CHAPTER 18
Commissioner Young was tired, Sisko saw.
He had reported that his team had determined that all of the safety systems could be deactivated by the Observer probe team, except for the life detection system. He explained briefly how he and his team had made that determination.
Young had not been as moved by that news as he had expected. "So, your preliminary conclusion was that this incident was due to intentional acts by the probe team of Observer? For what reason? Revenge? Terrorism? Boredom? Sport? What? And why do it when Observer is in the Gamma Quadrant?"
"Commissioner, I have reached no conclusion on whether the explosion was due to accident or due to malice," Sisko said carefully. "I'm only saying that I am getting a sense of coming to an understanding as to how this incident could have happened at all." As soon as Sisko said it, he knew that what he'd just said sounded awkward.
"I don't see it," Young said. "Really, I don't. These potential irregularities in probe handling, I don't see how they reveal anything about what happened in the Gamma Quadrant. I'm sure your people are putting in their best efforts, but I don't see the evidence coming together."
"Then perhaps you can help me put it together," Sisko said. "I need to know what Observer was doing, not just on this mission to the Gamma Quadrant, but on previous missions. What was it about the mission to the Gamma Quadrant that was unusual? What did the Observer probe team do on this mission that they didn't do on similar missions? What didn't they do this time, that they'd always done before? What I'd like to see are data, statistics, showing what missions Observer has performed in the past five years, and how well it performed them. I'd like that data for Surveyor as well." Young started to protest, but Sisko pressed on. "I know you're going to tell me that that information is classified.
Young said nothing. She seemed to be looking at her hands.
"Commissioner," Sisko urged. "I need to know."
"I'll talk with the other Commissioners."
Sisko saw he was not going to get any answer more definitive than that. "Thank you."
"Your team," Young said slowly, "has done some quite remarkable work so far. Your status reports have given us a great deal to think about. And, if you'll pardon me for saying so, a great deal to argue about. You have made an impression on some of the other Commissioners, I can tell you that."
"Thank you." Sisko wondered whether the impression was a good one or not.
"So I'll see what I can do about getting you that data. Commander Sisko, we will be at your station in about forty hours."
"Yes, Commissioner."
And the communication channel closed.
Sisko was about to get something to drink when he was notified of an incoming message. He opened a channel. Facing him was Major Kira. She got to the point at once.
"Benjamin, when is that Upsilon ship going to be removed? I've got a lot of people down here who are anxious to get back to Deep Space Nine."
"It should be towed away in about two days. After that, most of the security restrictions should be lifted, and people can return."
"Two days is a long time," Kira said.
Sisko wanted to say that two days was a long time only from her point of view. Instead, he said, "How are things in temporary relocation?"
"Terrible. The local Bajorans are becoming impatient and think we're overstaying our welcome. Which we are. There have been some fights and some ugly incidents down here, Benjamin. The sooner we can get these people back to their normal lives aboard the station, the better."
"I understand."
"How's the investigation coming, if I may ask?"
Sisko didn't want to answer with a curt assertion that it was classified. He'd heard that enough already and didn't like it. So instead, he said, "Things are coming together, we think. The Commission will be here in less than two days, and we'll report what we've found."
"And that's all you can tell me?"
"I can also tell you that I will be very, very glad when this is behind me."
Kira smiled. "So will I. Oh, by the way, I heard from Jake. He'll be returning to temporary relocation with others tomorrow."
Sisko felt a little ashamed. He'd almost forgotten that Jake was away from temporary relocation, hiking and camping. "How is he?"
"He's fine. He sends you his love. Sounds like he had a decent time. Sounds like they all did. I wish I could have gone with them."
"Thank you, Major. When Jake returns to temporary relocation, please go check on him personally, would you? And give him my love."
"Certainly. And Benjamin, I'll be waiting for word from you that I can start telling people to begin packing up for the move back. I guarantee that news will improve morale here."
"I will."
"Kira out."
And the communication channel closed.
Sisko once again was about to get something to drink when he was notified of another incoming message. This message, he saw, was on a secured channel. He entered his security code and opened secure communication on his side. It was Commissioner Young.
"Sending you data about Observer's missions," she said simply. "Surveyor, too. It's not everything you want, I'm sure. But this is what the Commission thinks you are authorized to see."
