Bennet lay on the bunk in the cell, one hand slung over his eyes. He couldn't remember the last time he had been so neatly trapped. No alibi, plenty of circumstantial evidence, and the power of Star Fleet firmly arrayed against him. What else could go wrong?

"Well, well, what do we have here?" The mocking voice propelled him to his feet, and he sat up to find Quark and Rom grinning at him.

"Quark! What did you tell Odo?"

The Ferengi's smile widened. "Nothing but the truth, old friend. After all, it was very dark after the lights went out. I certainly thought everyone went home, didn't you, Rom?"

Rom sniggered. "Oh, yes, Brother! Definitely."

"Quark, you lying thief! You know perfectly well I was there!"

Quark sighed. "Alas, if only I did. Why wouldn't I want to help my old friend, but... I can hardly swear to something I don't remember."

"You bastard!" Bennet threw himself against the forcefield in a fury, but all he succeeded in doing was giving himself a painful shock. Rom stepped back with a squeak of alarm, but Quark stood his ground, his malicious smile never wavering.

"Goodbye, Jake. If you need anything while you're in the Bajoran mines, don't hesitate to call." Chuckling, he turned away; Rom followed at his heels.

#

Bennet's next visitors were significantly more sympathetic, but they brought even worse news. "Hi, Jake," Dax said mournfully. Kira and Bashir stood beside her, equally downcast.

"Jadzia! Nerys, Julian! Please tell me you're here to let me out."
"Sorry, Jake," Bashir looked horribly embarrassed. "The evidence all points to you."

"You can't believe I would do such a thing!"

Dax met his eyes squarely. "It doesn't look good, Jake. If there's anything you haven't told Odo, you'd better confess."

"Look," Jake tried to laugh, "it's not that serious. I know Odo and your commander don't like me, but once I get down to Bajor -- " He trailed off. Kira was shaking her head.

"I'm sorry, Jake, but you won't be going to Bajor. You assaulted a Cardassian national -- "

"I didn't!" he interrupted.

"And according to our treaty with them," she continued, "Cardassia has the right to try all persons accused of violent crimes against her citizens."

"What?" Bennet went white. "You're sending me to Cardassia?"

"As soon as Odo declares his investigation closed," she nodded unhappily. "I'm sorry, Jake. That's the law."

He sank onto the bunk. "How can you let that law remain on the books? Nerys, you of all people know how the Cardassian courts work."

Bashir cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Surely any court is concerned with discovering the truth and clearing the name of the innocent."

Bennet stared at him incredulously. "Are you serious? Haven't you seen the results of Cardassian 'justice'? They're ruthless, and to them the ultimate crime is assault by a non-Cardassian against one of their citizens!"

Bashir gulped. "It can't be that bad!"

"Oh, I don't know, Doc. I think neural whips and implanted agonizors are pretty bad. One run-in with the Cardassian courts is enough for me."

"You've already been before their magistrates?" Dax asked in surprise.

"If I weren't a married man, I'd be happy to undress and show you my scars, but I wouldn't want you ladies to swoon at the sight of my unattainable physique." Bennet tried to smile, but it was a feeble effort.

"Jake, if you already have a record with the Cardassians, you don't want to return." Kira was deadly serious.

"No kidding, sweet. If they get their hands on me again, they'll do more than decorate my skin. We didn't exactly part on good terms."

"But if it wasn't you, then who attacked Garek?" Bashir burst out.

"I don't know!" Bennet exclaimed. "I did my best to stay out of his way so that I wouldn't have to answer any difficult questions! But that means I know almost nothing about him!"

Dax bit her lip. "I'll talk to the commander, but he seems fairly convinced of your guilt."

"I know," Bennet muttered, discouraged. "I can't seem to get along with C.O.'s. Even when I try to behave, I just irritate them in different ways."

"If you didn't do it, Odo won't claim you did," Kira told him with grave confidence.

"You mean he's never been wrong? Never let the wrong person go or sent the wrong person away?" Bennet asked skeptically.

Kira dropped her gaze. "Well..."

"Great." Bennet threw himself backwards on the bed. "Look, much as I appreciate your visit, I think I've had as much cheering up as I can take."

"Sorry, Jake." With expressions of regret and sorrow, they moved to the door. Bashir was the last to go, and before he exited, Bennet called to him.

"Hey, Doc! Julian! Could I talk to you for a moment?"

"Go on without me," Bashir instructed the others. "I'll be returning to my office afterwards anyway." Walking back to the forcefield, he asked, "What is it, Jake? Can I do anything to help?"

Bennet looked sheepish. "I didn't want to say anything in front of Kira or Dax, but I've, well, I've been having some problems recently. Of a medical nature, if you know what I mean."

"Oh!" Bashir instantly assumed a professional air. "I see. What seems to be the problem?"

"Well, I -- " Bennet broke off. "Doc, it's rather personal. Do you think we could lower the forcefield, just so that I wouldn't have to shout?"

Bashir looked doubtful. "I don't think Odo would -- "

"Is he out there? Can't you ask him?"

"Well, no. There is one of his staff, but -- "

"Could you see if he'd lower the field? Just so that we could talk? He could even stand at the door with a phaser."

