any affection for Dukat in the past, she had to admit that kissing him a few hours earlier had somewhat changed her perception. She could not deny that she had wanted him in that instant -- though she promised herself she would try her very best to forget her moment of weakness. A sudden flush of warmth coursed through her veins as his pale eyes looked her over. She quite forgot what she had been planning to say. She had wanted to argue with him, to tell him he was wrong and that she would be sorry if Starfleet shot him down. She wouldn't tell him the truth, of course -- that she yearned to wrap her arms around his wide neck and resume their interrupted kiss. She could have given political reasons for her to want him alive. His death might cause even worse chaos in the Quadrant than there already was.
As her father used to say "the tiger from the valley may slaughter your cattle, but the tiger from the hills will eat your children".
Dukat was someone the Federation and Bajorans knew well. Every security service in the Quadrant knew what there was to know about his family and friends. Who knew what unknown person would replace him if he died? In the end, she didn't say anything. She couldn't trust herself to speak when she wanted him so much. He would know the minute she opened her mouth, and she could not bear to let this Cardassian pagh-wraith know how deeply he had touched her with his damned kiss.
Unable to talk to him, she just turned around, leaving him to continue on to the airlock with Damar, while she returned to Ops. Kira watched with the Cardassians and Jem'Hadar as Dukat's ship flew away on the repaired viewscreen. She wondered when he would come back. If he came back. She felt a pang of regret at this thought, and though she tried to dismiss it, the feeling persisted. She didn't like Dukat... she was sure she didn't like Dukat, but she didn't want him to die. She wanted him to come back, to kiss her, and run his hands over her body, stroking...
She shook herself out of her reverie as she felt her body begin to respond to her fantasy. Once the ship was gone, she decided there was nothing left for her to do in Ops, and she might just as well return to her quarters and spend some time sorting out all that had happened that day. It had certainly been a strange day: Dukat's apparent reconciliation with Ziyal, Dukat and Shakaar getting on so well, Dukat strolling with her in the moonlight...
And that kiss...
She nearly bumped into Damar as she walked back towards her quarters.
"Major," he said by way of greeting, flashing a bright smile at her as he stopped to talk.
She was strongly tempted to just walk past him, but it looked as though he wanted to speak to her, and she decided she didn't have any reason to be rude to him.
"So, you're in charge of the station now," she said neutrally, wondering what it was that he wanted to talk about. "I'm surprised Dukat didn't take you with him."
Damar nodded and his grin widened. "I was surprised, too," he answered. "But he had his reasons."
He was obviously dying to tell her Dukat's reasons, so she prompted him with a disinterested,
"Really?"
"You don't think he would trust Weyoun to run this station, do you?" he said in a low voice. "Besides, he wants to have someone he knows here, in case he doesn't come back."
Kira was annoyed at this last statement. Why did everyone seem to think Dukat wouldn't come back, all of a sudden? More to the point, why did it bother her so much? If the Federation did launch a full-scale attack on Cardassia, and if Dukat died in that attack, it would be no more than Dukat and the Cardassians deserved. A simple kiss didn't make Dukat a better person.
She resolved to curb her desire for him with some carefully selected memories from the Occupation. That should calm her enthusiasm.
"It's getting late," said Damar when she didn't answer. "Would you care for a drink?"
This was something new -- Damar asking her out for a drink. It wasn't as if she was on heat at this time of year! She shot him a murderous glance, which sent him into a satisfying state of confusion. "I... I meant... Well, we're... just going over to Quark's for dinner, all the Cardassian staff, that is," he stammered. "I was... wondering if you would care to join us. I know you've already eaten, but I... well, I wanted to know how things went on Bajor... Gul Dukat said you saw Ziyal there... I wanted to know how it went..."
He was so put out by her reaction that she felt genuinely sorry for him. The thought of a drink in Quark's with a load of Cardassian soldiers did not appeal, however.
"I'm quite tired," she explained. "I'll tell you about it tomorrow."
He didn't press her, and continued on his way to Quark's. Kira wondered for a moment what she could do to distract herself for the rest of the evening, but finally decided to continue with her original plan and returned to her quarters. She did feel quite tired -- the few hours they had spent on Bajor had been strenuous to say the least. Lying down on her bed, she let her mind wander over the events of the day. Pictures of Shakaar and Quark, Ziyal, the egregious Chaserat, the fleeting expression of satisfaction on Odo's smooth features when he had interrupted their kiss... and Dukat, Dukat laughing with Shakaar, Dukat's arms around her, Dukat's cold glare as he left.
She felt anger rise in her throat as she remembered how cold he had been since they came back from Bajor. Did he think he could just kiss her and then ignore her as if nothing had happened? She mulled over all the wrongs -- true or imagined -- he had done her in the past. Her mind remained thankfully free of erotic fantasies until she fell asleep. Her dreams, however, brought up quite a different view of Dukat.