"Thank you, Commissioner."
"You're welcome. Oh, one more thing. The other Commissioners and I have quite a few things to attend to before we meet with you aboard Deep Space Nine. I do not think you need to make any further status reports. If you find anything of interest in that data I sent you," she sighed, "you can tell us when we arrive."
"Very well."
After the communication channel closed, Sisko decided he didn't want to get something to drink after all. What he really wanted to do was look at the data that he'd been requesting ever since the investigation started. He opened up the files he'd just received. He called Dax to his office, and the two of them scanned the data. They were pleased to see that there was a fair amount of information there. But there were also some troubling gaps.
Sisko and Dax were tired, but they could not shake the belief that there might be something in the jumble of numbers, something that would show why the Gamma Quadrant mission was different from previous missions.
They tried ordering and sorting the data in a number of ways. Sisko tried looking at all of Observer's previous missions. If there was any strange thing in this information, he couldn't see it. There were no overt irregularities, and there was nothing that set Observer's previous missions apart from her mission to the Gamma Quadrant. Sisko had hoped something would stand out, but nothing did.
Most of the information didn't seem like it ought to have been classified in the first place, Sisko thought. He also reminded himself that the Commission had certainly gone over this information already and had found nothing. Commissioner Young probably gave it to him to get him to stop asking for it.
While Sisko looked at all of the Observer's missions, Dax decided to focus on time-critical missions.
Both Sisko and Dax found, as they had expected to find, that the numbers supported Observer's superiority over Surveyor. Dax saw that, especially when it came to time-critical missions, Observer was the better performer. Not all of the metrics and statistics had been supplied, but the statistics that were there were stark. In the early years of the Project, Observer and Surveyor had been assigned about the same number of time-critical missions, and they both had about the same rates of incomplete mapping. But about three years ago, Surveyor's rate of incomplete mapping stayed about the same, while Observer's number of incomplete mappings dropped markedly.
Very markedly.
Dax asked Sisko to look at the data on her display. "Benjamin, look at this. These are the figures for time-critical missions. Three years ago, Observer's rate of incomplete mapping drops to, well, to almost nothing. Observer has been able to complete every time-critical mission successfully for the past twenty-two months. And Observer has been assigned far more time-critical missions than Surveyor. In fact, most of Observer's recent missions are time-critical."
"The statistics seem to say that Observer really earned its reputation, then."
"Yes. But something's not right. Look."
Sisko looked at the numbers on the display. Dax pointed at some of the numbers. Sisko wasn't sure what was odd, but after a few minutes, Sisko's jaw fell open. "I see it."
"Here, too; and here."
"Let's get Chief O'Brien up here, immediately."
When they showed the data to O'Brien, he looked it over and saw nothing unusual. They explained to O'Brien what they thought the data meant.
"It's not impossible what they did," O'Brien shrugged. "The Observer's crew was very efficient. Hell, maybe they just got lucky."
"Were they lucky here, too?" Dax asked, pointing at some other figures.
"And here? And here? And here?" Sisko pointed at different figures on the display.
O'Brien started to see it. "Yeah. Those were some pretty tight time windows, and they certainly were some lucky bastards, weren't they?"
"How could they beat the odds, and beat them so consistently?" Sisko asked.
"They must have been saving time somehow, they must have found a way to be more efficient than we had thought." O'Brien said. "Far more efficient."
For the next four hours, they discussed possibilities. After an hour of discussion, they seemed no closer to an explanation. After two hours, however, they had a working theory. After three hours, they had a consensus. And at the end of the four hours, they were confident what they would put in their reports.
Sisko checked the chronometer. "The Commission arrives in about twenty-five hours," Sisko said, stretching. "Let's finish our reports, and get some sleep if we can. Hopefully we won't have to do too much re-writing. We're in the home stretch, people. If any of you think of anything we've overlooked, any mistakes we may have made, anything we need to seriously reconsider, then speak up!"
Dax said, "The Commission has all of this same data. In fact, they've almost certainly got more information than they gave to us. Why didn't they see it?"
"Well, for one thing," O'Brien drawled, "it isn't exactly obvious. And they'd be less likely to notice it if they're operating under the assumption that the explosion was a deliberate act."
"And let's not forget," Sisko added, "Observer had success after success. You don't quarrel with success, do you?"