Disclaimer: Star Trek Deep Space Nine is owned by Paramount. The Star Trek universe was created by Gene Roddenberry. I am not profiting from this work, and I claim no creative rights to anything involving Star Trek.
Spoiler alert: Contains spoilers for the books Unity and Worlds of Star Trek Deep Space Nine: the Dominion.
Understanding Unknowns
Chapter 1
On the ship Shkalek, near the Fourteenth Terminus of Dominion space, a group of Jem'hadar entered the bridge and approached a petite female Vorta. "It is time," said First Jolin'yobek.
Kalaran looked vaguely unhappy as she opened the box of Ketracel-white and presented it to the Jem'hadar. Instead of taking the proffered vials, the First looked at her expectantly.
"First Jolin'yobek," she said solemnly, "can you vouch for the dedication of your men to the peace of the Dominion and the freedom of the Jem'hadar and the Vorta?"
"We pledge our loyalty and our lives to the freedom and peace of the Dominion."
Kalaran nodded. The First took the vials and distributed them to the Jem'hadar.
The Vorta sighed and turned to her companion. "I can't wait until that becomes unnecessary."
"Soon," Odo assured her. "And the more Vorta and Jem'hadar join our cause, the sooner that day will come."
"They'll still die for you," she said, indicating the Jem'hadar. "They'd give their lives for you even if it meant failing our objective, not because they want to, but because they're programmed to." She said it not as a statement, but as a complaint.
"They'll do what I order them to do because they're programmed to, but they believe in our cause. Your life is more valuable to that cause than mine."
"Without you, we never would have made it this far," Kalaran reminded him.
"But without you, we won't be able to complete our goal. If I die, you have to carry on our work."
Second Rinak'vaka entered the bridge. "Odo," he said, squelching his impulse to refer to him as Founder, "there is a message for you, from Doctor Bashir."
Odo frowned. "Patch it through." He donned his headset. Doctor Bashir's image appeared. "Doctor. This is unexpected."
Due to the distance the message had to travel, it took several seconds for Bashir to respond. "Odo, I'm afraid I have some bad news. It's about Kira."
Odo suddenly felt cold. "Is she alright?"
"Is this a secure channel?"
"I'm afraid not. Doctor, has something happened?"
"Kira's been injured. We…we don't know if she's going to make it."
A look of anguish momentarily crossed Odo's features. Then he composed himself and addressed the doctor again. "I'm sure you're doing all you can for her. I wish I could go to her, but unfortunately my responsibilities keep me here."
"I'm sure she'd understand."
Though he knew it was true, that sentence stung Odo. "When she wakes up…Please contact me if there's any change in her condition."
"I will. Bashir out." The transmission ended.
Elias Vaughn walked down the Promenade. Benjamin Sisko was right beside him.
"Thanks for coming, Benny," said Vaughn. "I could really use some help running the station."
"It's an honor," the former commanding officer of Deep Space Nine assured him. "Does the doctor have any idea when Kira will recover?"
"No. He says right when he thinks she's about to wake up and walk out of the Infirmary, she slips back to the brink of death again." Vaughn spoke quietly, concern for his commanding officer and friend evident in his voice. "Security Chief Ro is already out of bed, but Bashir is going to keep her on medical leave for a few weeks. Star Fleet already has a temporary replacement on the way, a Betazoid."
"A Betazoid chief of security?" Sisko managed a smile. "Almost seems like a conflict of interest."
Vaughn flashed a smile in agreement, but quickly became serious again. "Apparently he knows you. Burnau Bez?"
"He was an ensign when I served on the Okinawa. A bright young man, but not particularly ambitious. I'm surprised that he went into security."
"People change," Vaughn reminded him. "He'll get here tomorrow, as well as his wife, a Tzenkethi woman."
"He's married to a Tzenkethi?" Sisko asked in shock. "Now that's surprising; he fought in the Federation/Tzenkethi border war."
"Apparently, that's when they met."
They came to the Infirmary and fell silent as they entered. Dr. Bashir stood over the unconscious form of Kira. He looked haggard and determined.
"How is she?" Sisko asked quietly.
Bashir took a long moment before answering. "She's a fighter. Maybe if she relaxed a little, it would give her body time to heal. I've tried a neural dampener, but it doesn't seem to be working."
"A neural dampener?" Sisko asked in confusion. "I'm not a doctor, but I don't see how that would be helpful for treating her injuries."
Bashir suddenly realized he'd left out an important detail. "She has some highly unusual brain activity."
"What kind of brain activity?" Sisko asked with concern.
Bashir took a deep breath. "Brain activity very similar to yours when you found B'hala, but to a lesser degree."
Sisko stared hard at Kira. "She's having a pagh'tem'far. That's what the Bajorans call visions from the Prophets," he explained to Commander Vaughn.
"So it's like an Orb experience without an Orb?"
