4
The small infirmary was packed. Dax stood with Sisko and Bareil, bouncing Renzia gently in her arms. Admiral Dukat was sitting patiently on an exam bed while the EMH treated him. He was surrounded by his wife and his two daughters, Commander Kira and Ziyal. Commander Eddington and one of his officers were standing slightly off to one side, and the displeasure was plain on Eddington's face.
Dax looked up when the doors to Bashir's room hissed open and Tarses stepped out. He hadn't yet slept; she could see that. He looked tired, but, true to the Vulcan half of his nature, it didn't seem to be bothering him.
"How's Julian?" Sisko demanded.
"Sleeping," Tarses replied. "I've sedated him. Doctor, how is the Admiral?"
"I'm fine," Dukat assured them.
The EMH sighed.
"Self diagnosis, my favorite. But this time, you're right. He's fine."
"Admiral, I am so sorry," Dax started, but Dukat held up a hand, shaking his head.
"Hardly your fault, Commander, and no harm done. The doctor surprised me more than he hurt me." He looked over at the security officers. "I don't intend to press charges, Mister Eddington, so you have no reason to remain."
"Skrain–" his wife began.
Quickly, Dukat held up a hand. "No, Meru, please don't argue."
"He attacked you!" Meru protested.
"Julian has an extremely high fever," Tarses said. "In this condition, humans are often prone to hallucinations. I have no doubt Julian wouldn't have done this under normal circumstances."
"I understand, Doctor. I've been head of Starfleet security in this sector for a long time. Believe me, I've seen more than my share of ill or injured officers. I know what sorts of things it can do to a person's mind. Cardassians are lucky; we're less prone to that. Vulcans, too."
Tarses gave a slight nod and Dukat looked back at the security officers who, ultimately, answered to him.
"Your services are no longer needed, gentlemen, thank you."
Glowering, Eddington gestured to his lieutenant and they left together.
"Father, are you sure you're all right?" Ziyal asked.
Dukat nodded.
"Believe me, Ziyal, Nerys did more damage to me playing springball."
"That is true," the EMH confirmed. "And you're free to go, Admiral. No springball for three days, and no fist fights with other Starfleet officers."
"I'll stay away from the springball court," the Admiral said with a smirk. "I make no promises otherwise."
"Come on, Father," Kira sighed, then glanced at the EMH. "I'll keep him out of trouble," she promised.
She nodded at Dax on the way out, and, to the Trill's relief, there seemed to be no animosity in her face. Dukat even smiled and inclined his head at her, but Dax had long ago grown used to the respect paid to her by the Cardassians. It was the legacy left to her by Curzon.
Tarses turned to the EMH.
"Barring any other attacks, I will be back later this evening."
"Fine," the EMH agreed.
"Captain, Commander," Tarses said on his way out.
Once he was gone, Dax leaned against the wall, sighing. Sisko took Renzia from her arms and grinned at her, bouncing her slightly.
"Are you all right, old man?"
Dax closed her eyes, rubbing them.
"I can't believe Jules attacked Admiral Dukat," she muttered. "He's never hurt anyone before."
Sisko shifted the baby and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Like Simon said, he has a very high fever."
"But to think that Dukat was an enemy? He's Nerys' father! He's been to the station dozens of times and Julian's met him!" she protested wearily.
"I know you remember the hallucinations you had when Joran's memories were surfacing."
"Don't remind me," Dax sighed, pushing herself away from the wall. "I thought Julian was institute security. And that you were trying to cheat me."
"And if you could think Julian was out to hurt you, it isn't so much of a stretch to understand why his brain picked Dukat at random. Who knows, Jadzia? Dukat was an unfamiliar presence in Julian's infirmary. Maybe right now, that's all his mind needed."
"You're probably right. As usual."
He grinned at her.
"Curzon hated when I was right," he said.
"I remember," she replied.
"Come on, let's go. Julian needs to sleep. And you need to rest, too."
Dax nodded and they left the infirmary together, Sisko still carrying Renzia. He tickled her under the chin and grinned broadly when she smiled toothlessly at him.
"Want me to watch her for you?" he asked.
"No, I don't need sleep," Dax said.
"Then come over for awhile," Sisko said. "I'm not on duty until third shift, and I know you aren't either."
"All right," she agreed, relieved. She hadn't wanted to be alone, not after what had just happened. She had never expected Bashir to lash out, fever or not.
The promenade, bustling at this time of the morning, went dark suddenly. Dax tensed and looked up, although it was a gesture of futility. She could hear the confused murmurs from the crowd around her.
"Now what?" Sisko demanded.
Dax tapped her combadge and it gave the deadened chirp that told her it wasn't being picked up by anything.
"Dax to ops," she tried anyway.
"Sisko to ops!" Sisko tried. Then: "Dammit!"
The lights came back as suddenly as they'd gone out, illuminating the confused promenade patrons who were looking around and wincing in the abrupt brightness.
"Sisko to ops," the captain tried again.
"O'Brien here."
"Commander, what the hell is going on?" he demanded.
"We had some sort of station-wide power drain," O'Brien replied. "We're working on locating the source, sir."
"I'll be right up," Sisko said grimly. "Sisko out." He turned to Dax, shifting the baby into her arms. "Sorry about this."
"It's all right, Benjamin. I'll see you later."
"I'll stop in once we've resolved this, if I have time."
Dax chuckled, raising an eyebrow.
"Aren't several Federation ambassadors due in this afternoon?"
Sisko groaned.
"Don't remind me; I have enough on my plate as it is. And Legate Garak and First Minister Shakar will be arriving tomorrow morning. At least I know Shakar will be a breath of fresh air among all the other diplomats."
