Disclaimer: Paramount Studios and the estate of Gene Roddenberry own copyright of all things Star Trek. The original plot is my own as are any characters created specifically for this story.

'Report.' Such had been Picard's opening comment once again with all command staff gathered in the Observation Lounge. He was beginning to wish he had not made that command to his first officer. Glancing around at the crew sat around the elongated table he pulled down on his tunic and leaned forward in his seat. 'Alright. Ideas. Options. Anyone? Mr Worf?'

Worf turned his head toward Picard grimacing. 'Well sir, this is, as Lieutenant Mendez said to Commander Riker, highly unusual and not in the normal pattern for Cardassian troops, be they ground troops, or Fleet officers. Cardassians do not practise, at least not in the full light of day where anyone could observe them. That part of their nature is forcibly strengthened by the inclusion of at least one member of the Obsidian Order in their group.

I am suspicious. However, the fact remains. The Cardassians were here, correction somebody armed with Cardassian weaponry was here; within one light second of our last sighting of the Enterprise-D. We must take that seriously and endeavour to detect if they obtained anything useful from their visit.'

Geordie LaForge spoke up. 'On that note Captain, if I may be excused. My crew and I have a job to do if we are to map this entire sector and find, hopefully, either the hull of the old girl, or better yet, residual particle decay from the explosion. Worst case scenario is that we find neither, but we do find decaying warp signatures from Cardassian warships.' Picard nodded, to both points. This would indeed be worst case scenario. 'Yes Mr LaForge. Dismissed.' Geordi stood and made his way back to Engineering where he gathered his team together to begin operations as directed.

'Sir, the dilithium.' The young commander stepped back respectfully from his superior who glowered at him. The case was taken from him and its' recipient turned and pressed the correct access code for the panel behind him. He reached inside and very carefully placed the casing into its' correct position within the dilithium articulation chamber, for such it was. The panel slid shut as he again keyed in the correct code. A long slow breath passed his lips as he stepped back and turned to the rail at his side. The tilt of his head back and forth took in the entire height of the warp core, currently dormant.

'Kotin to bridge. The warp core is ready to be brought online at your command.' The reply, crisp and officious could not quite hide the speaker's pleasure at the news. 'Excellent. Do it now.' Kotin turned to the younger officer, and hesitated. In less than a second's time they would either be watching a fully operational warp core being brought online up to full power, or be vaporised in the anti-matter blast that would signal a serious error in their construction techniques. Even a non-serious error might be enough; he recalled how many times as a child he had played with toys, disassembling them and reassembling them, only to find there was a piece left over. As a child such errors were forgivable; as an adult there might be nobody left to forgive him, or he noted with a wry smile, anybody left to know about his error. He delayed the inevitable no longer. He touched the final key of the initialisation sequence and held his breath.

Nothing.

He breathed a sigh of relief. Closely followed by another thought on its' heels. Failure was not an option. They were deep inside enemy territory, their escape hinging on his skill as an engineer. He curse under his breath and rechecked the sequence. Ah! He repeated the sequence. This time to be rewarded with first a low pulsing, growing inside the tube to his left. It grew in tempo and strength. Unknowingly mimicking the act of his opposite number aboard Enterprise-E he stood and watched the blue column of energy growing in intensity as the forebear to that ship, the Enterprise-D breathed once more.

Aboard the –E Geordie was busy alternating between curses and frustration as each new energy pattern threatened to deviate them from their goal. He threw down the stylus he was tapping on his screen and cursed again. 'Dammit! What the hell am I missing here Data?' A quizzical expression passed over the face of Sonya Gomez to his left who glanced behind her at Reg Barclay and grinned. 'Do I tell him or do you want to?' Reg looked up at her from his seat at the systemic diagnostics console. 'Y.. you.. t.. tell him, Ensign.' He sighed, the old stammer back again, once more to return as his bete noir under pressure.

LaForge growled and turned to Gomez irritably. 'Tell him… I mean me… what?'

'Sir, Commander Data returned to the bridge over half an hour ago.' Geordi blinked and looked around the Engineering Deck Two. 'OK let me rephrase then. Dammit Ensign what in the name of hell am I missing here?' 'We.' He stopped, and then sighed in understanding. 'Oh alright Sonya, what are we missing here? And yes I know if Data were here he would probably point out that if we knew what we were missing we wouldn't be missing it! It was rhetorical! I need ideas people not lessons in grammar!' 'W.. w.. w..' He turned. 'Slow down Reg, what's on your mind?'

