"You're cleared for departure, Quicksilver," Dax said, monitoring the other ships docked at the station, in case someone had misunderstood departure restrictions. The view screen in ops showed the station's ship at its moorings and the faint stars in the background. Dax wished vaguely for video as well as audio, to see Sisko and Bashir before they left, but it was unnecessary to communicate that way.
"Thanks, old man," Sisko said from the other side of the com line. "We'll see you in a few days."
"Good luck, Benjamin," Dax replied, knowing he could hear the smile in her voice even if he couldn't see her.
"I hope we won't need it," Sisko replied. "Quicksilver out."
Dax monitored the ship's progress as it detached itself from Terok Nor and turned gently toward its destination. They used thrusters to clear the station's perimeter, then jumped to impulse. Dax entered a command to track them as long as possible, then looked up at Vaughn.
"They're clear," she reported.
"Good," the first officer replied, nodding at her. "Signal the Kimja that they're cleared for departure to Bajor and find out when that Bolian transport is going to be here."
Dax nodded, relaying the information to the Bajoran supply ship and then informed Vauhgn on the Bolian transport's ETA. She kept one eye on the Quicksilver's progress, even though the information could easily be observed by the tactical officer on duty, and went back to her own work. Dax wrapped up the loose ends she had to do in ops, then got permission to head down to the science lab.
There was no one else on duty in the lab today, with Shar and Klixa gone and her two other officers off duty. Dax was glad; she wanted to be alone with her thoughts – an interesting proposition for a joined Trill. But there was no one left in ops who would understand what she was experiencing. They were either gone, reassigned to other posts, or on the Quicksilver, headed for the other universe. Although she remembered none of the other Bashir's time here, she had lived through it. None of her previous hosts had experienced anything like this, so it was going to take some time to sort out how she felt.
She had been working for about half an hour when the computer interrupted her.
"Commander Dax, you have an incoming message from Bajor."
"Put it through to this terminal," Dax replied, pulling up a chair and sinking into it. A moment later, Kira's face appeared on the screen and Dax felt her expression relaxing into a smile.
"Nerys," she said with deep warmth and affection.
"Hi, Jadzia," Kira replied, smiling as well. "How are you?"
Dax's lips quirked upward in a wry smile.
"I take it you've heard about the missing Cardassian ship?" she inquired.
Kira snorted.
"Heard is an understatement," she replied. "It's all over the Federation news service now, and I've received two calls already from First Minister Shakaar demanding to know what Starfleet is planning on doing about it, and Legate Garak himself even called me."
"Also to find out what Starfleet was doing about it?" Dax asked, arching an eyebrow.
"And if I knew that one of the terraformers was Doctor Crell Moset's daughter, and what new information I had, when the Quicksilver would arrive at the ship's last known coordinates, if Captain Sisko was really leading the rescue effort, why the Enterprise wasn't being called in – nevermind that she's thirty light years away, at least – what the Bajoran government is going to do. Need I go on?"
"I think I get the picture," Dax said dryly. "What did you tell him?"
"I gave him the information I could about Starfleet's response, then told him he should contact the First Minister about his other questions."
Dax laughed and Kira gave a quick, mischievous grin.
"Nerys, you are evil," she said.
"I only know what Starfleet Command and the Federation Council has told me. You probably know more than I do."
"At this point, I don't think anyone in this universe knows much," Dax replied.
Kira nodded, looking slightly exasperated. Dax understood. One thing Kira had expected was that her new posting at the embassy on Bajor would be difficult. She had worked there before being assigned to Terok Nor, and had had an idea of what returning would be like. Nonetheless, Dax sympathized with her friend's position. Leeta had been a politician. Dax knew all about the demands of such employment.
"Did Julian go?" Kira asked.
"He did," Dax confirmed. "Benjamin thought he might be useful once they get into the other universe. He may remember something."
Kira looked doubtful.
"How likely is that?" she asked.
Dax shrugged lightly.
"I have no idea," she replied. "But I know Julian. There are people in need of his help. No matter how much he didn't want to go, he couldn't live with leaving them out there alone."
Kira nodded.
"How are the girls?"
"Jules talked to them before leaving; he said they seem all right with it. They're so young. They don't understand. Renzi was only a few weeks old when this first happened. She has no idea what's going on."
"Do you need me to come to the station?" Kira asked seriously.
Dax smiled, shaking her head.
"Thanks, Nerys, but no. I know you can't get away right now, either. Not with Shakaar and Garak calling you."