"It's been known to happen before," Bashir said, "though rarely."
"Could you operate on her to stop it?" Sisko asked, though he hoped they wouldn't be forced to that.
Bashir shook his head. "I wouldn't dare with as much trauma as she's already in." He looked down at the patient. "I'm afraid she has to make it back on her own."
The prisoner stood bravely against the wall. Her face betrayed no fear as a dozen men trained their weapons on her. In the distance, someone called out the order to fire. Kira felt the bullets tear into her body. She fell back against the wall and slid to the ground. With her last breath, she whispered words in a voice that wasn't hers. "For the honor of the Mathgrin." Then she felt her life slip away, her pagh seeping out of her body, going somewhere else…
"That's far enough. You don't get to know that yet." A man stood above her. A man she knew: Vedek Bareil.
Kira stood up, separating herself from the body, and looked down at it. The woman was about her height and build, blond, violet-eyed, and very pale. Kira then looked around at the executioners. She recognized their guns from holosuite simulations of pre-warp Earth.
"They're human," she noted. She looked back at the dead woman. She superficially appeared human, but there was something about her…something in the tint of her skin, the contours of her face… "But she's not."
"No, she's not," Bareil confirmed.
Kira looked down at her own chest, where a large, oddly-shaped sharp object protruded. "It feels strange," she said. "I can feel it, but it doesn't hurt."
"Well it's not in your body anymore. Neither are you, for that matter."
She smiled. "I suppose Bashir has me on one of his bio-beds by now." She turned her eyes to her late beloved. "You're supposed to be dead," she said softly.
"Let's just say...I'm on loan from the Prophets."
Kira glanced down and back quickly, looking ashamed. "Bareil, there's something I need to tell you…"
He shook his head, smiling gently. "Don't worry about it, Nerys. It doesn't matter. You love him. And he needs you." He indicated the woman. "Her name is Yuv Hyanub, and right now, you need to learn why she's here, and more importantly where she's from."
Odo said he needed to regenerate when he excused himself from the control room, but he knew he hadn't fooled anyone: the Vorta and Jem'hadar on the ship kept track of his regeneration schedule better than he did.
His quarters on the ship had been modified to give him a view of the stars outside. Other than the window, the room was completely bare. Odo stared out the window and did something he'd only done twice before in his life: he prayed.
"I'm not sure if you can hear me, or if it's proper for me to even presume to address you," he began awkwardly, "but if anyone deserves your help, it's Kira Nerys. She has honored you her whole life; her faith in you is unwavering. I've asked you in the past to protect her, and to guide her home, now I ask you to heal her…"
Suddenly the room around him was replaced with a blinding white mist. It was eerily silent, like a huge, empty sepulcher. Humanoid shapes approached him. The fog parted to reveal their faces: Kira, Garak, Dr. Mora, Kalaran, Jadzia Dax, Quark. They all looked at him with surreal intensity.
Odo's eyes widened. "Prophets."
"You importune us to intervene in this one's corporeal existence," said the Prophet wearing Kira's form.
"If it's possible," Odo replied carefully.
"He does not understand," said the Dr. Mora Prophet.
"What don't I understand?"
The Prophet in the image of Jadzia Dax appeared behind him. "You are more like us than other corporeal beings."
Odo's head tilted quizzically. "Some people worship my kind as gods, but I don't have nearly as much power as you have."
"The fate of a quadrant depends on you," said the Kalaran Prophet.
"You exist as a linear being," the semblance of Quark said. "You effect linear existence, as we do not."
"All corporeal beings, as you call them, have that power," Odo pointed out. "Why have you brought me here?"
Kira's image spoke again. "This one's corporeal existence must not end as now delineated."
The Garak Prophet stepped in front of her. "The corporeal existence of the Kira effects Bajor."
Odo was filled with a sudden sense of foreboding. "Are you trying to tell me that if Kira dies now, something bad will happen to Bajor?"
"You do not understand," the Mora Prophet noted with almost clinical detachment.
The Kira Prophet stepped up to Odo. "This one effects the linear existence such that her end now ends the nonlinear existence…" she appeared to be having great difficulty putting her meaning into words, and suddenly seemed to decide to just give up. "Linguistic communication is cumbersome," she said almost apologetically.
Odo bristled at that last sentence; it sounded too much like what a Founder once said. "Just tell me if you can do anything for Kira."
The Dr. Mora Prophet looked at him pointedly. "We have."
Odo found himself back in his quarters, looking out his window at the endless stars. He had no idea what the Prophets were trying to tell him, but he had a fairly clear impression that they thought Kira would die, and that was something Odo wasn't willing to accept, or live with. He went back to the control room.
"Kalaran, set a course for the Wormhole."
"Of course," she replied as she locked the coordinates into the navigational controls. She decided it wouldn't be worth mentioning that Odo was about to risk the Gamma Quadrant for one woman.