Fools Rush In by Teal
Chapter Fifteen
Colonel Kira stared at the latest communication reports. She blinked rapidly, trying to wake her eyes. Sometimes these things could be mind numbingly dull. It was at these moments, when things were quiet, that she missed Odo the most. Even before they had started their relationship, she had counted on their friendship to lighten her mood. It was a burden trying to do it herself. She laughed wryly at herself. Someday she would have him back again.
"Colonel, we have a sub space message coming in from Cardassia for you." The page startled her.
"Patch it through." She ordered, trying to regain some sort of composure. The last thing she wanted the Cardassians to think was that she was bored or lonely.
The computer terminal in front of her filled with the image of a powerful looking Cardassian Gul. Kira frowned, not recognizing him at all.
"Colonel Kira here, what can I do for you, Gul..?"
"Jorath. And may I say that I am honored to meet you Colonel. I have heard a great deal about you." He grinned sincerely, which put Kira immediately on edge. War or no war, she would never be able to trust them.
"I'm sorry, I don't believe I have heard of you Gul Jorath."
"Oh, I am a quiet man, Colonel. I'm usually stationed off Cardassia, on a prison colony. Perhaps you've heard of it? Pelina One?"
"No, I'm afraid not."
"Of course, we haven't been very noteworthy until lately. But, I had hoped you would have heard something. Now, I am afraid I have you at an disadvantage Colonel."
"I guess I'm not following you, Gul." She felt like she had missed some vital part of the conversation.
"Well, I am embarrassed to say, we had a prisoner escape some time back. I was able to find the guard, and he honorably confessed to helping aid her escape because he'd been feeling sorry for the prisoner. Which is understandable. You know we Cardassians are weak when it comes to females." He put his hands up in a helpless manor. "Although, he has been punished, that doesn't take care of our problem."
"Still lost, Gul." At this point, Kira new exactly where he was going, but she put on her best "I am annoyed" face she could muster.
"Oh, well, I hate to inform you of this Colonel, as I am certain you take the security of your station very seriously, but the prisoner has been tracked to Deep Space Nine."
Kira looked surprised. "Really, Gul, are you sure? That's very disturbing."
She could see the Gul's face twist a bit, frustrated at her playing the game as well as he did. That was encouraging.
"Now, what could she be doing on your station, Colonel?"
"As you've pointed out, Gul, you clearly know much more about this than I do. I defer to you. Please, tell me." She was desperately trying to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.
"We are certain she is a spy. She is very dangerous, and may be posing as a Star Fleet officer. Even perhaps a long lost friend." He paused. "But she is neither of these."
"What should I do?" She sounded helpless. That may be pushing it a bit, she thought.
"I think both your government and Star Fleet would agree, that this is not the time for secrets between our peoples. It is a time to build trust. I suggest, that if you are able to locate her, you contact us, and we will come and take her into custody. It is the safest course for us all." Now that sounded like a threat, Kira thought.
"Of course, Gul Jorath. What ever we can do to help. How will I contact you?"
"Don't you worry, Colonel, I will be in contact often with you. Gul Jorath out." He cut the conversation off, and the screen in front of Kira went back to the customary Star Fleet logo.
Kira sat in her office for some time, thinking about the conversation. Did he actually think she would just hand Jadzia over to them? And if not, what was the point of the whole exercise? The Cardassians, although untrustworthy and devious, were not a stupid people. There was more than met the eye here, she just couldn't place what it was.
"Kira to Senior Officers, please meet me in the conference room." She paged her senior crew.
Several minutes later, they, along with Jadzia, were sitting in the conference room, being briefed on her conversation. Dr. Bashir, Ezri Dax, and head of security Toam joined them.
"I contacted Star Fleet just moments ago. They feel, as I do, that the Cardassians see Jadzia as a weapon in our hands and as technological advancement in theirs. They want us to double our security teams."
She noticed Jadzia shift in her chair. "I'm sorry about this, but until it all blows over, we should have security personnel stationed outside your quarters." Jadzia nodded, all the while feeling as though she were once again a prisoner.
"It still doesn't make sense, him coming out and just asking for her," said Julian.
Jadzia spoke up. "They want me to run."
"My thoughts as well. But you won't. You'll stay put and we'll protect you," said Kira, seeing the dread in Jadzia's eyes.