Kira nodded, then frowned, looking away.
"Speaking of which…" she sighed. "Someone is calling me. I'd better go. If you talk to Sisko, tell him to speed this thing up. The politicians don't like being uncertain, and when they're uncertain, they get demanding. And it comes back to me."
Dax grinned.
"I'll let him know you want him to hurry," she promised.
"Take care, Jadzia. Walk with the Prophets."
"You, too."
Kira nodded and signed off. Dax sat in the chair for a few minutes, gazing thoughtfully at the blank screen. She missed Kira, acutely sometimes, but at least her friend was only a few hours away by shuttle. It was the life of a Starfleet officer and Dax knew she was extremely lucky to be posted on the same station as her husband and have her good friends on board or close by.
With a quiet sigh, she pushed herself to her feet and returned to her work.
She finished all she needed to do that day an hour early, so slipped out, knowing it would be fine with Vaughn as it was always fine with Sisko. Dax made her way down the promenade to the care center, where her daughters nearly bowled her over in their enthusiasm to see her. Dax hugged them both, then swept Narye into her arms, taking Renzia's hand.
"Wanna walk!" her youngest daughter protested.
"Okay, but you have to hold my hand. All right?"
"'Kay," the girl replied and Dax set her down, keeping a tight grip on the toddler's hand. She led them through the promenade, back to their quarters, Renzia skipping the whole way. Dax let her go ahead a little bit, because she knew that Narye's slow pace would make her oldest child impatient quickly.
When they returned home, there was a message waiting for them. Dax shooed her daughters away to play with their toys, then reviewed the message, repressing a laugh so she wouldn't have to explain – yet – what the message was. Smiling, she fished around for a padd, then began downloading the recording of Bashir reading one of the girls' favorite stories. It had probably only taken him five minutes to make the recording, but the fact that he had taken the time warmed Dax's heart. She let the information finish loading, and went to see what her two indecisive young daughters might want for dinner that evening.
"There's a ship in orbit around the fourth planet," Shar said, evaluating the information on his console's screen. "It's Cardassian."
Sisko frowned.
"Hail them," he said to the ensign at the helm. His command was immediately followed by a beeping sound coming through their own com.
"They're hailing us, sir," the ensign reported.
"On screen," Sisko replied.
The image switched from the faint pinpricks of distant stars that were mostly obscured by the star of the system they had just entered. In its place was a male Cardassian, his dark eyes bright, a frown on his face.
"Captain Sisko, yes?" he asked.
"That's right," Sisko confirmed.
"I am Director Norrett from Empok Nor."
Sisko nodded, the recognition finally setting in. He'd only met Norrett once, back when he had first been assigned to Terok Nor and the Cardassian had come specifically to greet him. Norrett had been to the station since, of course, but his work there was spent meeting with the supervisors of Terok Nor's ore processing facility. Empok Nor was a super refinery, taking in a small percentage of the ore from which dilithium could be extracted.
"We thought we could be of some assistance when you arrive here," Norrett continued, "But you may be able to help us. We've located some escape pods from the Glain on the surface of the fourth planet, but rescue efforts are going slowly. It's cold down there, and we aren't entirely prepared for surface rescue missions. We have three of the survivors on board now, but I think there are at least four more down there."
Sisko nodded again.
"Helm, how long until we reach the fourth planet?"
"Ten minutes, sir," the ensign replied.
"We'll be there momentarily," Sisko said. "Do you have any medical staff on board?"
"We brought one of our station's medics, but we have limited medical facilities on this ship."
"We have a decent sickbay," Sisko said, silently thanking Bashir for insisting it be upgraded and O'Brien and his team for doing the work. "Prepare your medic and your patients to be transported here once we're in range. I have my chief medical officer and one of my nurses on board. We'll put together surface rescue teams as well."
"Agreed. Thank you, Captain."
"You're welcome. Sisko out."
The communication ended and Sisko stood, glancing over his shoulder to find Bashir watching him.
"Get Nadir and go down to sickbay. I want you to be here when those Cardassians are transported over. Then you'll be joining Reth and Nog on the surface."
Bashir nodded and headed toward a turbolift.
"O'Brien, Jaimson, you'll be with me. Ro and Benson, you'll go with Captain Eddington. Shar, you and Klixa stay up here and try to figure out how to reopen that anomaly. I don't think all the missing Cardassians are down there." Although that would have been nice.
