Creek Johnson and Nance Hurt
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Disclaimer: We are but fleas on the elephants' posterior that is Paramount. No infringement on their rights is intended. We hope none is taken.
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Tobin Io looked at Jake Sisko as he stood next to the body of Kira Neys and after a moment she laughed. "You're a rather surprising man, Mr. Sisko," she said and motioned for the rest of her team to lower their weapons. "If you are anything like your father, I can see why the prophets chose him as their Emissary." "Thank you," replied Jake relaxing a bit. He took a closer look at the child with the Bajoran couple and knew in an instant that she was not Sarah. "So, are you going to tell me now where my sister is?"
"Your sister is safe," Tobin assured him. "She is currently on Cardassia Prime, one of our members is taking care of her, someone you know as a matter of fact."
"Huna Chin," speculated Jake.
"Yes, it was Huna who first told us of your interest in the shadow warriors. Haven't you asked yourself, Jake, why you were drawn to the legend in the first place?"
Jake thought about the dreams that had haunted him over the last six months - dreams in which he was aware of two figures that struggled endlessly. It was the dreams that that had lead him to the legend in the first place. But why? He had never given any thought to worshiping the Prophets, what use would they have for him? "I don't understand," he said eventually. "What does all this have to do with the legend?"
"The legend isn't really a legend," explained Tobin. "But a prophecy long ignored. A prophecy about the Reckoning - a prophecy we intend to fulfill."
"So, let me get this straight. From what I can gather you are telling me that the legend of the shadow warriors is true? That a representative of the Prophets and a representative of the Pah-wraiths are locked in a endless struggle to see who is the greatest power? But I thought the Reckoning was over and done with."
"No. As you know the Heretic Winn stopped the Reckoning before it could be completed."
And in so doing saved my life, thought Jake. "So you want to end the Reckoning once and for all," he reasoned. "Why?"
"Why?" asked Tobin. "For Bajor - to secure our future – to secure our heritage. We are all members of an organization that believes that Bajorans will never be allowed to advance as a people as long as our so-called gods are constantly at war with each other. You see, we believe that Bajor should be free to take its rightful place among other worlds, that we should be members of the Federation, and it is our antiquated and ridiculous slave like devotion to the 'prophets' that will forever keep us backwards and primitive."
"The Children of Anjohl?"
"Yes."
"But you believe in the Prophets."
"That they exist," stated Tobin without any reverence in her tone of voice. "But not that they exist as gods. To our way of thinking, they are nothing more to us than the Cardassians were during the occupation. However unlike the Cardassians, to us, they are much more insidious, they infest our lives from the government all the way down to the individual in the streets. Look at our leaders, they declare and make promises, but one word from their masters in the Vedek Assembly and they cower like beaten dogs. And yet at the same time they have the gall to say to the rest of the Universe that we are a people who are free to determine our own futures. But the truth of the matter is that we will never achieve true self-determination as long as our leaders believe the prophets determine what is best for us as a people. Only by allowing the Reckoning to end, can we finally begin to rid ourselves of their troublesome presence in our lives."
"I understand," said Jake. "But what you are proposing, in a way, is a revolution. What does that have to do with me? What does it have to do with Sarah?"
"You are the key," said Tobin simply. "The child who truly knows it's father is the key."
"But," protested Jake. "The key to what? What do you need me for? I mean I'm sympathetic to your cause, but I'm not Bajoran, even if I were to lend my support as the son of the Emissary, who would listen to me?"
"It's not your support that we need," said Tobin leading him to the altar. "It's your blood."
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"Hands up," ordered one of the thugs. The little group of unlikely rescuers complied without comment. "Shall we kill them?" asked another of the thugs.
"No," replied Renegade a slight smile on her face. "Not unless they make a move to stop us. You're not going to try and stop me are you Pilgrim?"
"That depends," answered Jack taking a step forward. "What are you planning on doing?"
"Shadow," she remarked, turning her attention to him for the first time. "Why am I not surprised to see you here? You always did have a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"It's a gift," he replied. "You're looking well, I might add."
"Which is a lot more than we can say for those you destroyed," growled Pilgrim.
"Do you have any idea what's going on?" Quark asked Mikor.
Mikor shook his head. "I have no idea."
"Good," replied Quark. "I thought it was just me."
"I admit working for the Solids was rash," remarked Renegade with a shrug. "But it did shake you all out of your complacency did it not?"
"At what price?" asked Pilgrim. "To what purpose? Total annihilation?"