---
Heart pounding, her body readied for fight-or-flight, Kira was awakened by an autonomic surge of adrenaline in response to her door chime. Damn, she thought looking at her chronometer, she'd badly overslept her normal wake- up call. No, she remembered as her brain slowly came to, she'd canceled it deliberately. She'd been so tired, but thought she'd never get to sleep after the events of yesterday. Besides, it wasn't as if she had anything important to do today...
"Just a minute," she addressed, rather pointlessly, to the door -- whoever was outside couldn't possibly have heard. She threw a robe on over her nightgown and took a flying look in the mirror. However irrational, she couldn't shake the feeling that it was Dukat -- come to say goodbye properly. She knew it was ridiculous. Not only was he gone, but she was the last thing on his mind at the moment -- he'd made that perfectly clear. Nonetheless, while mentally kicking herself for even caring, she superstitiously ran a comb through her hair and checked her face before giving the instruction,
"Come."
"Major," said Quark cheerfully, looking her up and down in her state of semi-undress. "I'm so sorry to disturb you, I was certain you would be up by now -- I mean, it's quite late really. I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"
He peered around the room, clearly looking for material evidence of her postulated over-night visitor.
"I was up very late and I'm tired. I overslept. What do you want?"
"Why, just to deliver this," he beamed as he handed her a large, white, rectangular box, "it should brighten your day considerably."
The box was tied with a red ribbon and had a hand-written card attached.
"What the hell is this Quark? And who is it from?" She really wasn't in the mood for any of his nonsense -- not that she ever was.
He followed her to her dining table -- evidently having satisfied himself that she was, in fact, alone. "If you want to know, you'll just have to read the card and open the box, Major."
Quark was near to dancing in eager anticipation of her reaction. He hovered so close to her arm that she was sorely tempted to elbow him in the face. She set the box on the table, and removed the card, putting it to one side. She didn't need to read it -- she knew who it was from, just like she knew that this nosy hobgoblin had already read it for himself. A gentle pull on a free end of the ribbon untied the slip-knot which held the box closed. It fell open to reveal a dozen long-stemmed, pure white roses.
"Go on, pick one up," Quark cajoled her. Fascinated by their beauty, she did so. Carefully placing her fingers so as to avoid the thorns studding its stem, she held the rose and watched as the edges of the milky petals changed color. At first it looked as if the flower had been dipped part-way into a glass of red wine, then, gradually, the stain spread and deepened to crimson.
"Mmm" Quark grinned lasciviously, "Red, for passion... Ah, but is it love or hate which ignites your touch?" He paused thoughtfully, "Now, let's see, if I remember correctly... they'll turn pink in response to a humorous frame of mind, and yellow..."
"I know what they are, and I know what they do," Kira snapped at him.
Betazoid chameleon roses -- they changed color in response to the mood of whoever held or touched them. She'd only ever seen one once before. Dax had brought it to a dinner party in Captain Sisko's quarters -- some besotted Xepolite trader had given it to her. They'd passed it around the table, marveling at its delicate beauty and its uncanny ability to read the emotions of each and every one of them.
What had made Dukat think that she would like such a gift? Was it his standard offering to women he was hoping to seduce? Or was it just some lucky guess on his part? No, of course not. It was neither. It could only have been Jake -- Jake was at that party and had witnessed Kira's simple delight as the flower turned a purplish-pink in her hands. She had been both embarrassed and amused -- and had taking some heavy kidding for her uncharacteristic reaction to such a frivolous item. So, Dukat and Jake had had some casual conversation about her taste in... flowers.
Friendly with Shakaar, friendly with Jake...
Nonetheless, keeping Jake a prisoner and rushing off to fight the Federation...
Rushing off to fight Jake's father...
Rushing off to fight for the causes of oppression and brutalization.
As long as she lived, she would never understand.
Quark interrupted her thoughts, "The box provides a stasis field -- and if you keep them in it at night, and put them in fresh water every morning, they should last for weeks. I imagine you'll want to take care of them properly -- your admirer could have bought a small luxury shuttle-craft with what he paid for them..."
She turned on him and demanded, "What are you doing here anyway? I thought you were still on Bajor."
"Oh, I had a business meeting early this morning," his reply was typically evasive. "It was very successful, thank you for asking. And, as an added bonus, I was able to pick these up."
He smiled, and continued in a conspiratorial tone, "I told him it would probably take weeks to fill the order -- there is a war on, you know. We got very lucky -- I met a Kressari trader who happened to be carrying them in stasis. His original customer, was, for some reason... no longer willing to bear the expense of the purchase...
Ah well," the little man shrugged, "some other lady's loss is your gain. Aren't you going to open the card, Major?"
His enthusiasm visibly squashed by Kira's cold glare, he asked, "Where is Gul Dukat anyway? I tried to contact him from the ship on my way back to the station, but my transmission was rudely cut off..."