The Andorian and Betazoid science officers nodded, turning away. The others fell into step behind Sisko, who tapped his combadge and began assigning surface teams to the other officers on the ship, redirecting some of them to help in sickbay. He and the bridge officers with him headed to the nearest transporter bay, where his crew had already swung into action. There were security guards waiting for them with thermal clothing and emergency med kits. Sisko said a quiet thanks to whatever gods might be listening and accepted the equipment.
Bashir arrived in sickbay right behind Nurse Nadir, right before the Cardassian wounded were beamed over. Accompanying them was a medic from the Empok Nor ship, the Ledane. There were three survivors, just as Director Norrett had promised, all of them with severe hypothermia and exposure.
"Let's get them on the beds," Bashir said, gesturing to Nadir and the medic, a man named Celeck. Bashir's nurse, although a small woman, was much stronger than she looked. With no help and not much effort, she lifted the body of an unconscious Cardassian woman onto a biobed. "Celeck, what kind of treatment have you given them?"
"New clothes, warmer atmosphere," the Cardassian replied. "I've also given them each a one cc dose of thelomin to help bring their body temperature back up I'm having trouble getting a reading, though."
"Right," Bashir said, snagging a tricorder. He scanned his patient, frowning, then slapped a bio monitor on the Cardassian woman's forehead. Celeck hadn't been kidding; the temperature barely registered, and it took a minute to do so.
"Give them each another two cc's thelomin and keep a close eye on their heart rate. I don't need them going into cardiac arrest. Computer, increase the output of the biobed temperatures by two degrees Celsius."
"Temperature increased," the computer replied as Bashir measured another dose of medication and injected it carefully into the woman's neck Behind him, he heard a slight moan and turned, but Celeck was shaking his head. The male patient he was working on hadn't regained consciousness.
"Nadir, get some blankets from storage Not warm storage."
"Yes, Doctor," she replied and vanished, only to return a moment later, carrying six blankets. She distributed two to Bashir and two to Celeck, keeping the remaining two for herself.
"Check for frostbite first," he said.
"They all have it," Celeck replied "Didn't have the chance to do anything about it."
"Hydrocelic on the affected areas."
The other two nodded. Nadir replicated the requested cream, handing them each a small container, and Bashir set to work applying it carefully to the woman's face, hands, and feet. He scanned the rest of her body, too, but only her face and extremities had been affected, thankfully. She was lucky; as a Cardassian, she had a very low tolerance to the cold.
He picked up a blanket when he was done and tucked it carefully around her, then activated the biomonitor on the bed. It formed a dome around her midsection and he set it to monitor her pulse rate and body temperature. The thelomin he had given her would help increase her heartbeat, slowly enough to keep her from going into arrest, but quickly enough to provide new blood to her frozen body. That would help bring the temperature up, especially in her extremities. He couldn't do any more immediately. Time and rest were now the best treatments he could provide. And monitoring.
"Celeck, do you feel comfortable enough with Starfleet medical technology to keep an eye on these three? Nadir and I need to get down to the surface."
The Cardassian nodded, obviously relieved he wasn't being asked to join the rescue effort on the planet's frigid surface.
"I can muddle through," he replied.
"Good," Bashir said, then looked at Nadir. "Let's go suit up."
She nodded in agreement and they left the sickbay, heading for a transporter room. One of Ro's security officers was waiting for them, suits at the ready, and helped them get into their gear. Bashir activated his suit's com unit.
"Bashir to Sisko," he said.
There was a slight pause, then Sisko replied:
"Sisko here. Go head, Julian."
"Sir, Nadir and I are ready to beam down."
"Good. Nadir, you'll join my team. Julian, Ezri and Nog."
"Understood," the doctor and nurse said at the same time. The transporter engineer gestured to Nadir to step up first, and a moment later, she had vanished in a sparkle of blue light. Bashir stepped onto the pad and materialized on the surface several seconds after watching the transporter room fade from view. The first thing he saw was a glaring whiteness, then Reth's face through her EV suit helmet, giving him a concerned look.
"All right, Julian?" she asked.
"It's bright," he replied.
"Reset your visual filters to fifty percent," the counselor advised and Bashir followed her instructions. The glare lessened immediately and the landscape jumped into sharp relief. The snow wasn't constant, as he had first imagined. Instead, it was dusted across an icy plain whose surface was marked by jagged black rocks, ranging from pebbles to boulders that were higher than Nog was tall.
"Old lava plain, we think," Reth said. "Come on. Readings aren't great, but we think we have someone to the northeast."