"Just think of it as accelerated evolution. It wouldn't be the first time our people experienced that now would it?"
"Excuse me," Quark asked of Jack. "I take it the three of you know each other?"
"You could say that," replied Jack. "She's an old friend of mine and she's…well…she's Pilgrim's ex-wife."
"What?"
"We all make mistakes," muttered Pilgrim.
"Don't we just," replied Renegade.
"I hate to break up a family reunion," interrupted Jack. "But what exactly does all this have to do with a human child?"
"Not just any child," Renegade corrected him. "She is the Key."
"The key to what?" asked Pilgrim.
"My redemption."
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"My blood?" asked Jake taking a cautious step back from the altar. "What? You mean like a sacrifice?" After all these years of evolution, thought Jake, and it still all came down to blood. "No," Tobin assured him. "Just some blood, not even that much."
"But if that's all you need then why didn't you just ask me? Or rather, you've been hanging around my house for the last few days, why not just take some while I was asleep? Why all this elaborate subterfuge?"
"I apologize for that," replied Tobin. "But it was necessary, we had to make sure you would co-operate. In order to release the shadow warriors, the vessel has to be willing, we needed you to be willing to shed your blood here and now."
"You could have just asked," said Jake. He watched as the Bajoran couple gently scooped up the child and moved her away to the farther end of the passage.
"Do you really think you would have said yes?" asked Tobin. "And if you had, do you think the Colonel would have agreed? Or let you agree once she knew what was going to transpire? We need her blood as well, as you were both willing vessels years ago when the Heretic ended the Reckoning."
"No, I probably would not have agreed," said Jake after a moment's thought. "But I'm no so sure Nerys will be willing this time."
"She is here, it shouldn't matter that she's unconscious," replied Tobin. "And we haven't much time left so it's a chance we'll have to take."
"So, what happens now?" asked Jake. He still had occasional nightmares about being possessed by the spirit of the Pah-wraith so long ago on DS9. "I'm not going to have to let anything possess me am I?"
"No," said Tobin. "According to the legend, the warriors all ready possess their vessels, all we will be doing is opening the doorway so the struggle can end once and for all."
"So, what do I have to do?"
"Just stand by," she said handing him a knife. "And cut your hand when the priest tells you to and allow the blood to stain the alter. We'll take care of the rest."
"And if I don't," ventured Jake. "What happens to Sarah? I suppose I won't get my sister back unless I cooperate?"
"We're not criminals," replied Tobin. "If you choose not to cooperate you will have Sarah back by early tomorrow morning. But, if you choose not to cooperate, you will be condemning the people of Bajor to spiritual slavery for another seventy years. The choice is yours, only you have to decide quickly as we are running out of time."
While the little boy in him who had been raised in Louisiana and who heard stories of voodoo and blood lettings, screamed for him to run as far away from this as possible, the writer in him was aching with curiosity to see the matter through to the end. Was this, he thought, the reason behind the dreams? Was this why he had agreed to stay on Bajor after his father's disappearance? There was no way of knowing. Finally he gave in to the same compulsion that had led him to giving in to the spirit of the Pah-wraith years ago. "Okay, fine," he said. "Let's do it."
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"Run that by me again," said Jack. "How exactly is the child of Benjamin Sisko your redemption?" "Believe it or not," replied Renegade. "But even as we speak, there are forces on Bajor who are trying to upset the balance of the Universe. It's a long story and we don't exactly have the time to go into it right now, but if they are successful they will release a force so powerful that not even the Dominion can stand before it."
"And you expect us to believe that you do not want that power for yourself?" said Pilgrim, his voice dripping with disdain.
"No," remarked Renegade. "I do not - this is a force that no one should control, no one has the right. All I am interested in is maintaining the balance of power. Why do you think I worked with the Solids to keep the Dominion out of this Quadrant? For glory? For power? No, to maintain balance, for without it, none of us would survive."
"But how do we know you can stop them?" asked Jack. "You said yourself that they are working to release this…power…even as we speak."
"But they lack, her," said Renegade caressing Sarah Sisko's head. "They lack the key."
"Okay," said Jack. "Let me get this straight. Someone on Bajor, these people who want to unleash this great power, kidnapped Sarah Sisko and brought her to Cardassia Prime? Then once she was out of the way, you planned on kidnapping her from the kidnappers so you could bring her here?"
"Succinct as usual, Shadow. That was the plan until Mr. Dukat stumbled into the middle of a matter that did not concern him."