"Admiral Dukat always speaks highly of Legate Garak," Dax pointed out, shifting her daughter in her arms.
"I know. I hope I can trust the admiral's judgment. I'd better go. I'll see you later."
"Right," Dax said, nodding. Sisko hurried to the nearest turbolift, leaving the Trill woman standing at the edge of the crowd on the promenade, which was now moving again, the power drain mostly forgotten. She herself wondered what it was and experienced a moment's frustration. She should be up there helping figure it out, not standing here, having just learned her sick husband had attacked an admiral.
All right, Dax, she thought, You've been through inconveniences before. There's nothing you can do about it. Go home.
She returned to her quarters, which seemed bigger and emptier without Bashir's presence to fill them up. Ignoring this as best she could, Dax fed her daughter and put her to bed in her crib, then set to work taking care of household chores that needed to be done, as much to distract herself as to accomplish anything. It seemed too quiet now, in a way it never did when she was here and Bashir was on duty. He was in exactly the same place he would be were he on duty, but the reality weighed heavily on Dax's mind. She was having trouble coming to terms with the fact that Bashir had attacked someone. It wasn't like him to come up with such bizarre fantasies, let alone to act on them.
Her daughter was awake again before Dax knew it, so lost had she been for two hours in her private thoughts. She got the baby up, changed her, and was heading back into the livingroom when the door chimed, startling her slightly.
"Come in!" she called.
The door hissed open and Kira stepped over the threshold, holding a padd in her hand.
"Nerys," Dax said in surprise.
"How are you?" the commander asked.
"I'm fine," Dax replied. "I am so sorry about–"
Kira cut her off with a shake of her head.
"It wasn't your fault, and my father doesn't blame Julian. He's sick, Jadzia. My father's a tough man, too. Believe me, I did more damage to him than Julian did."
Dax sighed, sinking onto the couch with her daughter.
"I feel awful," she said.
"Why?" Kira asked, crossing the room and sitting down in the chair beside Dax. "Oh, come here, you," she said to Renzia, putting the padd down on the table and taking the baby. The infant gurgled, her tiny face splitting into a grin as Kira held her up carefully. "Hello, darling. Aren't you beautiful today?" She shifted Renzia so that the baby was resting on her lap and picked up a toy from the floor. The baby grabbed at it and Kira laughed, jiggling it gently in front of her. She looked back up at Dax then.
"It wasn't you who attacked my father," she said. "And I think it's Eddington who's most upset. Believe me, my father's been through a lot worse as a Starfleet security officer. And you can't be held responsible for Julian's actions, even if he is your husband. Besides, no harm done."
"Well, I'm glad you feel that way," Dax sighed.
"I do," Kira said emphatically. "And so does my father. Believe me, I've known him long enough to know what he's like when he's angry. Cardassians have a stubborn streak a kilometer wide."
"You're telling me?" Dax asked, smirking slightly.
"Exactly," Kira said. "So you understand."
"What's this?" Dax asked, picking up the padd Kira had placed on the table.
"Something we found when we were trying to figure out what drained the station's power."
"What did cause that?"
"Miles thinks it has something to do with power fluctuations in the station's core processing and output systems. Apparently, one of the upgraded Starfleet systems stopped responding properly to its Alliance interfaces."
"Why?" Dax asked.
Kira shrugged.
"Who knows?" she asked by way of reply. "I certainly can't explain why our technologies aren't compatible. You'd have to ask Miles. At any rate, it was an easy fix. But look at that."
Dax looked at the padd.
"That's odd," she said.
"That's exactly what Miles said."
"When did this appear?"
"According to sensors, about two days ago. I'm not sure why we didn't pick it up, except it is very faint."
"But it looks like it was moving." Dax protested.
"It seems that way," Kira agreed. "Although its staying on the edge of the Bajoran system. I ran a quick analysis; it actually appears to be orbiting the sun."
Dax raised her eyebrows.
"I've never heard of a subspace anomaly acting like that," she said.
"I hadn't either, but my subspace anomaly expertise is limited," Kira replied. "Captain Sisko thought you might want to have a look at it. So far, it doesn't seem to be threatening anything. We've checked to make sure it isn't a cloaked Klingon ship, or anything like that. For all we know, it's a natural phenomenon that's been occurring in this system and we've never picked it up before. It is out past our Kuiper Belt."
"I see that. It's odd, though. The Bajoran system has always been stable in terms of subspace. What if it's some sort of omega particle disturbance?"
Kira shrugged.
"Wouldn't that be artificial?"
"It could be natural, but highly unlikely in normal space like this."
"I know there aren't any Bajoran scientists trying to create an omega particle. The Alliance gave that up as a valid avenue of research long before they even met the Federation."
"I remember," Dax murmured. "Well, I'll take a look at it tomorrow, if I can find a babysitter for a few hours."
Kira grinned.
"I'll be getting ready for the arrival of Legate Garak and all the other dignitaries, but I know Antos would love to watch her, if you wanted."
"Would he?" Dax asked.
"He was in love with her from the moment he saw her," Kira replied, smiling down at the baby and tickling her under the chin very lightly. Renzia gurgled a happy gurgle and tried to stick two fingers in her mouth.
"Well, if it isn't too much of a problem, that would be wonderful. And I need to be there when the Legate arrives, I think."
"Senior staff, no exceptions. Well, except Julian."
Dax nodded.
"Just let me know when his confirmed arrival time, and I'll be there," she said.
"I'll do that. Now, how about you and this beautiful young woman joining Antos and I for a late lunch?"
Dax smiled widely.
"I'd love to," she replied.