CHAPTER 6

When Sisko sat down to eat his breakfast, he found that his son, Jake, had left a message for him. The message was a short one.

"Hi, Dad. I know you're really busy and you're probably asleep right now, and I didn't want to wake you. I just wanted to tell you that, well, the temporary relocation facilities are kind of boring, so a bunch of us are going to go on a hiking and camping trip to some mountains nearby. We've got everything we need, and I'll be getting plenty of exercise and fresh air. We'll be gone about six days, I think, maybe longer, I don't know. I just wanted to say: don't worry about me, just do what you need to do and I'll be fine. Major Kira can get in contact with me in case of an emergency. So. Good luck, and I'll be seeing you soon. I love you, Dad."

Sisko finished his breakfast and then contacted Major Kira.

"Temporary relocation was hard on Jake," Kira said. "We're rather crowded here, and that's a problem for some of the people. Someone got the idea to go to the mountains, and get away from the crowds, and Jake decided he wanted to go along. He's in good company, Benjamin. Jell Laren and her partner, Thom, are taking care of the group. I've asked them especially to look after Jake. They're very good people."

"How many are going?"

"About fifty."

"These mountains where Jake is going, are they safe?"

"Oh, yes. I don't think the group will be doing any mountain climbing, if that's what you're wondering. But there are many places to see and things to do in the foothills. They've got plenty of food and good portable shelters. Pure water should be easy to find. There's no dangerous wildlife to be concerned about. The scenery is gorgeous there."

"Is anyone his age going?"

"A few. Most of them are a bit younger than he is, and they are all with their families."

That remark weighed heavily on Sisko's heart. Jake had no family to go with him. "Jake's family" was bogged down with some pressing investigative duties. "Jake has gone off with the group by now, hasn't he?"

"Yes. The group departed about three hours ago. I can put you in contact with Jell Laren if you'd like."

"No." Sisko sighed. "No, no, that's not necessary. I'm sure Jake will be fine. And I'm sure you'll contact me if you hear any news to the contrary."

Kira smiled. "Certainly. Don't worry, he'll be all right."

"How about you? How are you doing?"

Kira's smile faded. "Our first few days were rather difficult, but we've settled in now. People are wondering when they'll be able to go back to the station. I've told them to expect to be here for a while, but I haven't given them a specific timetable."

"And I can't give you one, Major, I'm sorry."

"Let me know when you've got one, will you? Now, if you'll excuse me, Benjamin, there's something I need to attend to."

"Certainly."

"Kira out.'

After the communication with Kira ended, Sisko walked to his office near Ops.

The skeleton crew in Ops had nothing significant to report, except that, two hours ago, the captain of a private delivery vessel had been irate at being refused access to the station. When told that Deep Space Nine was under quarantine, and that he could only approach in case of an emergency, he declared that an emergency did exist: he had promised his crew that they could spend time in Quark's Bar, and that if this promise was not fulfilled, his crew might mutiny. Permission to approach was again refused, and the captain said he planned to lodge a formal complaint.

Sisko laughed. It felt good to laugh.

Constable Odo visited Sisko's office briefly to report that all was quiet aboard the station, adding that he would continue working to be sure that things stayed that way.

Sisko took this to mean that Quark was staying out of trouble.

After Odo left, Sisko made a brief station log entry saying that the station was quiet, and that his work on a confidential project was proceeding. He gave his seal of approval to the decision to deny the delivery vessel permission to approach, and remarked that, if a formal complaint were to be lodged, a counter-complaint of falsely declaring an emergency might be asserted.

Sisko then secured his office and began reviewing documents downloaded from the Observer. There was a mountain of material, but none of it pertained to probe operations. Virtually everything probe-related had been stored in the archives in the Probe Preparation Bay. Dax and O'Brien had confirmed that all of the probe-related records had been lost, destroyed by the explosion. Those records would probably have told Sisko, Dax and O'Brien everything; but those records were gone and could not be brought back.

Sisko looked at the few log entries pertaining to Observer's trip through the wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant, and the Observer's journey to the as-yet-unnamed gas giant to be mapped. Before the ship entered orbit, the Captain had ordered sensor sweeps for any nearby ships and for any life signs, apparently part of standard procedure. The sweeps were performed and the results logged as negative. The Captain had also ordered deployment of satellites around the planet for relaying monitoring data and communications. This too was done before Observer entered orbit, and seemed to be routine practice.

The final log entry merely mentioned that the ship had entered orbit.

Sisko checked log entries for a few other mapping missions and found a similar pattern. There were some routine log entries, but once the ship entered orbit, there was nothing. Log entries resumed after the Observer had finished its work and left orbit, and those entries typically said nothing about the mapping operation that had just been performed.

For the next couple of hours, Sisko reviewed records about crew fitness, equipment lists/repairs/replacements, course changes, engine maintenance, replicator quirks, morale, shore leaves, power conversion efficiency and various other routine matters. There was a lot of information there, all of it unclassified. Very few records seemed to be relevant. Even so, Sisko thought there might be something that would help the investigation. And even if there wasn't, he still had to check, didn't he?

Sisko spent over four hours reviewing reports. He was tired. It was a welcome respite when O'Brien sought entry to his office. Sisko invited O'Brien to enter.

"How's it going, Chief?"

"All right, sir. And for you?"

"Fine." Sisko immediately thought better of that answer. "No, that's not true." Sisko motioned for O'Brien to sit. "I've been looking over the records and logs from the Observer. For one thing, I've been looking to see whether there is any indication of any tension or conflict or unhappiness among the crew in general, or involving the probe team members in particular. As best I can tell, this was a very happy ship."