"He's gone Quark," she said flatly, "Didn't you know?"
"Gone? Where?"
"Cardassia Prime." She sneered at him, "There is a war on, you know."
Only when Quark had left did she open the card. It was not signed, but a signature was hardly necessary.
"Major, I hope you will not consider this gift too presumptuous. My wish is merely to foster a new era of understanding and -- dare I hope? -- forgiveness between us. I look forward to seeing you at dinner..."
---
What was it about Gul Dukat and Bajoran women? Damar kept his grin strictly in his mind, and off his face, as Major Kira's door opened to admit him. He knew that concerning women, as with all things, Gul Dukat was both particular in his tastes, and determined in pursuit of what he wanted. Major Kira might not be beautiful, but she was appealing -- something in the way she burned like a runaway plasma-fire...
A pity for his gul that she hadn't yet figured out just exactly what it was she burned for.
She seemed to be busy with something at her table, as her uniformed back was to him.
"Excuse me, Major. I have just received a communique from Gul Dukat which includes some instructions for you."
When she whirled around at the sound of his voice, he thought for a moment she was going to shoot. Luckily for him what she held was not a phaser rifle, but a bunch of long-stemmed Betazoid chameleon roses -- blood red at the moment, in evidence of her passionate mood. Even in peacetime, a single one of those roses would have cost Damar more than a month's salary. He had to keep himself from whistling as he mentally totaled up what Gul Dukat must have paid for all of them -- including what that rapacious Ferengi probably overcharged him.
"Lovely flowers, Major. Hadn't you better get them into some water? I believe they'll last longer if you care for them properly..."
"You like them?" She snarled at him, "Then here, you take them."
She thrust the entire bunch into his arms, where they immediately blushed pink in reflection of his amusement.
"Why, thank you, Major!" he simply couldn't suppress a smirk at her action.
As for the flowers, they would be safer if he held onto them for the moment -- considering her present frame of mind was unlikely to be improved by what he had to tell her.
With the roses off her hands, she seemed to come to her senses a bit.
"What was it that you wanted, anyway?" she asked him with something less than her previous rudeness.
Still cradling the pink roses, he told her, "I have orders from Gul Dukat that you are to return to Bajor where you will oversee arrangements for transporting the supplies covered under the trade agreement between our governments."
"But I can do that just as easily, if not more effectively, from here!" she protested.
"I'm afraid Gul Dukat's orders were very specific on that point, Major. You are to leave Terok Nor for Bajor by 1600 hours, or you will be escorted off the station under armed guard."
The edges of the pink rose petals began to show a purplish tinge -- indicative of Damar's embarrassment at having Gul Dukat's orders questioned.
"You're telling me that he doesn't trust me! He's afraid I might cause trouble in his absence!"
"That is not for me to say," he replied coldly, the roses now a deep bluish- purple. He was astonished by the stubborn stupidity of this woman -- how could she expect Gul Dukat to trust her? It wasn't as if they were on the same side! Even when she finally settled down and became his gul's mistress -- as Damar knew she eventually would -- she would always bear close watching. She should be flattered by that! It showed respect for her capabilities, and understanding of her commitment to her own people.
"Very well," she acquiesced, "I will go quietly. But really, if that was how he felt, he might have saved me the trip back here last night! Besides which," she looked at him pointedly, "this station is still technically Bajoran territory, and he has no authority to order me off it."
"Technically..." he echoed her word, adding his own contempt.
Surely she was not foolish enough to challenge Gul Dukat's absolute command of Terok Nor. In any event, Damar was glad it wouldn't be necessary to subdue her physically. If she were injured... well, he didn't want to be the one to have to explain it to Gul Dukat. Before he left, he paused to carefully lay the roses on her dining table. In the absence of contact with a sentient, emoting, life-form the flowers returned to their neutral color of pure white.
A shower of roses hit the inside of the door as it closed behind Damar. Petals which had gone scarlet at Kira's angry touch, blanched to white as they detached and fluttered individually to the floor. She dropped to a sitting position on the carpet, right where she had been standing, tears of rage and desperation filling her eyes.
"What does he want from me?" she wailed out loud, but that was as far as she would give in to the excess of mingled emotions besieging her.
She sat where she was, taking a few deep breaths to regain control, and then calmly began to pick up what was left of the roses and their scattered petals. As she gathered them to her, they turned yellow in her hands -- yellow, she knew, was their manifestation of sorrow and regret.
---
By The Collaborators
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CHAPTER SEVEN
---
Dukat was silent and grave as the ship left Bajor. Kira and Odo were returning to the station with him, but Quark had opted to stay on the planet, ostensibly because he had some "unfinished business". The Ferengi was probably organising some other profitable deal for himself; Dukat doubted he had stayed on purely to finalise the Bajoran/Cardassian trade agreement. In the meantime, Dukat had had time to convince the little troll to do something useful -- time would tell if this had been a wise decision or not. It would take a couple of hours for the Jem'Hadar ship to reach Terok Nor, and Dukat settled in a corner of the command centre to read the reports from Gul Kerritza and his Jem'Hadar fleet.