Bashir nodded decisively. "I'm sure we could arrange something. After all, you haven't even been convicted yet; it would be unconscionable to refuse you proper medical care. Let me see what I can do."

#

When Odo returned to his office shortly thereafter, he was unsettled to find the guard he'd left on duty was missing. He hurried to the back, where the cells were located, and to his horror discovered his guard unconscious on the floor and a bound and gagged Bashir struggling in Bennet's cell.

He lowered the forcefield and set about untying the doctor. "He jumped me, Odo!" Bashir gasped as soon as the gag was removed. "Bennet said he needed to consult with me about a medical problem, so I had your guard lower the forcefield. As soon as he did, Bennet threw me across the cell and went after the guard. Your man got off a shot from his phaser, but it went wide, and then Bennet disarmed him and knocked him out. I tried to stop Bennet, but he tied me up and gagged me, then he gave the guard an injection from my medical bag!" He paused for breath, then added meditatively, "He was most apologetic."

With an enormous exercise of self-control, Odo refrained from commenting and merely asked, "I trust you can revive my crewman?"

"Yes, Odo," Bashir said meekly.

"Good. In the meantime, I shall recapture Mr. Bennet." Odo strode from the room.

#

Bennet crept around the bend of the corridor, careful to check the area for passerby. He didn't expect to encounter anyone in the docking ring at this hour, but he wasn't taking any chances. He knew that the Vulcan science vessel would be the next ship to leave the station, but he was certain that it was also the first place Odo would search. Besides, Vulcans were fairly immune to his particular brand of charm.

No, the Dozi ship was a much better sanctuary, and he knew from his conversations with the hulking crew that there were several small launches, not unlike shuttlecraft, within the larger vessel. If he could sneak aboard and remain hidden until they left DS9, then it would be simple to steal a launch and return to Free Space. In addition, the Dozi cargo was perishable, so they would be unlikely to react favorably to a long delay should Sisko decide to close the station until he, Bennet, were found. Bennet grinned as he imagined the Dozi's reaction to such news. He didn't think that Sisko would insist on their remaining behind, whether out of concern for the nascent Federation-Dozi relations or a more immediate fear for his station's welfare, lest the highly physical Dozi take exception to his ruling.

He slipped into the airlock adjoining the Dozi ship and breathed a sigh of relief. He was nearly there. He tapped the panel that would cycle the lock and thus missed seeing the control panel at the far end of the airlock begin to melt. His first indication that he was not alone was when Odo tapped him on the shoulder.

"Excuse me," the Constable cooed sarcastically.

Bennet started violently, then grabbed for the hand at his shoulder. Having witnessed Bennet in action against the two Klingons, however, Odo was not about to make so obvious an error and he had already removed his hand. Before Bennet could fully recover from his surprise, Odo's forearm slammed across his back, crushing him against the airlock wall. Bennet took a nasty crack on the jaw which dazed him, and by the time he had recovered enough to struggle, Odo had his arm in a joint lock and was marching him through the corridors.

"Dammit, Odo," he argued over his shoulder, "you can't turn me over to the Cardassians! I'm innocent!"

"I doubt that," Odo retorted. "Nor do I have any reason to believe you were not responsible for the attack on Garek."

Bennet tried to twist out of Odo's grip, but only succeeded in painfully wrenching his shoulder. "I wouldn't advise you to struggle," Odo said calmly. "You may find Dr. Bashir is now unsympathetic to any claims of injury."

"All right," Bennet admitted raggedly, "I did tamper with the computer so that I could avoid Garek, but I didn't try to kill him. Look, Odo, if I had assaulted him, would I have stayed here? In all the confusion with the power failure, it would have been easy to slip away. Why didn't I? Why was I just sitting in Quark's waiting for your people to pick me up?"

"Why were you indeed?" Odo returned the question.

"Because I thought you and Sisko were just going to fume at me for tinkering with the computer!" Jake cried in exasperation. "And I knew from the systems crash that all the evidence had been wiped, so I figured it would be fun to sit there and watch you squirm. I knew you couldn't pin anything on me, so why should I leave?"

"And your DNA pattern in Garek's shop?"

"I snuck in there once to plant the locator. I needed to find some article of clothing or personal effect on which I could hide the locator bug, but I could hardly tell you that before, because it would have been the same as confessing to the computer tampering charge."

"Then why confess now?" Odo sounded wholly unimpressed. "Unless, of course, you only now invented the story."

"Because until Kira and the others visited the cell, I didn't know that you were getting ready to hand me over to the Cardassians! Until then, I figured that in a worst case scenario, you'd hand me over to the Bajorans. Well, I can break out of a Bajoran jail in a second! But the Cardassians are another matter entirely."

By then they were back at the cell and Odo thrust him inside. Bennet recovered his footing and turned around just as the forcefield hummed to life. "Odo, you've got to believe me! If you declare the case closed, I'm as good as dead!"

Odo didn't reply, and Bennet made one last desperate attempt before he left the security area. "At least send Quark back here! Maybe when he hears what will happen, he'll tell the truth!"

Odo's stride didn't falter, and Bennet sank back onto his bed. There was no way of knowing if the Constable would honor his request.