'What if the Enterprise neither blew up nor were taken by the Cardassians?' LaForge furrowed his brow indicating for the older but junior officer to continue. 'Well, well what if, and I know this is a stretch, what if the hull were somehow shifted by some form of turbulence. It's been over a year since the accident and with enough of a kick to break its' inertia…' Geordie tapped his comm. badge. 'LaForge to Stellar Cartography. Lieutenant Ki Sek. Are there any signs of solar or cosmic phenomena within the last 18 months, two years, which could produce enough of a turbulence or gravitational impact to shift a sizeable object?' 'Ki Sek here. How sizable Commander?' Geordie thought. 'Approximately 1,750,000 tonnes.' 'Wow that's a big piece of junk! What are you looking for?' The reply from Geordie was unusually crisp. Having the first starship on which he had served as Chief Engineer, a ship that would forever hold a special place for him in his memories, described as 'a big piece of junk' was not a remark calculated to improve his humour. 'Enterprise-D.' 'Oh. I'll get back to you. Ki Sek out.'

Evek grunted in satisfaction. The progress report laid out on the PADD in his hand indicated that they were exactly on course for completion. He dropped it on the desk of the Captain's Ready Room and picked up the one next to it, holding the second stage of the plan – the removal of the vessel safely to Cardassia Prime. Not for the first time he scowled noting the name of the officer commanding the expedition deep into Federation space. However his ire was tempered with the knowledge that, should the operation fail, then one of his bitter enemies would take the fall for it. However should the plan succeed then he himself would share in the glory that came with it.

'Gul Evek to Engineering. Status report.' The reply was swift. 'Kotin here sir. Everything is proceeding according to plan. We are completing engine tests up to full and emergency power shortly. Testing will then commence on the primary defensive and offensive systems. Finally testing will be completed on the Structural Integrity and the Inertial Damping Fields. We will then be ready to get underway.' 'Good. Evek out.' Praise was not in Evek's nature. As a career Cardassian military officer he gave orders without any thought to the possibility that they might not be carried out. That was taken for granted. He stood and paced to the window behind the desk and looked out. Restless, he was bored with being cooped up on this ship and yearned for action. Reflecting briefly that he had not joined the military to sit behind a desk, a grunt was again the only response.

'Anything?' Ki Sek was anxious. Now the whole weight of their mission to the Veridian system was on her shoulders. If she and her team could not deliver, they might never find out if the Enterprise-D were still in serviceable order or not. Quite why this was so vital to know she neither knew nor understood. She did however know that it was her duty to find the trace elements the Enterprise' Chief Engineer had requested. Leaning over the shoulder of her colleague, Ensign Bolek she sighed. 'Nothing?' Bolek, a Sartin with golden skin and deep blue multifaceted eyes turned to her. 'On the contrary Lieutenant. Look here.' He pointed. She leaned over his shoulder at the display in front of him, and grinned. That would indeed explain the anomaly.

She tapped her communicator. 'Lieutenant Ki Sek to Lieutenant Commander LaForge.' 'LaForge here. What have you got for me Lian?' She told him. He swore, then he laughed, then he tapped his communicator. 'LaForge to Captain Picard. I think we have your answer sir. May we meet with you in the Observation Lounge?' Picard's answer was swift. 'All command staff to the Observation Lounge. Picard out.'

After a brief pause to round up Reg Barclay and Ki Sek Lian, Geordie made his way up to Deck 1, the bridge, and crossed the back wall to pass into the Observation Lounge. The younger officer, Ki Sek was nervous, as Picard was quick to notice. 'Relax Lieutenant. Mr LaForge says you have good news for us.'

Ki Sek took her appointed place at the head of the conference table and tapped the wall display into life. She coughed. LaForge took his cue and joined her. 'OK as you all know we need to find the last resting place of the Enterprise-D. The last four hours have yielded nothing useful to my teams in trying to detect any trace of either the E-D, or anything else of interest.' This last phrased very carefully as the crew were strictly on 'need to know' regarding the Cardassian involvement, and Ki Sek did not need to know. He continued. 'However, as usual Mr Barclay came up with the goods. Tell them Reg.' Barclay spoke up, although having spoken to the same group on several previous occasions he had lost the nervousness so apparent before. 'Well, it occurred to me that we were looking in the wrong place. The Enterprise hulk would have been an inert object, and as such obeying Newton's First Law, that being an object's natural state is rest until acted upon by an external influence. I wondered what that might be.' LaForge smiled, 'which is where Lieutenant Ki Sek's expertise came in', he deferred to her, 'Lieutenant? The stage is yours.'