Preliminary information suggested a small Starfleet task force had attacked from Minos Korva. Kerritza reported his fleet had contained the attack, but Dukat was concerned about the situation. He had known, of course, that the Federation/Klingon alliance was planning to attack, but he was surprised they had concentrated such a small force on a relatively unimportant area of the Cardassian border. On the face of it, there wasn't much to worry about. But Dukat understood Weyoun's concern. Part of their work during the past few months had been to try and move arms depots and other military targets back towards the galactic core, away from Cardassia's border with the Federation. This meant Starfleet would have to strike far into Cardassian space to take out key targets, something they had only managed to do once so far. The area around Minos Korva was no longer as strategically important as it once had been. So why was the Federation attacking there? This was probably a ploy designed to distract Dukat's attention from some other, more important target. He mentally evaluated the key installations of his empire to determine which ones the Federation/Klingon fleets were most likely to want to attack. He dismissed the idea they might want to strike at Terok Nor; as long as the minefield was in place, the station was of no strategic use to the Federation. They had only put up a fight for it in order to have time to set up the minefield. He thought about that for a moment. On the other hand, perhaps the Federation did have plans for Terok Nor. After all, Starfleet couldn't be sure the Cardassians wouldn't dismantle the minefield eventually, and the safest way for the Federation to control the Dominion's access to the wormhole would be to occupy the station again. If that was their plan, then the attack from Minos Korva was probably designed to lure Dukat away from the station.
He read through the latest report from Kerritza again and pondered what to do next. Much as he enjoyed being back on Terok Nor, he knew he would have to return to Prime in order to coordinate his defences. If Starfleet did choose this moment to launch a full-scale attack on Cardassia, he needed to be at the heart of the action, where he could, if need be, take counsel from the Empire's senior strategists. He did not doubt that he could successfully organise Cardassia's defences on his own, but he had never been interested in conducting defensive warfare, and was hoping to leave some of the more boring details to his advisors. If the Federation's plan was to attack the station, on the other hand, his presence on Prime might facilitate their task. But he could not take any chances; his main priority had to be the protection of his homeland, and right now, his people needed him on Prime. In any case, he was pretty confident the Jem'Hadar would defend Terok Nor efficiently without him. Weyoun had a vested interest in reopening the wormhole, so Dukat decided to put the Vorta in charge of dismantling the minefield. If he left Damar in charge of the station and Weyoun in charge of the mines, then Dukat was pretty confident Terok Nor would come to no harm in his absence.
That matter being settled in his mind, Dukat decided he would need to give a few heartfelt speeches to bolster public confidence in his government. Something about the Federation's dastardly and unprovoked attack on Cardassian soil... yes... perhaps he could work in the Klingons somehow, or make some reference to the Bajoran aid to prove what a generous and peace- loving government he was running...
His speech was taking shape quite nicely in his mind when he noticed Major Kira was looking at him. Her expression was less than amicable; it was difficult to believe this woman had been kissing him so passionately barely a couple of hours earlier. In fact, her lovely features bore exactly the same expression of contempt and hatred they usually took on when looking at him. But he didn't believe that expression anymore. When he looked at her now, he remembered how willingly she had leant into his kiss, without so much as a protest, wrapping her arms around him, returning passion for passion. The very thought of their moonlit encounter wracked his body with a bolt of desire as searing as a phaser shot. She must have known what he was thinking about -- how could she not? His thoughts were so intense he was certain even the Jem'Hadar, who had no sense of smell and knew no desire, could feel his passion for her. She lowered her eyes, and he wondered if she felt the same desire as he did in this moment, as they observed each other across the couple of meters that separated his chair from hers.
He smiled at the thought that she probably did, that she was probably longing for their kiss to resume, to fulfil the passion they had both felt in the light of the Bajoran moons.
"What's so funny?" she asked him defensively, her sharp voice cutting into his erotic musings, as if daring him to reveal what had gone between them.
He was about to make some flirtatious remark when he noticed Odo's cold blue eyes on him. He wondered how much the shapeshifter had seen of their encounter in the woods. Evidently not enough for him to think ill of Kira, since Odo was standing protectively near to the major and directing an unmistakably hostile glare at Dukat. Perhaps the constable was under the impression Dukat had kissed Kira by force. Whereas nothing could be further from the truth.
"There's nothing funny, Major," said Dukat with a gentle grin.
For one insane moment, he felt like telling Kira what had happened at Minos Korva, and asking for her opinion as to what he should do next. She was a skilled tactician whose advice would probably have proved most useful to him. But he dismissed the impulse almost immediately; though he now knew that she desired him, that didn't mean she would collaborate with him. However, he still wanted to get her away from Odo and beckoned for her to approach. It was obvious she was reluctant to simply obey his gesture, especially when Odo was there.
