Chapter Eighteen: Hide and Seek

Chris stands in the hallway of the cloaked Cardassian cruiser. A door to relative safety closes behind him.

What the hell am I doing?

Chris remains still as he reviews the thought process that led to standing exposed in the hallway.

There's no question I'm screwed. My chances of getting off this ship alive are crap no matter what I do. It's just a matter of time. But… if I can save her again… maybe I'll have meant something.

"Jesus," Chris sighs. "She's right; I'm pathetic."

She'll never know; I'll be dead. But if I don't try something… she could die too.

Shaking his head, Chris tries to focus. He needs to find a way to either stop the ship or destroy its cargo. After only a brief debate with his thoughts, he figures the cargo is his safest bet.

But shit, I have no idea how to get back there.

Motivated purely by thoughts of Kira, Chris slowly makes his way through the halls of the ship. He looks for anything familiar to guide him back to the cargo bay. As he nervously sneaks around, he tries to think of how he can throw a wrench in the Cardassians' plan.

It would help if I knew their plan…

If Chris were a Starfleet engineer, he'd skip the cargo bay and sabotage the cloaking device.

My luck in these halls surely wouldn't hold out long enough to find it—not that I'd have any idea how to break it.

Glancing at his phaser, Chris wonders if it's possible to destroy the cargo with it.

I think the crew would be alerted if I tried, and with how many crates there are… I'd barely make a dent before they came for me.

He considers setting the cargo on fire.

I imagine a fire would alert the crew as well. And surely there's a fire-suppression system. Short of the phaser, I don't even know how I'd start one.

A more drastic course of action comes to mind.

I could tie myself to a railing and open the cargo bay doors. Though with my luck the vacuum would leave the crates behind and I'd just space myself—I suck at knots.

Before making any meaningful progress on formulating a plan of action, or finding the cargo bay, Chris freezes in the corridor.

Voices!

Chris has been nearing a side passage, so there's a 50/50 chance that the approaching voices will turn away from him. Since the bulkheads aren't large enough to hide behind fully, he recklessly opens a nearby door. Luckily, the room beyond is dark like the quarters he abandoned earlier.

Chris hesitates as he stares into the room.

I could just hide. I should just hide…

Terrified, Chris looks to the intersection as the voices grow louder.

…but I need to find out what's going on. She's counting on me.

Chris takes a deep breath and loiters in the opening.

I'll just… duck inside if I have to.

In the back of his mind, Chris knows the Cardassians would spot the closing door if they turn his way. He convinces himself otherwise.

They're too busy talking; they're not paying attention. Plus, I have this.

Chris looks at the phaser that's shaking in his hand. He can hear two distinct voices, but there's no way to be sure they account for everyone approaching. The element of surprise might allow him to use the phaser to stun unsuspecting Cardassians, but even one would be pushing it.

My aim sucks.

Chris grits his teeth and plants his feet more confidently in the doorway.

It doesn't matter. I have to do this.

Chris determines that both approaching voices are male. One is a soft tenor compared to the other's harsh baritone. He makes up names to keep them straight.

I'll call the higher voice Kim; the other one's Carl.

The first words Chris can make out clearly come from Kim.

"Yamok sauce? To be honest… I've always hated it."

"One might question your Cardassian heritage to hear you say that."

Both voices chuckle softly. Chris rolls his eyes despite high anxiety as the two men carry on with culinary small-talk. Before long, Kim changes the subject to something more interesting.

"Fascinating… I'll have to try that before our mission is complete. Speaking of which, I was simply instructed to assist you. What are we doing?"

"Preparing our payload," Carl answers shortly. "I'll direct you further once we reach the cargo hold."

Kim sighs. "I don't like being kept in the dark. This mission is…"

"Our mission is paramount, and you know the rules."

"I know," Kim replies, "but the rules are getting tiresome."

"The nature of the mission cannot be…"

"I know, I know," Kim interrupts, "'cannot be compromised if the details of the mission are unknown.' I was in the briefing."

Chris' heart skips a beat as there is a pause in the conversation and the footfalls stop. He is frozen in his pose: feet planted and phaser pointed at the intersection.

Did I make a sound?

Carl sounds annoyed. "Of course you were in the briefing; we were all in the briefing. But what the representative of the Order didn't say during his grand gesturing is that a similar attempt was made before."

