Chapter Thirteen: Investigation

Kira and Ezri reach the security office on the Promenade. They plan to use the office as a command center for their impromptu investigation since the bold attempt on Kira's life claimed her office. Their first order of business is already taken care of: seal the door and engage a containment field. They can't be too careful given the unknown extent to which station security has been compromised.

"That should do it," Kira states with confidence. Stepping away from the wall-mounted panel, she eases herself into the chair behind Odo's old desk. She slowly scans the workspace that was practically his home.

"Kira," Ezri says softly as she sits across from her friend. "Have you even… been in here since he left?"

Kira shakes her head as she runs her hand along the desk. Her gaze is distant.

"I know you'd like some time, but you seemed quite anxious on the way."

"Of course," Kira swallows and nods without looking from the desk. "We should get to it."

Ezri watches closely as Kira starts scanning data in silence. "In the turbolift…" she starts delicately.

Kira shoots Ezri a pointed glance. "I don't want to talk about him."

"But… you said the Prophets…"

"They showed him two men talking about the bomb. That's it."

"Who?"

"Williams, for one."

"The Andorian?"

Kira nods. "I've sent two officers to find him."

"I wondered what all the whispering was about while I was filling Julian in. Just two officers?"

"Two that I trust. Security channels are likely compromised, so an encrypted badge-to-badge channel is safest."

"Right, you mentioned we're up against an officer. Do you know who?"

Kira shakes her head.

"But Chri…"

"I don't want to hear that name right now."

Ezri groans in frustration. "What the hell did he do?"

"Nothing, he…" Kira huffs. "Can we just get on with this?"

"I'm trying to help, but the man who can identify a traitor is off limits?"

"Alright. Here's the deal." Kira leans forward and presses a pointed finger on the desk. "These people blew up my office because I'm getting too close to something. My first priority is to find out what the hell that is before it's too late. Once we get a lead on what's going on, we'll have him look through personnel files. Happy?"

"Kira…" Ezri stops and sighs. "Alright, it can wait, but… I still wish you'd tell me what's going on. This morning you were actually laughing—something about a mirror. Now you want to pretend he doesn't exist? What happened?"

"Yesterday…" Kira huffs. "Yesterday he looked at me in a way I'm not ready for—from anyone. You were there."

"I remember."

"The Prophets asked me to help him, so I'll help him. But I don't know how to handle that kind of attention right now. He made a good argument about not knowing his own feelings and… hell, I'd be confused in that situation."

Ezri blinks and nods.

"Between that and a night to sleep on it… I let it go." Kira's shoulders drop and she leans back in her chair. "And you're right; this morning was good. We spoke like you'd expect friends would. But after the explosion in my office, he…"

"He what?"

"He made it complicated."

"But…"

"Dax, no 'buts' now, please? I really need your help with this. We need to look for anomalies in these manifests and there's a lot of them here. You can 'psychoanalyze' me all you want when this is over."

Ezri reluctantly agrees to the compromise. "OK, but I'm going to hold you to that."

"I'm sorry I'm being difficult."

"Nope!" Ezri holds up a hand and grins. "No backing out now. You'll learn to hate the sight of my office."

Kira rolls her eyes and scoffs. A hint of a smirk crosses her face.

Ezri smiles at herself for breaking the mood. "But like you said: time's critical. Let's get to it."

"I am trying!" Chris yells. "How am I supposed to hit those frickin' balls of light if they keep moving around like that?"

"Calm down, pally," Vic says. "Maybe we should knock it down a level, Quark."

Quark shrugs. "We're already on 'cadet'."

"Don't they practice on anything stationary?!" Chris practically screams as he fires three errant shots in rapid succession.

Quark flaps his arms and shakes his head. "This is pointless."

"I think I got an idea," Vic says.

The holosuite program suddenly changes from the Starfleet phaser range to a 20th century rifle range. The trio and table of small arms are situated under a wooden shelter.

