8

The next morning, the rising sun revealed the rain soaked village of Shakin.

It also revealed the lone woman who was standing outside, watching the sun rise.

Talia sighed and breathed in the sweet air.

Yesterday had been a trying day, between the fiasco with that young Bajoren woman and finding out she was dying…Talia was just glad it was over.

Talia turned her head slightly as she heard the footsteps behind her.

Ro stepped out of the house and stood beside her mother, "Finch tells me you're doing better," she said hesitantly.

Talia nodded, "Yes I am." She was glad to see that Finch was keeping her cancer a secret.

Ro took a deep breath, "Listen, about what happened yesterday, you were right."

Talia finally completely turned her head to fully face Ro, "Right about what?"

"Pat told me that you thought I was your daughter and you where right. I am."

Talia blinked back tears; she seemed to be crying a lot these days, "If you always knew, then why did you lie?"

"Because sometimes it's easier to hurt people you care about instead of letting yourself feel pain."

Ro suddenly found herself being hugged, but this time she didn't fight it.

Instead she laid her head on her mother's shoulder and closed her eyes, after all these years she had found her mother again and maybe, this time, she could make things right.

A sudden disruptor shot pierced the morning stillness and Ro's head jerked up, ignoring her mother's cry of surprise.

Thinking fast, Ro localized where the shot had come from.

She pulled away from the hug and raced down the street, towards the Maquis barracks.

Taking the stairs two at a time, she reached Deanic's office and began to hammer on the door. .

After a minute, with no response, she tried to open the door but it had been locked.

Unable to manually unlock it, she grabbed her disruptor and aimed it at the door.

It took two shots to blast a hole big enough for her to crawled through.

Ducking into the room, she waited for the smoke to clear before looking around.

There, something was by the desk.

Carefully stepping threw the room, Ro walked to the desk.

"No," she breathed as she knelt by the person on the floor, avoiding the growing pile of blood.

Gently she turned the body over and gasped in shock and recognition.

"Deanic!"

Deanic's eyes opened slightly as he looked around the room, "Ro?"

Ro winced as she heard his hoarse breathing. while busily undoing his shirt, trying to find the injury that was sapping his life away.

Then she found it, a disruptor shot had gotten him just above the heart.

Automatically she pulled off her vest and wadded it into a ball before placing it on the injury to staunch the blood.

Deanic hissed in pain as Ro applied the pressure.

"Ro, it's too late for that, I'm dying. And I need you to do something."

"Anything sir," Ro whispered.

"You have to stop Brown; he's the one who shot me." Deanic's words were coming harder as he clung to life long enough to finish his last orders.

"He's also a spy, I caught him sending an encrypted message to the Federation and that's when I got shot."

Ro had closed her eyes, trying to sort everything out when Deanic gripped her arm, "Promise me Ro," he whispered fiercely.

"You have my word that he'll be stopped and he will pay for everything sir."

His eyes glazed over as his grip weakened.

Gently Ro moved his hand off her arm and he smiled, "You're a good Maquis Ro and maybe someday you'll command your own cell. Just remember what we're all about."

His eyes finished glazing over as he breathed his last word, "Freedom."

Ro didn't move until several other Maquis including Pat came running into the room and stopped at the sight of their dead leader.

"Laren, what happened?"

Ro glanced up at Pat, "He's dead," she said, not wanting to elaborate any further, they would find out soon anyways.

She stood up slowly, ignoring the blood that had dried on her pants and hands.

She didn't care about how she looked, she had a duty to do and she wouldn't fail. Not this time.