Dukat wondered just what kind of hold Odo had over her that she was so terrified of his opinion. It was clear she hadn't consulted the shapeshifter about her plan to seduce Dukat in the first place, for instance, and she had been positively mortified when the constable came across them in the woods. The gul let his mind linger on that moment again. He wondered what would have happened if Odo hadn't interrupted them.
In the meantime, Kira made no move to come over to him, and he shrugged his shoulders as best he could in his carapace. "Ah well, if you don't come over here, you won't find out," he said simply, though he was conscious that was a rather childish thing to say.
There was a slight spark of mischief in her eye as she responded, "If you really want to tell me, you can always come over here."
"It would be better if you came here; I could show you something on the computer screen."
"You'd have to show me something really interesting to make it worth my while," she responded.
He leant his head on his hand, resting his chin on his thumb and his cheek against his finger. "I don't think you'd be disappointed," he said in his most seductive voice.
Her face became serious and she looked away from him.
There was nothing to look at in the Jem'Hadar command centre, but she stubbornly spent the rest of the trip avoiding his gaze. This gave him an excellent opportunity to observe her. While his mind constructed the speech he would give to his people when he arrived on Prime, he let his eyes run over her lovely features and the attractive curves of her body. He admired the small depressions the ridges on her nose formed in the smooth slope of her profile, and the sensual shape of her red lips. His gaze ran down her white throat, and he allowed himself a brazen observation of her chest. She must be wearing some kind of uplifting underwear -- he had noticed the wiring when she had her jacket off on previous occasions -- and he found that particularly appealing. She had a lovely slim waist, as well, and though he could not see that part of her body from where he was sitting, the thought of the sumptuous curves of her hips sent a renewed rush of warmth through his body. The memory of her lips on his accentuated his arousal, and he took a deep breath to calm himself down.
Kira had stopped her stony-faced observation of nothingness, and was now discussing something with Odo. Dukat couldn't hear what they were saying, but Kira smiled at the shapeshifter and he felt a terrible pang of... something in his heart. He recognised the emotion and was disturbed to find himself experiencing it with regard to Kira. She wasn't his lover, or even a close friend; she was just the Bajoran liaison officer to Terok Nor. He desired her, yes, but that was just a physical attraction. There was certainly no reason for him to be jealous. He hadn't felt like that when he saw her embracing Shakaar earlier that evening, so maybe this was nothing to be worried about. He couldn't possibly be getting emotionally involved. Not with Major Kira. A mere kiss in the moonlight was not enough to warrant such emotions. He dismissed the pang he had felt, blaming it on the stress of his empire's military situation.
As she continued to talk with Odo, Kira shuffled in her seat to get more comfortable, and crossed her legs with a graceful movement. The emotion Dukat felt now was far more reassuring, though he was angry with himself for focusing so much attention on a woman who did not deserve it. He had completely lost track of what he was supposed to be thinking about. His Empire was at risk, and here he was daydreaming about some Bajoran woman who wasn't even interested in him... and even if she was, this was hardly the time to be indulging in erotic fantasies.
As a result of these thoughts, he was unusually abrupt to Kira when they reached Terok Nor. After consulting with Weyoun and contacting Kerritza and some of the other senior officers in the Cardassian military, Dukat broadcast a speech to the Empire. He announced that the Federation had attacked Cardassia and he had to leave for Prime immediately. After this, he sent out a brief message to the senior staff on the station, as well as Kira. He informed them he was leaving Damar and Weyoun in charge of the station in his absence, and asked Kira to officially inform the Bajoran government that the finalisation of their trade agreement would have to be done with Weyoun.
Much to Dukat's irritation, Kira appeared at the door of his office just as he was about to leave for his ship. He had no desire to talk to her, particularly as there were still a couple of details he wanted to sort out with Damar.
"Yes, what can I do for you, Major," he snapped as he walked past her on his way to the airlock.
Damar was accompanying him, and Dukat hoped to get rid of Kira so he could talk to his first officer. "If you have any administrative questions, I suggest you ask Weyoun. I have to leave for Prime."
"What about Jake?" she asked, following them into the turbolift.
"What about Jake?" he retorted. "The boy will stay in custody on this station, as agreed."
"Do you really think Jake will be safe under the protection of your soldiers, now that the Federation has attacked Cardassia?" she insisted, as they stepped off the lift and made their way down the corridor to the airlock.
He stopped still, turning towards her as he exclaimed, "You really have a low opinion of me, don't you, Major? Please credit me with some control over my men! And perhaps I don't need to remind you that Odo is the security officer on board this station. Jake will be perfectly safe as long as I am giving the orders. If I don't return... that's another matter."
She looked suitably shocked by that idea. Dukat presumed she was horrified at the thought of Jake being executed.