"Lucky for you he was coming to the Station," speculated Jack. "But what I don't understand is why go to all this elaborate subterfuge? I mean why not just take Sarah and do what you needed to do on Bajor?"
"Because she has to complete the circle," said Mikor his eyes locked on Sarah's. "They, the kidnappers on Bajor, they suspected you would try something like this didn't they?"
"Yes they did," agreed Renegade. "And in answer to your question, Shadow. The ritual must be done here, near the wormhole, where it all began."
Thousand of years of humanoid evolution, thought Jack, and it still all came down to blood rituals didn't it? "Ritual?" he asked trying to stall for time. "Aren't you a little old to believe in rituals?"
"What I believe," remarked Renegade. "Is of no importance. The circle must be completed."
Complete the circle or not, thought Mikor his eyes still locked on Sarah's, what do I care? He saw the appeal in her eyes and tried to look away. It had nothing to do with him.
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"Lost them?" said Bryan Landis looking in disbelief at the display. "What do you mean you lost them?" "I mean," replied Vonda Lek. "That the signal was there one minute and then it just…disappeared."
"Could it be the shielding?"
"It could be," remarked Nog. "But then again, it might be something else."
"Could you be a little more specific?"
"Well," ventured Vonda. "If it were the shielding there would be some sort of residual trace left behind, or some shadow, but there's nothing."
"It just disappeared," confirmed Nog.
"Great," replied Landis. "Just great."
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Her limbs still paralyzed from the effects of a phaser set on heavy stun, Kira Nerys lay motionless on the floor of the Cave and out of one eye watched with mounting horror the scene unfolding in front of her. Around the altar stood Tobin and her men all chanting the words that would help release the shadow warriors. Tobin had been right about one thing; had she known, had she been able to piece the bits of the puzzle together before now, Kira would never have allowed this plot to proceed. Spiritual slavery, she thought, and Tobin had the nerve to call Winn a heretic? Don't do it Jake, she thought with all her soul, willing her body to shake off the effects of the stun. She took several slow and deep breaths as though by sheer will she could force her body to move and was mildly surprised to note her hand slowly clinch into a fist. Good, she thought, there just might be a chance after all.
She closed her eyes and sent a silent prayer to the Prophets for their assistance and wondered, in the back of her mind, where Odo was and if he even knew of what was transpiring. A pause in the chanting caused her to open her eye only to wish she had not, for high above the altar the ceiling of the cave boiled with fire.
It's working, she thought. The Fire Caves, having been dormant following the disappearance of Benjamin Sisko, were being reawakened. Tobin's plan was working after all. No, she thought, not if I can help it.
She watched as Tobin gave a signal and Kira became aware of a presence beside her. One of Tobin's men was leaning over her with a hypospray. They need my blood as well, thought Kira; well I'm not going to give it to them willingly. As the man leaned over her, she summoned all of her strength and swinging her legs around managed to knock the man off his feet. Her limbs still possessed a degree of lethargy that told her the effects of the stun had not completely worn off, but at least she was able to move.
Sitting up as quickly as she could and seizing a hold of her phaser, she pointed it at the man as he struggled to regain his feet. She pressed the firing mechanism only to realize the phaser had been drained of energy. With a muttered oath she swung her arm and hit the man between the eyes with the weapon.
"Don't do it Jake!" she shouted struggling to her feet. "You have no idea what forces you are dealing with."
"Pay no attention to her, Jake," urged Tobin as the chanting began again.
"But," protested Jake.
"There's no time!" shouted Tobin in frustration. Kira was alarmed to see her reach across the altar and pull Jake towards her, a knife held high above him. Without thinking Kira launched herself at the altar.
To Kira time seemed to have slowed to a crawl. She was only vaguely aware of running and as she ran colliding with one of the guards, his body being forced away from her as she moved forward. She was only slightly aware of his body in turn colliding with Jakes, but too late to prevent injury. She saw the knife blade bite deep into his arm, blood spilling onto the altar before Tobin released him, Jake's body spinning away from the altar by the force of the man colliding into him.
She was vaguely aware of her own attempt to right herself as she grabbed Tobin by the shoulders in an effort to pull her across the altar and cause enough disruption to bring the ceremony to an end. She saw the flash of the blade, and looking down, realized only too late that the knife was between them, its point just a breath away from her chest.