Ki Sek stepped back to the display and turned to face her audience. 'Ladies and Gentlemen, approximately 8 months ago the comet Sarek', Picard smiled recalling how disturbed the normally placid Vulcan had been when the comet had borne his name, 'passed through this system. Not in itself an unusual occurrence. However through an unusually large piece of interference by Lady Luck, this time it passed close by what we believe to have been the last resting place of the NCC-1701-D, USS Enterprise-D, Galaxy class starship. At roughly 2.5 million tonnes without the saucer section the Galaxy class is not exactly a lightweight by any means. However, Sarek is a comet of some 56.4 million tonnes. We suggest that the passage of such a massive object at what appears to have been only a few thousand kilometres would have been enough to capture the Enterprise-D in the gravity well of the comet and arrest it from its' inertial state to become a slave to the comet and be, essentially, dragged along behind it, and probably for a fair distance. However that is Mr LaForge's department not mine.' She turned to him. 'I've had my team upload all the information on the direction, speed and magnitude of the comet. Given the last known position of the Enterprise as well, we ought to be able to extrapolate the current one.' Barclay coughed. 'If I may, I think I ought to return to Engineering to assist in the work.' Picard glanced over at him 'Agreed Mr Barclay. Dismissed.' Barclay left and Ki Sek made her own request and left with him to return to Stellar Cartography.

Picard looked round at his fellow officers. 'Well, that about wraps this up for now. We should return to our stations to continue planning. This time with the assumption we find the Enterprise-D or evidence of her abduction. Dismissed.' The grouping broke up and dispersed to their duties in preparation for the task ahead.

The stone columns reached high above, testimony to the construction skills of earlier generations. Resplendent in times of celebration with banners, the façade was now cold and dark almost, in Earth terms, gothic in appearance. The eye was guided down the centre of the high vaulted room to the throne at the far end. Occupied currently by the latest in a long line of rulers over this domain. At this precise point in time however, the head of the High Council in question was not in the best of moods, and in the mood to shoot the messenger, a not uncommon literal fate for the bearer of bad tidings in his culture.

'What do you mean, 'missing'?' Anger unmistakable in the tone. The officer stood proud yet uncommonly wary. 'Sir, it is not in the storage facility.' The reply was icy. 'Precisely where is it then? Be warned. You next words may be your last for this incompetence!' Now for the first time in his life the officer tasted something unfamiliar to him. Fear. 'I have my men conducting a thorough investigation. It shall be found Chancellor!'

The one eye swivelled in its' socket to fix the officer with a penetrating stare as its' owner scowled. 'For your sake I hope you are correct! Now get out of my sight!' He drummed his fingers on the carved arm of the massive chair in which he sat. This was not good, not good at all. To lose something of such vital, such strategic, importance was a devastating blow to the Empire. He could only trust now in the skill of his officers to trace and retrieve the item in question. To fail in this would bring all the Empire's allies and enemies flocking, and in the hands of an enemy, the Bolians for instance…. He did not complete the thought.

'Success Captain!' The jubilation in LaForge's voice was unmistakable. Picard smiled and glanced at Riker before responding. 'I take it that indicates a favourable result to your investigations Mr LaForge?' LaForge's tone now took on a more guarded tone. 'Well yes and no Captain. We've found trace elements that indicate the passage of the Engineering hull of the Enterprise-D. However, the bad news is that we have also found traces of several warp signatures at the same location.' Here he paused. 'Cardassian warp signatures.'

Picard sighed, although this was not an entirely unexpected development. 'Ensign McKnight, set course for Deep Space 9. Maximum warp. Engage!' The blonde head bobbed as the ensign at Helm guided the immense vessel at her hands from relative rest executing a neat sidestep of Einstein to enter warp space and set the USS Enterprise-E on course to the space station on the edge of the Federation/Cardassian border, where destiny awaited her.

'And this is ship's Counsellor, Deanna Troi of Betazed.' BETAZED! He gulped. Oh no, that meant.. He looked across at her. Yep. She returned his look and smiled, knowingly. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, opened them, and groaned.

'Damn, I don't believe it', he muttered, 'a Betazoid. Now I'm losing the battle before I've even introduced myself. If things get much worse..' Unaware his mumbling was just audible. 'Something wrong Doctor?' Inquired Kira. 'Er.. No Colonel, absolutely nothing. Nothing at all. No.' He slammed his mouth shut, aware that he was rambling. He rubbed his hand over his face. He was sweating. On balance today was so far going rather worse than even he usually managed. Which if he had stopped to think about it, was quite some achievement.