"If you don't return..." she echoed slowly.
"I am touched by your solicitude, Major," he sneered, pretending to interpret her reaction as concern for his welfare. "But I doubt you would be very sorry if Starfleet shot me down."
Strangely enough -- and Kira was the first to be surprised by this -- Dukat was wrong. The thought he might be killed by Starfleet had not occurred to her before, and she found it most disturbing. Though she had never had any affection for Dukat in the past, she had to admit that kissing him a few hours earlier had somewhat changed her perception. She could not deny that she had wanted him in that instant -- though she promised herself she would try her very best to forget her moment of weakness. A sudden flush of warmth coursed through her veins as his pale eyes looked her over. She quite forgot what she had been planning to say. She had wanted to argue with him, to tell him he was wrong and that she would be sorry if Starfleet shot him down. She wouldn't tell him the truth, of course -- that she yearned to wrap her arms around his wide neck and resume their interrupted kiss. She could have given political reasons for her to want him alive. His death might cause even worse chaos in the Quadrant than there already was.
As her father used to say "the tiger from the valley may slaughter your cattle, but the tiger from the hills will eat your children".
Dukat was someone the Federation and Bajorans knew well. Every security service in the Quadrant knew what there was to know about his family and friends. Who knew what unknown person would replace him if he died? In the end, she didn't say anything. She couldn't trust herself to speak when she wanted him so much. He would know the minute she opened her mouth, and she could not bear to let this Cardassian pagh-wraith know how deeply he had touched her with his damned kiss.
Unable to talk to him, she just turned around, leaving him to continue on to the airlock with Damar, while she returned to Ops. Kira watched with the Cardassians and Jem'Hadar as Dukat's ship flew away on the repaired viewscreen. She wondered when he would come back. If he came back. She felt a pang of regret at this thought, and though she tried to dismiss it, the feeling persisted. She didn't like Dukat... she was sure she didn't like Dukat, but she didn't want him to die. She wanted him to come back, to kiss her, and run his hands over her body, stroking...
She shook herself out of her reverie as she felt her body begin to respond to her fantasy. Once the ship was gone, she decided there was nothing left for her to do in Ops, and she might just as well return to her quarters and spend some time sorting out all that had happened that day. It had certainly been a strange day: Dukat's apparent reconciliation with Ziyal, Dukat and Shakaar getting on so well, Dukat strolling with her in the moonlight...
And that kiss...
She nearly bumped into Damar as she walked back towards her quarters.
"Major," he said by way of greeting, flashing a bright smile at her as he stopped to talk.
She was strongly tempted to just walk past him, but it looked as though he wanted to speak to her, and she decided she didn't have any reason to be rude to him.
"So, you're in charge of the station now," she said neutrally, wondering what it was that he wanted to talk about. "I'm surprised Dukat didn't take you with him."
Damar nodded and his grin widened. "I was surprised, too," he answered. "But he had his reasons."
He was obviously dying to tell her Dukat's reasons, so she prompted him with a disinterested,
"Really?"
"You don't think he would trust Weyoun to run this station, do you?" he said in a low voice. "Besides, he wants to have someone he knows here, in case he doesn't come back."
Kira was annoyed at this last statement. Why did everyone seem to think Dukat wouldn't come back, all of a sudden? More to the point, why did it bother her so much? If the Federation did launch a full-scale attack on Cardassia, and if Dukat died in that attack, it would be no more than Dukat and the Cardassians deserved. A simple kiss didn't make Dukat a better person.
She resolved to curb her desire for him with some carefully selected memories from the Occupation. That should calm her enthusiasm.
"It's getting late," said Damar when she didn't answer. "Would you care for a drink?"
This was something new -- Damar asking her out for a drink. It wasn't as if she was on heat at this time of year! She shot him a murderous glance, which sent him into a satisfying state of confusion. "I... I meant... Well, we're... just going over to Quark's for dinner, all the Cardassian staff, that is," he stammered. "I was... wondering if you would care to join us. I know you've already eaten, but I... well, I wanted to know how things went on Bajor... Gul Dukat said you saw Ziyal there... I wanted to know how it went..."
He was so put out by her reaction that she felt genuinely sorry for him. The thought of a drink in Quark's with a load of Cardassian soldiers did not appeal, however.
"I'm quite tired," she explained. "I'll tell you about it tomorrow."
He didn't press her, and continued on his way to Quark's. Kira wondered for a moment what she could do to distract herself for the rest of the evening, but finally decided to continue with her original plan and returned to her quarters. She did feel quite tired -- the few hours they had spent on Bajor had been strenuous to say the least. Lying down on her bed, she let her mind wander over the events of the day. Pictures of Shakaar and Quark, Ziyal, the egregious Chaserat, the fleeting expression of satisfaction on Odo's smooth features when he had interrupted their kiss... and Dukat, Dukat laughing with Shakaar, Dukat's arms around her, Dukat's cold glare as he left.