She vaguely realized Jake's shout of warning as Tobin's body moved towards her propelled by gravity. She desperately tried to move, to avoid the blow, but she could not move her own body and support the weight of Tobins at the same time. Kira was aware of the look of horror and surprise on Tobin's face as the knife blade was forced between her ribs and she felt the rush of air from her lungs as the blade bit deep into her chest.
No, thought Kira as she struggled to stand but her legs refused to cooperate. Staring in disbelief at the hilt of the weapon still lodged in her chest, she looked pleadingly at Tobin who sat straddling her body, staring at the blood staining her hands. Their eyes locked and for an instant Kira recognized the feeling akin to intimacy that passed between the killer and the killed and knew that Tobin felt it as well. As soon as the moment was realized, it had passed and Tobin quickly struggled to her feet.
"No!" shouted Kira as she realized Tobin was smearing bloodied hands across the altar. Kira struggled to regain her feet only to kick them in frustration as her body refused to cooperate. She was aware of someone nearby and realized it was Jake, his arms supporting her body, his eyes staring in fascination at the hilt of the knife sticking out of her chest.
"No!" she shouted again, her breath coming in ragged gasps. She struggled to regain her feet again before her body simply lost all strength.
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Jack looked at the four men standing in front of them, disruptor rifles held at the ready, and realized he had seldom felt so helpless. Beyond the four men, Renegade stood in front of the makeshift altar and held Sarah Sisko by the hand as one of the men chanted something in Bajoran. Jack did not fail to notice the rather evil looking knife Renegade held in her other hand. "We've got to do something," complained Quark. "You're Changelings, why don't you rush them or something?"
"If you think you could survive a hit from a disruptor set to kill, Little Man," replied Pilgrim. "Then by all means, be my guest."
Jack felt the reassuring presence of the tracking device Flato Rey had placed on him and hoped that the signal would not be blocked by all the shielding around them. Come on Starfleet, he thought, where are you when I need you. "What we need," he said eventually, "Is a distraction."
"You mean like that?" asked Quark pointing upwards. As the chanting increased they were startled to see flames begin to form across the ceiling of the room. Glancing quickly at their guards, Jack was disappointed to note that none of them even moved an inch, must less bothered to look above them.
"Damn," he said.
"She chose her accomplices well," remarked Pilgrim a note of grudging admiration in his voice. "She always did."
"So, what now?" asked Quark. "We just stand here and be burned alive?"
Before anyone could answer the door to the room opened and through it stumbled a somewhat bewildered D. McKinley.
"In the name of Starfleet and the Federation," he declared. "I demand to know what is going on!"
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"What in the name of all that is holy is going on?" asked Dhek. They had stormed into the passage at the base of the pit expecting to find Sarah Sisko and her kidnappers. None of them had expected to find the altar surrounded by a bloodied Tobin Io and her men, and certainly none of them had expected to find the roof of the passage alive with fire. "Stop what you're doing!" ordered Odo. "Or we will…be…. forced…" To what he thought, what could they do to stop this?
The group around the altar just stared at them in stunned silence. Tobin, on the other hand, looked as though she were in a trance. "No!" she shouted at her men. "Keep chanting. This has got to work." She turned to Dhek and the rest of the team gathered in the entrance to the passageway, her voice cracking with the strain. "It has to work. Why isn't it working?"
Odo glanced at Dhek and her men and realized they too were standing and staring in stunned silence. The child, he thought, where was the child? Odo eventually became aware of someone calling his name. Jake! "Jake!" he called out. "Where are you?"
"Over here," came the reply. Approaching the altar Odo was stunned to find Jake bending over the body of Kira and, if he had possessed a heart, it would have stopped beating as he realized how badly she had been injured.
"It was an accident," said Jake. "No one meant…"
All other voices faded from Odo's awareness as he knelt down next to Kira and gently touched her hand. It was still warm and a faint pulse fluttered beneath his fingers. No, he thought. Not now, not like this. He softly called her name and stifled a sob, as she remained motionless.
A movement beside him caught his attention; it was Dhek, her tricorder at the ready. He watched with baited breath as she scanned Kira briefly before the tricorder went dark.
"Damnit," she said. "Something's sucking the power out of all our equipment."
Odo placed a hand over the tricorder and looked appealing at the Captain. Dhek stared into his eyes and gently shook her head. "I'm sorry, Odo," she said softly. "I didn't get a good reading but what I did get…"
"What?" demanded Jake. "What reading? She's going to be okay isn't she?"
