Terok Nor: Chapter Two
Author: doubtingJulia
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I don't own Terok Nor or most other things in the story. Don't sue me please, I have nothing. You can have my debt if you really want.
Gaman Kotar was born into a family of great wealth but little social standing. His grandfather had made a fortune by sinister means and then expanded later in his life into the entertainment industry, increasing his holdings even more. Gaman's father had married the daughter of a cash-strapped aristocrat who made it her mission in life to see that her children were accepted in the highest echelons of Cardassian society. She carefully chose their careers and spouses in view of this goal. Gaman, her youngest son, was sent to the Cardassian Military Academy with the clear knowledge that he was expected to rise very far. Fortunately, military life agreed with him and had no difficulty making an impression with his superiors. Once he had reached a respectable rank in the Military Government bureaucracy his mother married him to the daughter of a member of the Governing Council.
His new wife was a beauty but she was also a shallow and stupid women. They soon had an understanding that they should both stay as far away from each other as they could. They didn't have children for many years, mostly because they barely tried.
After ten years of marriage, and almost twenty in the military. Gul Kotar was appointed governor of Rakantha province on the colony world of Bajor. He and his wife moved into the gubernorial palace where they enjoyed a lifestyle even more luxurious then the one they had had on Cardassia.
The climate in Rakantha province must have agreed with Madam Kotar's disposition because after two years there she finally conceived. Their son, whom they also named Gaman, brought a little bit of life to their marriage and both father and mother conspired to spoil him.
Soon after his birth, little Gaman was given over to the care of a nurse who was to take charge of his early education. In addition, Gul Kotar had a little girl brought in from the nearest refugee camp to perform those tasks that the nurse believed were beneath her dignity. She was a sombre girl of ten, named Tora Naprem.
Naprem adjusted quickly to her new life. Both the nurse and Madam Kotar had the child waiting on them had and foot and neither hesitated to slap her around at the slightest offence, but little Gaman was an affectionate infant and, to Naprem, he made up for any pain she had to suffer.
Gul Kotar was oblivious to her at first, but when she began to grow into the lithe shape Bajoran women were known for he started to, quite casually, take her into his bed. His wife was not so stupid as to be unaware of his infidelity and she did her best to make Naprem´s life as difficult as possible. But that did not deter the gul in the least.
Some time later Madam Kotar was killed by a bomb the Resistance had planted in Gul Kotar´s shuttle. The governor had, of course, been the intended target.
Naprem was by that time a beautiful young woman of fifteen and Gul Kotar found that he had grown rather attached to her. Later that year, when his son was sent to school on Cardassia, he relieved her of her remaining duties and moved her permanently into his private apartments.
She had no love for the gul but was terrified of his ferocious temper, although he could be very generous when he wanted to be. Naprem´s life had taught her to be accepting of her fate, since she could do little to change it.
Naprem had just turned eighteen when the household got the news that Gul Kotar was dead. He had been killed while on a tour of the province's main refugee camp, the one in which Naprem had been born. An angry mob managed to disable his guards and beat him to death. The camp commander executed five hundred of the camp's residence as punishment.
After a few horrible days of uncertainty she received an 'invitation' from Gul Tresarian Dukat, the Director of Counter-Insurgency, to come live with him in Jalanda. He had wanted Naprem ever since he saw her two years before at Gul Kotar house. The other Cardassian had paraded her in front of a few select guests after one of his notoriously boring dinner parties.
Naprem wasn't foolish enough to hesitate for a moment.
Dukat was quite a different man than Kotar. He fancied himself a great romantic and he treated Naprem with something resembling respect and affection. Rather than being put at ease she began to feel a deep guilt. Her Bajoran conscience told her it was the greatest sin to live in luxury with a man who was actively engaged in the genocide of her people. For the first time in her life Naprem considered suicide.
Within six months of moving to Jalanda Naprem discovered she was pregnant. This sent her into a panic. For all his gentleness she was sure that Dukat would never let a half-breed bastard live. Emboldened by maternal instinct she snuck out of the house at night and made her way undetected to her family in the Valteksa Valley Refugee Centre. They were overjoyed to see her after so many years and she was prepared to live the rest of her life in the squalour of the camp. She figured that if Dukat had let her come this far he would not come looking for her.
Of course she was wrong. After four weeks he came and Naprem was dragged into his presence by the camp guards. His anger could have competed with Gul Kotar's but it vanished when Naprem feel to her knees and begged him for the lives of her family and her child. Dukat was shocked that she believed him capable of such cruelty; he promised to take care of her and the baby and then took her back to Jalanda.
To Naprem's great surprise he kept his promise. He was indescribably happy when their daughter was born. He named her Ziyal, after his father's mother. Though he doted on her endlessly, Naprem could not help feel that Ziyal's safety was conditional on her obedience. After that she never again considered suicide.
When Dukat was appointed Prefect of Bajor he moved the government to Terok Nor and Naprem went with him. Ziyal was left on Bajor with the best tutors money could buy and secrecy would allow. Naprem lived in fear of the day when Dukat would grow tired of her and of indulging his illegitimate offspring but she had become very good at never letting her feelings rise to the surface.
Gul Tresarian Dukat enjoyed his job. He liked to know he was making a difference. His appointment as Prefect has meant that Central Command was finally willing to admit that his ideas on dealing with the Bajoran Problem had merit. All it would take was a firm but loving hand , and patience, and Bajor would become a proud part of Cardassia.