Chris looks around. "OK, so… what am I…?"

Vic points downrange to a row of targets nearly 100 yards out.

"You're shitting me," Chris groans.

Quark shrugs. "At least they're not moving."

"Dammit," Kira mutters as she smacks a control panel. "I'll never know who planted the bomb. There's a gap in the surveillance logs."

Ezri blinks and looks up from her PADD. "You're trying to get out of needing Chris' help, aren't you."

"It's too dangerous to get him involved."

"That's a bullshit excuse and you know it."

Kira starts to object.

"But nevermind that," Ezri says first. "Why didn't you tell me any of this was going on in the first place? I could've helped; we all could've helped."

Kira shakes her head at Ezri's scolding. "It's not like I was in over my head from day one. I was just keeping my ears open for any threats to the Treaty of Bajor. When I heard some grumblings… I kept a closer watch. With all the personnel changes after the war… I didn't know who I could trust. Nothing against you or the others, but I couldn't risk involving everyone discussing it across the station. You remember Eddington, don't you? That son-of-a-bitch shot me. Here we are again."

"Still, you shouldn't have shut us out. Even with just quietly monitoring things on your own… they would've killed you if it hadn't been for…"

"I know," Kira cuts her off. "I don't even want to think about it." She rubs the corners of her eyes.

"I'm sorry. The explosion rattled us all."

"You think I'm scared?" Kira cocks her head. "I'm furious! Those men better have their effects in order."

Ezri jerks back and blinks. "That's a bit extreme."

"I'm not… I just…" Kira lets out a frustrated sigh. "You're right. I'll… play by the rules, but I still don't intend to give them another shot at me—or Odo."

"And the Founders?"

"Oh, please; you know I don't give a damn about them. They're just lucky he's in the Great Link." Kira turns her attention back to her console. "Have you found anything in this mess yet?"

"Not yet," Ezri sighs.

"Damn."

Both women bury their eyes in slowly-scrolling data logs. After a few minutes pass, a tapping sound startles them both. Though the doors to the Promenade are mostly transparent, their attention has been fully focused on the work in front of them. Their wide eyes spy a cringing Julian holding a tray of what appears to be lunch.

"Oh, how sweet," Ezri says as surprise wears off.

Kira rolls her eyes and hits the release for the door. "Step in quickly, doctor."

As commanded, Julian takes a couple quick steps forward. Kira seals the door as soon as he clears the threshold.

"I do apologize for the fright," Julian says. His eyes light up as he sets the tray down and surveys the office full of PADDS and data screens. "So… what nefarious plot have we unearthed? Shall I get my tux?"

Ezri nudges Julian and shakes her head as she knows Kira is not in the mood for levity.

Kira lowers her chin and eyes Julian from across the desk. "You think we're having fun? Do I need to remind you that I'm sitting here because my desk is a pile of rubble?"

"Erm, no sir," Julian clears his throat and looks around the office to dodge Kira's stare. "Where's Chris? I assumed he'd…"

Between Kira's unblinking stare and the slow shake of Ezri's head, Julian falls silent. He uncomfortably tugs at his collar. "I, uh, thought you two might like something to eat."

Ezri touches Julian's arm and smiles to offset Kira's glare. "That was very thoughtful, Julian. Thank you."

Julian returns Ezri's smile, thankful for the brief respite.

"Julian," Kira's expression turns inquisitive, "you ran medical tests on Chris, correct?"

"A full work-up; yes. Why?"

"Did anything unusual come up?"

"That's a vague question."

Kira's frustrated eyes return. "Did you find anything that could indicate Chris is not who he claims to be?"

Ezri is shocked. "What? You don't trust him? He saved your life!"

"Did he? Or was that planned for the sake of gaining trust?" Kira blinks once slowly and turns back to Julian. "I'm still waiting, doctor."