Kim sounds surprised. "Why didn't he tell us? We could've learned from the failure!"

"The Order did learn. That's exactly why we are only given tasks and information as needed."

"I don't understand."

The footfalls begin again as Carl responds. "The last mission failed because a changeling infiltrated the Tal Shiar."

"What do the Romulans have to do with anything?"

Chris breathes a sigh of relief as the voices turn down the hall away from him. Due to the bulkhead, he only catches a brief glimpse of a shoulder as they round the corner.

I think that was a Cardassian uniform.

"How do you think we came to possess a cloaking device?" Carl replies. "The last mission was a joint effort between the Tal Shiar and the Obsidian Order. The Order sent several ships similar to this one. All of them, along with a matching number of Warbirds, were destroyed because the Changelings knew we were coming. While preparing for that mission, the Obsidian Order was able to 'acquire' an additional cloaking device."

Listening to the pair speak, Chris realizes that following these men will lead him back to the cargo bay and give him vital information about what's going on. He cautiously trails them once he feels there's no chance they'll hear the door slide closed.

Despite obvious conversational cues and a brief glimpse, seeing the men confirms their origin.

They're Cardassians all right.

"It makes sense now!" Kim exclaims. "Removing the communication systems, the shuttles—all of it. I thought it was to keep us from changing our minds about the mission, but they were worried a changeling might get on board."

"Worried?" Carl chuckles. "They assumed it. As unlikely an event that may be, there's no way a changeling could leave or warn its people."

Though his hopes were already glum, hearing the claim that not even a Founder could escape this ship darkens Chris' spirits.

"Most brilliant," Kim answers with pride.

"The crews of many ships paid for that brilliance with their lives," Carl says. "Still… we must be vigilant if we wish to succeed."

"Of course."

As Chris follows the two men, he realizes a flaw in his present course of action. These men are headed to the cargo bay, but he can't follow them through a door without being seen, and he can't enter the room afterwards without alerting them to his presence.

Shit.

Chris remembers seeing four doors in the cargo bay. He needs to try and enter one of the other doors before the Cardassians get there.

That long hallway… Two of the cargo bay doors opened to it. There's got to be another one on the other side of the ship. Once we get close, I need to haul ass and find it!

It isn't long before Chris peeks around a corner behind the pair to find the long stretch to the cargo bay. He recognizes the door at the far end. Looking around the intersection, he realizes that the hall straight ahead should lead to the parallel stretch on the other side of the ship.

After carefully crossing the hall, Chris takes a gamble and starts to run. It's a huge risk to move so swiftly through halls that could hold more Cardassians, but he desperately needs to be in the cargo bay before Kim and Carl reach it.

Reaching the next intersection, Chris is happy to find that he has, in fact, found the mirror of the hallway Kim and Carl are travelling. He's also relieved to find no Cardassians. He sprints to the door at the end of the hall and presses the button. Stepping inside, he is greeted by nothing but the sight of crates and hum of the ship.

Hallelujah!

As it was when he left it, the cargo bay is full of waist-high crates and little else. Chris moves into the sea of containers and ducks when he sees a door on the far wall slide open. He is grateful that, despite his recent sprint, it takes only a few moments to get his breathing under control.

Thank you, Prophets!

Chris recognizes Kim and Carl's voices as they enter the room.

"I'll start here," Carl says. "You start on that end. Our task for now is simply to open the crates. We're to wait for further instructions."

"Understood," Kim replies.

Chris realizes that he's near one of two possible corners that Kim may be walking towards. The echo of footsteps in the cavernous room instills panic.

I wish I could've seen where Carl pointed.

Chris takes a deep breath and slowly crawls to the center of the room. He has no choice but to use his ears to keep tabs on the Cardassians.

As they work their way in, I'll skirt around to the open crates. Maybe I'll be…

The sound of a lid hitting the floor startles Chris. Thankfully, he remains quiet. He lets out a slow breath as his heart pounds.

Jesus.

"Books?" Kim says, bewildered. "Bajoran books? Were our plans discovered? Is this mockery?"

"Impossible," Carl snaps. "This cargo was checked against stored sensor patterns. I can't say why this was beamed to us from Deep Space Nine, but I can assure you this is exactly what we're supposed to have."