Bashir nodded and fell into step with the Trill and the Ferengi. He was grateful for the EV suit providing him with a controlled atmosphere; a quick glance at his environmental gauges told him the temperature was minus thirty degrees Celsius. With the added wind-chill, it was minus thirty-seven. They needed to find survivors soon.
A nearly destroyed escape pod was less than four hundred meters away, already partly obscured by blowing snow. The impact had driven it partly into the ice as well, and Bashir could see the damage immediately upon spotting the pod. There were fractures in the hull, and burn marks where a fire had begun to take hold, until the blowing snow had dowsed it. The three of them scrambled over the uneven surface, rocks bouncing off their boots, until they reached the pod.
"One life sign, but faint," Bashir said.
Reth clambered onto the pod, moving quickly but carefully. Bashir was always surprised by her willingness to face danger; it was one of her most remarkable qualities. When he had first met her, he had pegged her as shy and reserved. He couldn't have been more wrong. She was quiet, that was true, but not shy, and he had never seen her back down from a challenge, even one so far removed from her professional training.
Nog circled the other side of the pod and Bashir followed Reth, finding and using hand holds easily. He pulled himself up beside her; she was sitting next to the hatch, shaking her head.
"The controls are damaged. This ship barely has any power."
Nog came up from the other side.
"Let me have a look," he said, scrambling over to the circuitry. He tried keying in a few commands, then gave a dissatisfied grunt as only a Ferengi could do.
"I'm going to use the manual release. We'll have to put some muscle into it," he said.
"Understood," both others replied.
Nog broke the casing covering the manual release and pulled hard on the lever, which fought him, damaged by the crash and stiffened by the cold. Straining, he managed to pull it out and down, then scrambled back to where Reth and Bashir were already struggling with the hatch. He joined the effort and the three of them fought the cold metal, all of them giving inarticulate cries of effort. The door groaned open, nearly flinging Reth aside when it gave, and Bashir grabbed her in time to keep her from sliding down the icy metal surface to the rocky ground.
"Thanks," she breathed, and he saw her quick smile through her darkened face plate.
"Don't need anymore patients," he replied with a grin of his own, then eased himself into the escape pod. There was a dead man strapped into one chair, his neck broken, and a woman, still alive, strapped into the second chair. From the marks on the safety belt, it looked as if she'd been trying to free herself without any success.
"I need a knife!" Bashir called up and Reth dropped down beside him, reaching up to take her emergency med kit from Nog. "Stay up there!" the doctor called to Nog, who called down his affirmative reply. Reth produced a knife for him and handed it over. Bashir cut the Cardassian woman's restraints, then handed the knife back, taking a tricorder to scan her quickly.
"She'll be all right. Broken bones, internal bruising, hypothermia, but it looks like the environmental systems were still functioning for awhile. Her temperature isn't as low as the ones on board."
"Good," Reth said. "Do we need to move her?"
"I don't want to if we don't have to." He activated his com system. "Bashir to transporter room one."
"This is Melik," came the reply.
"Can you get a lock on Ezri, Nog, me, and the two Cardassians in the escape pod?"
"I'm only reading four life signs," Melik replied.
"One of the Cardassians is dead. I'll put my combadge on him."
Bashir removed his badge, placing it carefully on the dead Cardassian's chest.
"Stand by," Melik's distant voice said. "All right, I have you."
"Good," Bashir said. "Beam us directly to sickbay. Energize."
In the end, they rescued three survivors and four fatalities. Bashir put the dead in stasis and treated the three new patients. When he was finished, he let Nadir go off duty and arranged to transfer the patients to the Ledane so that they could be taken to Empok Nor's infirmary. From there, once they had recovered, they could be returned to Cardassia, to their families. The Ledane would take the dead as well. Bashir scowled to himself. They needed to clear the stasis chambers for the dead they might find in the other universe. He didn't want to think of that possibility, but he did need to account for it.
He sighed, running his hands through his hair. Celeck had returned to his ship and now Bashir was alone with his patients. In this moment of silence, he suddenly missed Dax and their daughters acutely. He could picture them perfectly in his mind, a benefit of his genetic enhancements. It helped to have that recall when he was away, but he hated being away.
They're safe, he reminded himself. These Cardassians aren't.
His gaze darted to the stasis chambers and he sighed, rubbing his face. The com interrupted his thoughts.
"Sisko to Bashir. Please report to the bridge."
Bashir tapped his badge, nodding to himself.
"On my way," he replied, putting aside his thoughts of his family and turning his mind back to his duties.