She felt anger rise in her throat as she remembered how cold he had been since they came back from Bajor. Did he think he could just kiss her and then ignore her as if nothing had happened? She mulled over all the wrongs -- true or imagined -- he had done her in the past. Her mind remained thankfully free of erotic fantasies until she fell asleep. Her dreams, however, brought up quite a different view of Dukat.
---
Heart pounding, her body readied for fight-or-flight, Kira was awakened by an autonomic surge of adrenaline in response to her door chime. Damn, she thought looking at her chronometer, she'd badly overslept her normal wake- up call. No, she remembered as her brain slowly came to, she'd canceled it deliberately. She'd been so tired, but thought she'd never get to sleep after the events of yesterday. Besides, it wasn't as if she had anything important to do today...
"Just a minute," she addressed, rather pointlessly, to the door -- whoever was outside couldn't possibly have heard. She threw a robe on over her nightgown and took a flying look in the mirror. However irrational, she couldn't shake the feeling that it was Dukat -- come to say goodbye properly. She knew it was ridiculous. Not only was he gone, but she was the last thing on his mind at the moment -- he'd made that perfectly clear. Nonetheless, while mentally kicking herself for even caring, she superstitiously ran a comb through her hair and checked her face before giving the instruction,
"Come."
"Major," said Quark cheerfully, looking her up and down in her state of semi-undress. "I'm so sorry to disturb you, I was certain you would be up by now -- I mean, it's quite late really. I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"
He peered around the room, clearly looking for material evidence of her postulated over-night visitor.
"I was up very late and I'm tired. I overslept. What do you want?"
"Why, just to deliver this," he beamed as he handed her a large, white, rectangular box, "it should brighten your day considerably."
The box was tied with a red ribbon and had a hand-written card attached.
"What the hell is this Quark? And who is it from?" She really wasn't in the mood for any of his nonsense -- not that she ever was.
He followed her to her dining table -- evidently having satisfied himself that she was, in fact, alone. "If you want to know, you'll just have to read the card and open the box, Major."
Quark was near to dancing in eager anticipation of her reaction. He hovered so close to her arm that she was sorely tempted to elbow him in the face. She set the box on the table, and removed the card, putting it to one side. She didn't need to read it -- she knew who it was from, just like she knew that this nosy hobgoblin had already read it for himself. A gentle pull on a free end of the ribbon untied the slip-knot which held the box closed. It fell open to reveal a dozen long-stemmed, pure white roses.
"Go on, pick one up," Quark cajoled her. Fascinated by their beauty, she did so. Carefully placing her fingers so as to avoid the thorns studding its stem, she held the rose and watched as the edges of the milky petals changed color. At first it looked as if the flower had been dipped part-way into a glass of red wine, then, gradually, the stain spread and deepened to crimson.
"Mmm" Quark grinned lasciviously, "Red, for passion... Ah, but is it love or hate which ignites your touch?" He paused thoughtfully, "Now, let's see, if I remember correctly... they'll turn pink in response to a humorous frame of mind, and yellow..."
"I know what they are, and I know what they do," Kira snapped at him.
Betazoid chameleon roses -- they changed color in response to the mood of whoever held or touched them. She'd only ever seen one once before. Dax had brought it to a dinner party in Captain Sisko's quarters -- some besotted Xepolite trader had given it to her. They'd passed it around the table, marveling at its delicate beauty and its uncanny ability to read the emotions of each and every one of them.
What had made Dukat think that she would like such a gift? Was it his standard offering to women he was hoping to seduce? Or was it just some lucky guess on his part? No, of course not. It was neither. It could only have been Jake -- Jake was at that party and had witnessed Kira's simple delight as the flower turned a purplish-pink in her hands. She had been both embarrassed and amused -- and had taking some heavy kidding for her uncharacteristic reaction to such a frivolous item. So, Dukat and Jake had had some casual conversation about her taste in... flowers.
Friendly with Shakaar, friendly with Jake...
Nonetheless, keeping Jake a prisoner and rushing off to fight the Federation...
Rushing off to fight Jake's father...
Rushing off to fight for the causes of oppression and brutalization.
As long as she lived, she would never understand.
Quark interrupted her thoughts, "The box provides a stasis field -- and if you keep them in it at night, and put them in fresh water every morning, they should last for weeks. I imagine you'll want to take care of them properly -- your admirer could have bought a small luxury shuttle-craft with what he paid for them..."
She turned on him and demanded, "What are you doing here anyway? I thought you were still on Bajor."
"Oh, I had a business meeting early this morning," his reply was typically evasive. "It was very successful, thank you for asking. And, as an added bonus, I was able to pick these up."