"Fine," Julian says shortly. He scans the back wall of the office as if reading his notes in his mind. "He's definitely not a changeling, not that I was explicitly testing for it. He had elevated levels of adrenaline, most likely from you yelling and discharging a phaser near his head." He pauses to shoot an accusatory glance at Kira. "Beyond that, I don't recall anything during my examination that would suggest our guest was anything other than a frightened and confused human being… that was altered by the Prophets and deposited here with eerie recollections of..."

Julian's voice trails off as he sees the source of Kira's concern.

"Are we on the same page now, doctor?" Kira narrows her eyes. "You yourself suggested he could be a spy when he knew so much about Sloan. Ezri and I plan to ask him to provide the identity of someone who's infiltrated security. I need your assessment because my current mood and religious beliefs are clouding my judgment. I don't want to be responsible for getting an innocent man killed because Chris turns out to be a Cardassian, Romulan, or… who knows what else."

"I understand completely. But… all things considered, Chris is who he claims." Julian straightens his posture. "How else can I be of service, sir?"

Julian's snide emphasis on 'sir' breaks Kira's stern attitude. She closes her eyes and takes a long, deep breath.

"I'm sorry, Julian. The stakes here are… immense. If these people succeed, I'm positive Odo will die. Though I don't care much for the Founders, the Dominion would fall apart without them—possibly taking the Gamma and Alpha Quadrants with it. Even if these fanatics fail, the Founders could rekindle the war to protect themselves. Either way, if we don't stop them on this on this side of the wormhole, I'll never see Odo again."

Julian and Ezri share a glance. Their understanding has been that Kira will never see Odo again under any circumstances.

Kira leans over and extends her arm to grip the edge of the desk nearest Julian. "Thank you for your report. My imagination was getting the better of me. I needed to hear facts. I didn't mean to snap at you."

Julian nods in acceptance of her apology.

Kira motions to the tray Julian brought and tries to smile. "And thanks for taking care of us."

"If there's anything else you need, just let me know." Julian bows his head slightly.

With the distraction of Julian's entrance changing her mood, Kira takes a fresh look around the office. With a hesitant smile, she points to Ezri and voices an observation. "Do you know how many times Odo would sit where I am and I'd sit where you are for daily briefings? It was a ritual he absolutely cherished. I was oblivious for too long. I can't believe I didn't put two and two together when he made an excuse to stop the briefings when I started seeing Shaka…"

Kira's expression transforms from reminiscent to revelation as she stops abruptly in the middle of Shakaar's name. "That's it! An excuse for a change. Those sneaky bastards." Kira scrambles through screens on her console.

Ezri and Julian, both baffled, wait for Kira to share her enlightenment.

Kira stops scrolling. "Ezri, narrow your search to include only textiles, printed material, and inert building materials."

"OK, but I don't underst…"

Kira interrupts by paraphrasing a passage from her console. "To 'ease the strain on security resources' after the war, these types of goods were omitted from elevated security scans." Kira looks up and shakes her head. "Odo would never have eased security on anything, so our traitor must have made the change. I must not have seen the harm in it whenever the order crossed my desk. Maybe what we're looking for was reclassified to slip it through."

Ezri is happy to enter search parameters instead of scanning entries individually. After a brief wait, her PADD provides a truncated list. Ezri inspects the new list only briefly before tapping the PADD with purpose.

"Find something?" Kira asks as she straightens up in her chair.

"I've found an altered record, but this doesn't make much sense."

"What do you mean?"

"It's a shipment of textbooks that arrived yesterday from Bajor, but the classification isn't the anomaly."

"Textbooks? What was altered?"

"The size of the shipment was modified; that's it."

"Was it just an error correction?"

"Give me a little credit, Kira. This was done by someone trying to hide their tampering."

"A shipment of books isn't what I expected we'd be looking for, but if you think it's suspicious… it's worth a look," Kira concludes. "Julian, stay off comms, but track down Chris and bring him here. It's time we had him look at some faces."