Dhek took one look at the stricken Changeling and gently pulled Jake aside. "The tip of the knife blade has pierced her heart. There might be a chance if we were on the surface and could get her beamed to a hospital, but whatever this is," she indicated the flames above them. "It's sucking the power out of everything. We can't use comms – we can't even use our phasers."
"But we could carry her out…"
"She wouldn't survive the trip," said Dhek. "Would someone please shut Lt. Tobin up?"
"No!" Tobin was shouting as two of Dhek's men took her by the arms and attempted to remove her from the scene. "It has to work. We did everything we were supposed to! Jake!" she appealed to him as she struggled to remain at the altar. She reached out a hand to him. "You've got to help us!"
"The price is too high…" replied Jake.
"Watch out!" shouted Dhek as Tobin shook off the men restraining her and in one fluid motion she produced a second knife from her boot and held it to Jake's throat.
"This is not over!" shouted Tobin. "It can't be!"
"What the…" muttered Dhek as with a roar the fire that hovered above them appeared to be sucked up the shaft in the ceiling.
Grief stricken, Odo spared the phenomenon only a passing glance before turning his attention back to Kira, gently caressing her face. He had always known this day would come, he just never imagined it would come this soon. Nor, he thought, had he ever truly imagined a world in which she was not a part. He caressed her hair and again called her name.
At a second shout from Dhek, Odo glanced up again, the fire that hovered above them seemed only to have withdrawn in order to gather its strength for a moment before rushing back down and engulfing the room.
Pulling Kira's body to him, he sought what feeble shelter the altar provided, grateful that if they were all to die, at least he and Kira would die together.
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"What the hell?" remarked D McKinley, totally unaware of what was transpiring before him. "Did you know there's a fire in here?" "Distraction enough for you?" asked Pilgrim as one of the guards turned to take note of the new presence, leveled his weapon and fired. Nothing happened and the guard cursed and tried the firing mechanism again.
"Thank God for Starfleet," said Jack. It took only a moment for the other guards to realize none of their weapons held enough of a charge to do any harm.
"Hey!" said McKinley desperate to keep his balance. "You tried to shoot me…" was all he managed to say before the guard hit him across the face with the butt of his weapon before turning and joining the mêlée centered on Jack and Pilgrim.
Mikor Dukat, his eyes never leaving Sarah Sisko, realized that the ritual continued despite the chaos that had erupted around them. He felt a tug on his arm and turned to find Quark by his side.
"Come on," urged the Ferengi. "Let's get out of here while we still can."
"No," replied Mikor shaking off Quark's hand. "Not without the child."
"You're as crazy as your father!" shouted the Ferengi.
To Mikor time seemed to have slowed to a crawl. All he was aware of was the look of appeal on the face of Sarah as he pushed combatants out of his way in an attempt to reach her. He was only vaguely aware of one of the men falling against the altar, his arm flailing for support, his upper body colliding with the woman and causing her to lose her grasp on the child.
Seeing his chance, Mikor threw himself forward, scooping Sarah into his arms but the momentum of his body caused him to lose his balance for an instant, threatening to send them both to the ground. He was aware of someone trying to take Sarah from his arms and in an instant realized it was Quark.
Letting go of her, he saw the look of panic on her face, a look mirrored on the face of Quark. They shouted a warning as Mikor realized someone had seized him from behind. He struggled to free himself only to be held by a force he had never encountered before.
"No," said a voice in his ear. "You will not succeed."
Out of the corner of his eye he saw the flash of the knife blade and tried to twist himself free. He felt the force of the blow against his back but was mildly surprised there was no pain. His eyes locked on Sarah's, he groped with his free hand trying to feel for a wound before his legs finally gave way and he sank to the floor.
"No!" the woman shouted again flailing the air with her knife. "Fools! You don't understand."
Mikor grasped the edge of the altar with one hand desperately trying to regain his feet, but his legs would not cooperate. He stared at his hand only to realize it was covered with blood. Damn, he thought, my father was right. Bajorans, Federation, Ferengi, you just can't trust any of them. He raised his eyes towards the ceiling realizing the fire had started to withdraw and blinked as a drop of his own blood fell on his face.
Struggling, he grasped the edge of the altar again, further smearing it with his blood. Well, he thought, at least the child was safe. At least, he thought sinking to the floor as all strength left him; my life hasn't been a total waste. Gasping for air, he watched in fascinated horror, as the fire appeared to gather strength for a moment before rushing forward and engulfing the room.