"Chapter 5, Execution"
Not sounding good, Garak decided when the doors slid open. The Cardassian guards were collecting the prisoners to bring them to Promenade.
"This is ridiculous. Do they really think they can do that?" Dax asked.
"I think so," Sisko replied, curiously what this gathering had to mean.
They waited about five minutes on the lower deck until they saw Gul Dukat entering the upper deck of the Promenades. Cardassian guards were following him and Garak spotted Ziyal, Dukat's daughter standing up there.
"What is Ziyal doing there?" he heard Jadzia asking.
"No idea," Major Kira had to admit. "I hardly believe she's a great supporter of his actions."
"Dear population and workers of Terok'Nor. I will give each of you the chance to support me….truthfully. I will not tolerate any offenses against me or what we do. And to show you that I am willing to punish everybody who is fighting or saying anything against the Cardassian occupation, I demonstrate now the consequences," Gul Dukat explained and turned toward Ziyal.
Then he took a knife his guard was holding and stepped forward. "I should have done that one year ago," Dukat muttered when he stabbed the weapon into the flesh of his Cardassian-Bajoran daughter. The blood was flowing out of her body before she was slowing going down and her body hitting the floor.
"No," Kira whispered. "He couldn't have done that." Then louder she screamed: "Bastard! You're insane, you cruel bastard." Her eyes met for a second with Gul Dukat's ones, then he was turning around and without a work leaving the Promenade.
They were all brought back to their quarters, only Garak was led to Dukat's office again.
"Was it really necessary to kill your own daughter?" Garak asked.
"Says the man who was sent to exile by his own father," Gul Dukat answered sharply.
Garak did not reply.
"You killed my father. But I have no other option than to ask you if you want to join military or not!"
"Military," Garak said with a voice of disdain.
"Oh, I will promise you, in case of interrogations or torture you will the one I ask. That will be your post, hurting and killing other people," Dukat smiled and laughed shortly. "Or has Deep Space Nine made you so weak?"
Garak had to think about Valentina again and was confused if he should accept the offer.
"In case you doubt because of a very young, black haired lady and fear she wouldn't trust you and you grossed her out…don't worry," he said and nodded to the guard who was standing outside the office.
He came in and brought Lieutenant Commander Valentina Riddle. Then he left again.
"How did you know-" Garak started but Dukat intervened: "That you love her?"
Garak had to swallow hearing that word. He never wanted to really admit this. He had been spy of Obsidian order and Love was something he had never wasted a though with. Of course, he had enjoyed the presence of women, but never wished a serious relationship.
"What do you plan, Dukat? Kill her because I love her?" Garak asked sharply and aggressively.
"Ah, now you admit that…no, I won't kill her. She's the only one I can trust here on that station."
Garak looked at the woman in surprise. She smiled, but still looked at the desk.
"Miss Riddle had helped me to regain power on Cardassia. She had helped a resistance group to overthrow the government and to put in action High Command and the Obsidian Order again. She unlocked Sisko's try to prevent me from ruling this station and she had perfectly known about my plan to occupy Deep Space Nine. I don't think I'll kill her. By the way, I trust her more than my own men."
Garak turned to her, watching how psychopathic and evil her eyes actually looked. Suddenly a door appeared and he saw Dr. Bashir stepping in.
"Computer, freeze program," Garak said immediately. "Doctor, what can I do for you?"
"Oh, I heard you're out of Odo's arrest. I'm a bit disappointed you didn't tell me. What's this for a program?"
"Nothing special. It is very rude to enter a holoprogram someone else is running."
"Oh, I learnt that from you."
"Of course."
"You wrote that program?"
"No, Miss Riddle did. She gave it to me when I got out of Odo's arrest cell. Not the nicest place on this station, by the way."
"Ah, that explains…that," Dr. Bashir said and pointed at the frozen holofigur of their security chief. "What is it about?"
"Cardassian occupation of Deep Space Nine."
"And Commander Riddle wrote this?"
"Believe me, I was as surprised as you."
"Can we play this together?"
"Oh, I'm not sure if-"
"Computer, run program from the beginning, including Elim Garak and Dr. Julian Bashir as non-holographic characters."
"Run program. Choose simulation."
"Er…simulation one," Dr. Bashir answered while Garak only sighed. This is going to be a great surprise to him, he thought.
The Computer voice said again: "Loading simulation one. Remind: When you die during this program, it will start again from a certain point, with increased difficulty."
"Increased difficulty?" Bashir asked Garak.
"That's Valentina," he simply said and smiled.
"Right."
The office vanished and they were on the Promenade, at Quark's.
"Sit down," Garak offered Julian a chair.
"Damn it!"
"Chief?" Sisko asked and looked over. The console threw sparks.
"I think I damaged…the security in the holosuites," O'Brien answered.
"Don't worry. You're here for repairing. But please first fix the replicators, the holosuites can wait," Sisko instructed and stepped down to assist the Chief with his repairing on ops station.
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