"I've no intention of going anywhere." She said with more conviction than she was feeling.
"What does this Gul look like?" asked Toam curiously. He had been in the Bajoran Underground for several years, along side Kira, and had never come across his name before.
"He didn't look familiar at all to me," said Kira as she loaded an image of Gul Jorath onto the large computer screen at the head of the table.
"No, doesn't ring any bells with me either." He frowned. "How about you, Jadzia?" He turned to face her.
Jadzia was frozen, staring blankly at the image, unmoving, unblinking.
"Jadzia?"
She could hear them talking, but nothing seemed to break through her fixation on the Gul's face.
"Jadzia!" yelled Julian, shaking her at the shoulders. Startled out of her fixated state, her eyes rolled, focusing on Julian.
"What? What did you say?"
Julian looked worriedly at her. "What is it? You look as though you've seen a ghost. Do you recognize him?"
She looked once more at the face hovering above them. "No. I don't think so. I only ever saw the guards."
As they resumed their debate, it was all Jadzia could do to sit there. She felt cold, and her hands were shaking and sweating. She clasped them in her lap, hoping no one would notice. The more that picture hung above her the stronger her urge to run from the room became. Did she know him? He didn't seem at all familiar, and yet, she was deadly afraid of him.
Jadzia realized everyone was getting up from their chairs, and that the meeting was being adjourned. She tried to stand, and in doing so knocked her chair to the floor. The resounding crash made her jump. A startled scream caught in her throat before it escaped.
"Are you okay?" Asked Ezri kindly, holding her arm.
"Yes, just a bit clumsy today. I think I'm just tired." She laughed nervously.
"Why don't you go rest then? I'll come by later and see how you are."
Instead of returning to her room, however, Jadzia went directly to the holo-sweet wing in Quark's bar. She didn't know what program to run, but she knew she had to get that face out of her mind. Even now, her heart raced at the memory of it. Where to go? She scanned down the list of recreational suites. "Night Club?" She wondered. Why not? She picked it and entered a world previously unknown to her.
She pulled up a chair and ordered a drink from the nearest waiter. It looked like the floor show was about to begin. She sat back, finally beginning to relax, and enjoyed the 1950's atmosphere. There were couples dancing, and it looked like there was a gambling casino in the back. She liked it here very much. The show started up and the man who introduced himself as Vic Fontane began to sing to big band music. This is what she needed, she thought, and closed her eyes concentrating on the music and the sound of his voice.
A half hour later, the Gul's face was a distant bad memory, and the show had ended. She wondered when he would sing again. Looking around for a waiter to ask, she noticed that the singer himself was walking over to her table. He had a shocked looked on his face, as if he recognized her from some where. As he approached her table his look changed from shock to joy.
"Jadzia?" He said, leaning down and hugging her. "It's you! But I don't understand. They said you were dead!" Then he thought a minute. "Does Worf know? Oh, he'll go nuts! This is great!" He hugged her again.
She sat still, not sure what to say to him. He was a hologram, but apparently he had memories of Jadzia.
"I'm sorry, I don't think I'm who you think I am."
"Your not?" He laughed. "You sure look like Jadzia." Then his smile faded as he noticed the serious look on her face.
"I'm sorry, you just look like a friend of mine." He was obviously very confused.
"Want to have a seat? It's a long story." She pulled the chair out for him and he sat down. As she told him the story of her arrival on DS9, and where she had come from, she began to feel comfortable with him. And by the time she was done, had made a new friend.
"Well, what ever the case, you're back. And you're safe. Welcome home."
"You're the second person to feel that way." She thought, thinking of Worf.
"How'd he take it?"
She looked surprised, wondering if he could read her mind somehow. "Fairly well, I think. Considering."
"Well, you drag that Klingon stuffed shirt on in here and we'll have a party!" He was enthusiastic. "I could always get him to loosen up a bit. Leave him to me!"
"No. It wouldn't work. Besides, he's not on the station. He lives on Kronos now."
"He's not here?" He asked in amazement. "Don't worry, he will be."
She shook her head. "No, he won't. That's okay though. He has a job to do, and so do I."
"Okay, kiddo. I won't bring it up anymore." He patted her shoulder. "How about a request?" He stood up and headed towards the stage.
"Anything. Just sing, Vic." She smiled, closed her eyes and leaned back into her chair once again, forgetting who and where she was.