He smiled, and continued in a conspiratorial tone, "I told him it would probably take weeks to fill the order -- there is a war on, you know. We got very lucky -- I met a Kressari trader who happened to be carrying them in stasis. His original customer, was, for some reason... no longer willing to bear the expense of the purchase...
Ah well," the little man shrugged, "some other lady's loss is your gain. Aren't you going to open the card, Major?"
His enthusiasm visibly squashed by Kira's cold glare, he asked, "Where is Gul Dukat anyway? I tried to contact him from the ship on my way back to the station, but my transmission was rudely cut off..."
"He's gone Quark," she said flatly, "Didn't you know?"
"Gone? Where?"
"Cardassia Prime." She sneered at him, "There is a war on, you know."
Only when Quark had left did she open the card. It was not signed, but a signature was hardly necessary.
"Major, I hope you will not consider this gift too presumptuous. My wish is merely to foster a new era of understanding and -- dare I hope? -- forgiveness between us. I look forward to seeing you at dinner..."
---
What was it about Gul Dukat and Bajoran women? Damar kept his grin strictly in his mind, and off his face, as Major Kira's door opened to admit him. He knew that concerning women, as with all things, Gul Dukat was both particular in his tastes, and determined in pursuit of what he wanted. Major Kira might not be beautiful, but she was appealing -- something in the way she burned like a runaway plasma-fire...
A pity for his gul that she hadn't yet figured out just exactly what it was she burned for.
She seemed to be busy with something at her table, as her uniformed back was to him.
"Excuse me, Major. I have just received a communique from Gul Dukat which includes some instructions for you."
When she whirled around at the sound of his voice, he thought for a moment she was going to shoot. Luckily for him what she held was not a phaser rifle, but a bunch of long-stemmed Betazoid chameleon roses -- blood red at the moment, in evidence of her passionate mood. Even in peacetime, a single one of those roses would have cost Damar more than a month's salary. He had to keep himself from whistling as he mentally totaled up what Gul Dukat must have paid for all of them -- including what that rapacious Ferengi probably overcharged him.
"Lovely flowers, Major. Hadn't you better get them into some water? I believe they'll last longer if you care for them properly..."
"You like them?" She snarled at him, "Then here, you take them."
She thrust the entire bunch into his arms, where they immediately blushed pink in reflection of his amusement.
"Why, thank you, Major!" he simply couldn't suppress a smirk at her action.
As for the flowers, they would be safer if he held onto them for the moment -- considering her present frame of mind was unlikely to be improved by what he had to tell her.
With the roses off her hands, she seemed to come to her senses a bit.
"What was it that you wanted, anyway?" she asked him with something less than her previous rudeness.
Still cradling the pink roses, he told her, "I have orders from Gul Dukat that you are to return to Bajor where you will oversee arrangements for transporting the supplies covered under the trade agreement between our governments."
"But I can do that just as easily, if not more effectively, from here!" she protested.
"I'm afraid Gul Dukat's orders were very specific on that point, Major. You are to leave Terok Nor for Bajor by 1600 hours, or you will be escorted off the station under armed guard."
The edges of the pink rose petals began to show a purplish tinge -- indicative of Damar's embarrassment at having Gul Dukat's orders questioned.
"You're telling me that he doesn't trust me! He's afraid I might cause trouble in his absence!"
"That is not for me to say," he replied coldly, the roses now a deep bluish- purple. He was astonished by the stubborn stupidity of this woman -- how could she expect Gul Dukat to trust her? It wasn't as if they were on the same side! Even when she finally settled down and became his gul's mistress -- as Damar knew she eventually would -- she would always bear close watching. She should be flattered by that! It showed respect for her capabilities, and understanding of her commitment to her own people.
"Very well," she acquiesced, "I will go quietly. But really, if that was how he felt, he might have saved me the trip back here last night! Besides which," she looked at him pointedly, "this station is still technically Bajoran territory, and he has no authority to order me off it."
"Technically..." he echoed her word, adding his own contempt.
Surely she was not foolish enough to challenge Gul Dukat's absolute command of Terok Nor. In any event, Damar was glad it wouldn't be necessary to subdue her physically. If she were injured... well, he didn't want to be the one to have to explain it to Gul Dukat. Before he left, he paused to carefully lay the roses on her dining table. In the absence of contact with a sentient, emoting, life-form the flowers returned to their neutral color of pure white.
A shower of roses hit the inside of the door as it closed behind Damar. Petals which had gone scarlet at Kira's angry touch, blanched to white as they detached and fluttered individually to the floor. She dropped to a sitting position on the carpet, right where she had been standing, tears of rage and desperation filling her eyes.
"What does he want from me?" she wailed out loud, but that was as far as she would give in to the excess of mingled emotions besieging her.
She sat where she was, taking a few deep breaths to regain control, and then calmly began to pick up what was left of the roses and their scattered petals. As she gathered them to her, they turned yellow in her hands -- yellow, she knew, was their manifestation of sorrow and regret.
---