"But…"

"But nothing! You've witnessed the care the Order has taken to ensure the success of this mission. They would not have let something as critical as our payload be so easily compromised."

"I…" Kim hesitates, "I understand."

"Good," Carl sounds satisfied. "As you know, we were all chosen randomly by the Order. But each of us had motive to submit our names. I've become curious of yours. You seem to know little about the Order, or Cardassia's past with the Dominion."

"On the contrary," Kim responds defiantly, "I'm very familiar with our past with the Dominion. At least the part where my home and family were annihilated by Jem'Hadar bombardment. Why'd you submit your name?"

"Vengeance for countless millions of our people killed by the Dominion, like your family—and for what they've done to our world. You've seen the cities. I had no family of my own for them to take. My condolences for yours."

The Cardassians fall silent and resume opening crates. Chris slowly shifts his position to circumnavigate their activity. He feels relief when he encounters opened crates.

Just a few more rows and I should be safe.

Chris is frustrated that the Cardassians offer no new intelligence relating to the cargo. It makes the risk of being in this room with them seem all the more foolish. Save for Deep Space Nine's cargo bay, where a man was trying to kill Kira and himself, he's never been in so much danger in his life. The only thing he's learned by leaving the relative safety of some vacant quarters is that he's more securely trapped on this ship than he knew.

Not like I had a chance in hell of getting off in the first place.

All Chris can do is stay out of sight until the Cardassians leave, but moving among the opened crates proves more difficult than he anticipated. Lids are scattered about the floor and randomly leaning against crates. Moving anything could be a deadly mistake. Chris' heart pounds frantically as he inches through the minefield.

"Why books?" Kim asks. "And why so many?"

Chris is relieved that Kim sounds a good distance from him—at least three rows away.

Carl sounds annoyed. "I've already said that I don't know."

"I've only seen three types," Kim comments.

"I've just seen two."

"What does it mean?"

Suddenly, a loud crash erupts behind Chris. His racing heart skip a beat. His holster caught one of the more precariously-leaning lids and sent it tumbling to the floor.

Shit! I am so dead!

The Cardassians respond immediately.

"Movement! Over there!"

"Check it out! I'm right behind you!"

The excited voices of the Cardassians are harder for Chris to distinguish—not that it matters at this point. He scurries on all fours to try and put as much distance between himself and the fallen lid as possible. He hopes the Cardassians will assume the lid fell on its own due to some shudder of the ship.

Chris is not so fortunate.

"There! I see movement!"

Dammit!

Chris finds himself in everyone's worst nightmare. He's trying to move as fast as he can, but crawling along the floor is no match for a Cardassian on foot.

Hearing footfalls close in, Chris realizes he's in a very poor position to defend himself. Flipping onto his butt, he frantically reaches for his phaser. He barely gets his hand to the holster before a Cardassian is right in front of him, weapon drawn.

"Don't move!" Kim yells at Chris.

"What have you got?!" Carl calls out as he jogs to Kim's position.

"A human. He must've snuck on with the cargo."

"There's no other explanation," Carl agrees, closing in behind Kim.

Chris can do nothing but stare at the emitter of Kim's disruptor. More than anything, he feels… mad. He's always thought TV shows were unrealistic when someone facing the barrel of a gun stood defiant instead of sobbing like a child. Now he understands that some of those doomed, fictional souls were just too angry to be scared.

Chris feels very angry at this very moment. He's angry about letting Kira down, angry about failing to foil the Cardassian plot, angry for the stupid mistakes he's made on this ship, angry that the last impression Kira Nerys will have of him is of an adolescent fool. Chris's countenance twists as frustrating thoughts pile on.

"What do you know of our mission?!" Kim demands of Chris. "Who else knows?!"

Chris shifts his focus from the emitter of Kim's disruptor to the Cardassian's eyes; his words are tainted with rage. "I know what these books are. I know where you're taking them. Kira and the Federation know all about it! She's gonna blow this ship to Hell!"

Kim is shocked as he calls out to Carl. "The mission's been compromised!"

Carl's reply is brief and smug: "I know."

As confusion overtakes Kim's expression, Chris witnesses the Cardassian's body disintegrate from within. After Kim's body vaporizes, Chris looks upon the fading glow of the emitter on Carl's disruptor—now aimed directly at his chest.