'Good, then I assume we may continue. Captain, may I introduce my staff? My Chief of Operations, Miles O'Brien.. I believe you already know. Lieutenant Ezri Dax, a Trill. Also science officer for DS9. Doctor Julian Bashir, Chief Medical Officer. Finally, Odo, our Security Chief. Of my staff I believe Odo will be of the greatest assistance in the current situation.

Thank you everybody. Dismissed.'

The DS9 staff broke up, and, following Picard's direction to the Enterprise' bridge crew to do the same mingled together. 'Odo', called Kira, 'a word if I may'. He turned, and approached them. 'Captain Picard has brought us an interesting problem, and one which as I mentioned you may be able to shed some light on. Shall we?' He directed them to the nearby turbo-lift. Picard beckoned Data to follow.

Odo caught up with Troi as she walked along the corridor. 'Councillor may I have a word please?' Deanna stopped and turned 'Certainly Constable, Odo isn't it?' He nodded 'You are Councillor, Troi. Any relation to the charming Lwaxana Troi?' Deanna blinked 'Uh why yes, she is my mother.' Odo smiled 'Indeed. A remarkable woman!' He turned and walked away. Deanna regarded him with a puzzled expression and followed behind.

Picard waited until they had all settled in Kira's office, with the door secured before he began his brief. Beginning with the latter part of Data's shift. Moving to the staff meeting. Finally, to the communiqué with Admiral Henry of Starfleet Command. He waited. Not for long though. 'Macet!' Spat Kira, 'It has to be! Captain I can smell him all over this!'

'Interesting', put in Odo, 'a nice theory Colonel. Unfortunately, one full of holes. Gul Macet has been on Cardassia Prime for the past six months. It seems he was a little careless in one of his operations and a senior politician's son died as a result.

No, I am afraid that the Gul's attention, far from being on a hunt for bits of a Galaxy Class starship, are more likely to be on his own skin.'

'Then who?' The door chime announced a party outside. Odo looked at Kira ostensibly for permission, 'Colonel, if I may?' Kira nodded, 'Certainly Constable. Come.' The door opened, and a lieutenant of the security staff entered. With a certain irate Ferengi in tow. 'Colonel, I pro..', Quark began hotly. Kira cut him off with a motion of her hand. 'Constable, if you would like to continue?' Odo nodded. 'Thank you. Now then Quark, perhaps you tell us all you know about Cardassian matters of late.'

'Well I er, Gul Macet is facing an inquiry on Cardassia Prime. Something to do with causing the death of ProConsul Torel's youngest son… I don't know. Anyway…', Kira growled. Was she the only one who didn't know that? She made a mental note to interrogate her sources thoroughly on the subject. 'Yes, yes', cut in Odo, 'But what of the other Guls. Madred for instance, or Darhe'el, or even Evek. Ah, so it's Evek is it?'

'I don't know what you mean. I'm an honest bartender, trying to make an honest credit..' He fumbled an answer. 'That makes a refreshing change', Odo's cutting wit was famous, 'what brought that on? But don't change the subject. Evek.' Odo had noticed Quark shift uneasily at the name, becoming, if possible, even guiltier looking than normal. And he wasn't about to let this particular fish off the hook. 'And if you don't tell me I'll lock you up. I know you've been watering the Altairian brandy again. But I wouldn't worry. Rom can look after the bar until you get out. You can recover from bankruptcy you know.'

'All right, all right. I'll tell you.

The person you need to watch is Jaglom Shrek. An Yriddian. He was asking me about contacting Evek just yesterday. But I sent him off. I won't deal with Cardassians. I do have standards you know! And that's the truth. All I know.'

'Standards', repeated Odo to himself, seeming shocked, 'Quark actually has standards.' Ignoring the glowering Ferengi. 'May I go now?' Quark inquired testily, 'Rom, as you pointed out is quite capable of having me in the poor-house in the time this meeting has taken.' Odo recovered. Or had it been sarcasm? 'Yes you may go.'

'Thank you Quark for your valuable assistance', muttered the aggrieved Ferengi as he stalked out, followed by the security staffer. The door hissed shut behind them.

'Now, gentlemen, and lady', began Picard, 'where does that leave us? As I see it all we have so far is a meeting between a Cardassian Gul and an Yrid..' His voice trailed off and he looked thoughtful. He tapped his communicator, 'Commander Worf. Please be good enough to join us in Colonel Kira's office.'

Within minutes Worf had joined them and introductions were over. Picard voiced his thoughts.

'Commander, The last time we were here was the occasion when you were misinformed that your father, Mogh, was being held alive by the Romulans. Am I correct in believing that the informant on that occasion was an Yriddian?' Worf nodded. Picard continued, 'one by the name of Jaglom Shrek perhaps?'