Of course it was taking a lot more patience the he had originally hoped, but the Prefect was by no means discouraged. The situation had been so mishandled by his predecessors that it was only natural that it would take time to get back on the right track. He also wasn't surprised when his subordinates told him that it was necessary to open another labour camp on the planet. Discipline, after all, was the only way to break bad habits.
"The plans are for a mining facility with capacity for up to a million labourers." The speaker was Gul Omot, the Director of Law Enforcement.
"I wasn't aware," said Dukat, "that we had had such a increase in the prison population." Omot looked to his friend, Gul Tonsa, Dukat's replacement as Director of Counter-Insurgency, for support.
"That is the maximum capacity Prefect. And it should be remembered at several facilities in that region will become depleted in the next few years." The other officer said. Everyone present knew that within a few years the new camp would be home to four times its 'maximum' population but that was unspoken knowledge that was never mentioned in an official capacity.
Officially every prisoner at every camp on Bajor had been sentence and tried, but in reality a Bajoran was just as likely to end up in the mines after being randomly impressed than after committing a crime. Officially the prisoners were given decent food and medical care, but really they died in their thousands from the most curable illnesses. Officially children were never sentenced to hard labour but that was very much untrue.
The Prefect turned to Glinn Ferain, the Director of Mining Operations, giving him a chance to contribute something. But the younger man continued to stare out the window with a faraway look on his face. It was common knowledge that Ferain found Bajor incredibly boring, did as little work as he possibly could and only owed his position to the fact that his uncle was an important member of Central Command.
They were sitting in the Prefect's office above Terok Nor's Central Operations Centre. Gul Dukat was sitting behind a desk that was specially designed so that he was always higher than those sitting in front of it.
"Very well gentlemen," said Dukat, after making a show of gravely considering the matter. "I think we may begin construction as soon as possible."
The three officers rose and began to make their way out the door.
"Pending the approval of the Bajoran Government of course." The Prefect added, as an afterthought.
"Of course sir." Said Gul Tonsa before turning around and rolling his eyes to his friend as they walked out the door.
From far away the station looked like a giant kenten, one of the microscopic creatures that lived in their billions around the geysers in the south of her home province, but as Reya got closer it looked more like the Wheel of Time, a common motif in Cardassian symbolic art.
Whatever it looked like, she was very excited about her new home. She had never been off Cardassia for more that a few days, now she was going to live on the frontier of the Union. When she was a child, Reya had dreamed of living off world but soon her education and then her career because much more important to her. Now the two had intersected; Bajor was, after all, the perfect place to distinguish yourself. Of course furthering her career wasn't the main reason she had applied to be Chief of Medical Staff on Terok Nor.
There was a small party to greet her when she stepped off the shuttle. One of the men, an older military officer, stepped forward.
"Doctor Basat I presume," he said, taking her hand and raising it to his forehead, the traditional way for a Cardassian to greet a lady. "I am Gul Kabras, Commander of the station. I'm greatly honoured that you chose to join us."
"Thank you Commander, I'm honoured to be here" Reya said formally. She could see Tam standing a little behind the group, he made no move to greet her.
Reya kept her husband in the corner of her eye while she was introduced to the rest of the Command staff. She saw no sign that he was glad to see her, even though they had been apart for more than a year.
"Well," said the Commander cheerfully "I suppose you'll want to get settled in before you start tomorrow."
"Yes indeed" she replied.
"And I imagine you have a lot to talk about, eh Glinn Basat." He addressed Tam this time but he only got a grunt in response.
"Your luggage has already been seen to." Reya gave her thanks. "Until tomorrow Doctor." Gul Kabras gave a bow and walked away. She and her new colleagues exchanged a few pleasantries and then she was alone with her husband. Reya looked at him a little nervously. He didn't say anything just offered her his arm and led her to the turbo lift.
They didn't speak at all until they got to his, no their, quarters. It was one room with little more than a bed and a replicator.
"I requested larger quarters but they won't be available until the day after tomorrow." He said
"That's fine." She replied.
Silence.
He finally broke it.
"Do you mind telling me why you went behind my back and got this position?" He asked.
"I didn't mean to go behind your back." She answered, knowing it wouldn't satisfy him.
"Then why did you?"
"I knew you'd try to stop me." She knew how pathetic that had sounded.
"Did you stop to think that maybe I would have had good reason?" he shot back, rather loudly. "Bajor isn't a safe place."
"I'm your wife and we should be together." As bad as she felt for deceiving him she knew she had the moral high ground. "Besides, I have just as much right to risk myself for Cardassia as you do."
He scoffed.
"So you came here out of a sense of duty?"
"Not only that…." She shifted her weight from one leg to the other, suddenly nervous. "I want to have children Tam."
His expression softened immediately and he took her hands in his.
"I want to have children too."
"How can we have children if we're light years away from one another?" she asked him. "I'm nearly thirty years old, there's nothing to wait for."
He looked at her, as serious as she had ever seen him.
"This isn't the best place for children."
"People have raised families in far worse circumstances."
"I spend a lot of time on the surface, I won't always be here." He was the Sub-Director of Agriculture. Reya was very proud that her husband had risen so high while he was still so young.
"It's still better."
"I guess." They were looking away from each other now, but their hands were still linked.
"I was hoping you'd be glad to see me." Reya said, her voice edge with something like heartbreak.
He smiled. Finally.
"I am" he told her. "Very glad to see you."
And then he kissed her.