"So happy, that no one had any reason to try to kill all of his or her shipmates?"

"Correct. This ship was one of the most prestigious in the fleet. The crew had received numerous citations for their gas giant mapping missions. Morale was very high. Add to that, the officers and crew had an excellent relationship. I can find no evidence of fighting or patterns of disciplinary action. I can't see that there were any quarrels of note. The most serious conflict I can find in recent history is that some members of the crew complained that the First Officer had severe halitosis. No one blows up a ship over bad breath, do they?"

"Depends on how bad the breath is, I suppose." O'Brien chuckled and Sisko grinned.

"How is your part of the inquiry going?"

"Well, sir, I'm here to make a request. I'd like to pay a visit to Observer."

"You have a good reason, I'm sure."

"I think I do. Dax and I have scanned the Observer as thoroughly as we can. We've taken detailed sensor sweeps pretty much everywhere except the Probe Prep Bay. The decks and bulkheads of the Bay have incorporated protective measures that block long-range sensor scans."

"Too bad those protective measures couldn't block Upsilon Radiation. That would have saved most of the crew. But Upsilon is too penetrative, I suppose."

"Yes, it is. Anyway, though we can't scan the interior of the Bay, it appears that the explosion may have created some minute gaps in those protective measures. If I'm right, I might be able to take a portable scanner aboard Observer and get some pretty detailed readings of the interior of the Bay." Sisko looked skeptical. O'Brien explained: "You see, the blast of the explosion bulged out the decks and the bulkheads, and we can detect that there may be disruptions in the shielding that normally is opaque to our sensor sweeps. If I can get in close, I might be able to take readings through those disruptions."

"What do you expect to learn?"

"For one thing, I'm hoping to find out how far along in the preparation procedure they may have been when the explosion occurred. I also have some questions in my own mind as to where inside the Bay the explosion took place. The deformation of the Bay is somewhat lop-sided. You said you wanted us look for anything that might be out of place. Well, maybe it's nothing, but I'd like to check it out."

"And further, whether we expect to learn anything in particular or not, I think we ought to document the interior of the blast site, if we can." Sisko seemed to be going over reasons for justifying O'Brien's visit to Observer, which he would have to justify to the Commission.

"I agree, sir."

"It's frigid over there, Chief."

"I know, and I'll be wearing a suit. Rather than deactivate the transporter signal disrupters, I plan to make a brief spacewalk. There's a cargo access port and a personnel access hatch that will put me just a few meters from the Probe Prep Bay."

"There might be a lot of things over there that aren't nice to look at."

"I know. I don't plan to go anywhere other than near the Probe Prep Bay. I considered going to the Probe Control Station, but I don't know whether my access codes would work there, and I doubt there would be much I can learn there in any event. Plus, I don't fancy the notion of stepping over, you know, people."

Sisko thought a moment. "Permission granted. I'll let Wild Rose know you're authorized to go aboard Observer."

"Thank you, sir."

An hour later, O'Brien was aboard the runabout Ganges, on his way to the Observer. His environmental suit was uncomfortable but bearable. As he approached the Observer, the Wild Rose challenged him and he gave the proper countersign.

O'Brien parked Ganges close to Observer. He readied himself for his brief jaunt through space. He checked his suit, strapped his scanner to his arm, entered an airlock, evacuated the air from the airlock, and launched himself toward Observer. His suit stabilizers kept his trajectory true, and his access codes successfully opened Observer's personnel hatch. O'Brien floated through the open hatch and immediately felt the pull of Observer's artificial gravity. He closed the hatch and flooded the airlock with air, but made no effort to adjust his suit. When the airlock pressure matched the Observer's internal air pressure, O'Brien opened the airlock.

He made his way forward toward the Probe Preparation Bay. The corridor was deserted. The lighting was poor, but O'Brien could see where he was going well enough. He knew he was next to the Locker. Presently he saw a bulkhead oddly bulged outward into the corridor.

That would be the Bay.

He retrieved his portable scanner and began taking readings.

Moving slowly around the bulging walls, O'Brien found sites in which the portable scanner could take readings inside the Bay. There was no location from which the scanner could see the entire Bay, but O'Brien would be able to have the computer stitch the readings together to make a coherent picture.

O'Brien passed the entryway to the Bay, looking exactly like it had looked in the holosuite simulation. The outer door was not bulging, though parts of the bulkhead were deformed, and the deck beneath his feet was uneven.

O'Brien decided to go up one deck to see whether he could scan the Bay from above. He found a ladder access, and though the climb was a challenge in his suit, he made it successfully.

As he exited the ladder access, he turned in the direction of the Bay, and saw the deck had been severely deformed. Out of habit, he looked the other way down the corridor. About ten meters from him, in the middle of the corridor, was a human skeleton, wearing what appeared to be the shredded uniform of an ensign. The skeleton looked somehow deformed, and the skull seemed as though it had been made of wax, and had melted a little. There was no sign of skin or hair.

O'Brien forced himself to focus on the job at hand. He maneuvered around the region above the Bay, checking his footing as he went and careful not to put too much weight on decks that seemed damaged. He found several productive scanning areas. When he decided that he had taken enough readings, he returned to the ladder access. Before taking the ladder, he looked again at the melted bones in the corridor. He couldn't be certain, but it seemed that more bones lay in the corridor further on. O'Brien had no desire to investigate further.

"Rest in peace, friends," he muttered. "You were the lucky ones."

He returned to Deep Space Nine the way he had come.