A ferocious snarl erupted from Worf's throat. Of such vehemence that even Picard was momentarily taken aback. But Worf recovered quickly and apologized for his outburst. 'Quite all right, Commander. I assume that to have been a positive response?' Worf simply nodded.

'Tell me Colonel, is this Shrek a frequent visitor to DS9?' Kira responded. 'Yes Captain. He's here generally once every six weeks or so. Although now you mention it, he has been here quite a lot recently. I'd have to check my logs to be sure, but..'

'Not necessary. That will suffice for now. Although we may require that information at a later date. Very well, here's what I suggest..'

Julian was on the verge of giving up. That was the third time.. He felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked round, smiling. Straight into the smiling face of Deanna Troi. He gulped. Uh Oh. Here it comes. Again. He tensed, mentally already flinching. 'Relax, I won't bite', she responded. He groaned. 'I knew, as soon as Captain Picard said 'Betazoid'. I..'

'Yes, I know. Don't worry. I'm really quite flattered.' Bashir blinked. 'You are?' Incredulous. 'Yes, why? Does that surprise you?' He nodded, 'Frankly, yes. I don't seem to have much luck with the opposite sex.' Troi regarded him. 'And why is that, do you think?' He shrugged; 'I wish I knew', he responded fervently. 'I try hard enough!'

'Maybe too hard. Lighten up. Let yourself go with the situation. Don't plan ahead. That always fails. By the way, you aren't doing badly so far. See if you can keep it up.' Julian gulped. Success wasn't something he was used to. 'Er. Would you like something to eat? Chocolate perhaps?'

'Well you seem to have done your homework. That's one thing you've got right. Yes, a double chocolate sundae would be wonderful.' He grinned. 'I'll see what I can do.' He left her to go to a nearby replicator. He was slightly confused. He'd survived the initial conversation without getting his face slapped. From hereon in it was unknown territory. Which shouldn't worry him too much, since women were largely unknowns to him anyway. The realization strangely felt comforting. Since he now recognized that he didn't know what he was doing, he relaxed, on familiar ground. He grinned; it was perverse, but true.

He returned to her and they sat down at a table. He watched, enthralled as she carefully guided her spoon around the edge of the dish. Gathered the twin layers on the spoon and raised it to her lips. She closed her eyes and savoured the taste. Then opened them. 'Aren't you eating?' He shook his head. 'Er, no. I was enjoying watching you eat. Quite an experience. You do like your food don't you?'

'Only chocolate. Chocolate is not a food. It is serious. It is a religion.' He listened bemused as she led him through the intricacies of what she referred to as the Chocolate Ceremony. He decided that she was a little strange. But harmless. 'You can really pick them!' He thought to himself, still smiling at her in his usual totally baffled way.

'There is one thing better than chocolate,' he offered. 'No, it's better than sex', she responded. He winced. He'd forgotten; How? ; that she was Betazoid. He made a mental note to try thinking with his head for a change. Also to check that his memory didn't contain any further surprises. 'I can't remember', he replied sadly. Then looked at her. She grinned. He looked at her and laughed. Soon their sides were aching with the strain, and they sat back weakly to recover their breath.

'Oh God', he groaned, 'why do I bother?' He sighed. 'Habit? Starfleet is just a job. Women are a career.' She responded. 'Yes', he sighed, then looked up sharply, 'Hey, not fair, you tricked me. Besides you're wrong. Starfleet is a career. My career. Women are a hobby. But you know the old saying 'All work and no play'...'

''Makes Jack a dull boy' ', she finished, 'and you like to play. A lot.' He grimaced unhappily. 'Would you like to see the worm-hole? I know of a place where you can get a really good view of it.'

'Now that sounds like a standard ploy 'would you like to see the worm-hole?'', she grinned, 'but, yes, why not?' They both stood, and Bashir led the way to a turbolift. They were just about to board it when; 'Deanna!' They turned. Beverly Crusher approached them, and Deanna introduced her properly to Bashir. 'Deanna', she repeated, 'I've just been to the Promenade. They sell the most wonderful things there. Clothes, food, jewellery. You must come and see.'

'Well we were..' She began. 'No, go ahead', offered Bashir, 'in fact I'll join you if I may? It's been a while since I spoke to Garak. He owns the tailor's shop. He's a good friend of mine. Also the only Cardassian left on DS9 since the occupation.' The two women agreed instantly. It had been too long since they had worn anything but Starfleet uniform, and when all was said and done they were women. Clothes they liked. Bashir had to practically run to keep up with them.