DS9: Okanogan Incident Chapter 1
Chapter One Unknown ShuttleJulian's knee bobbed up and down, his eyes darting to the Chrono and flight guide at the front of the cabin. It would be less than thirty minutes before they would dock at Deep Space Nine.
The bright lights of the shuttle causing even his eyes discomfort.
He didn't bother calming himself down, as his deplorable state would add verisimilitude to his cover of a spiralling Star Fleet doctor, probably suffering from PTSD after the Dominion War.
He felt guilty for coming to the station and manipulating Kira Nerys, his former comrade in arms.
He knew that Ezri Dax, his ex-girlfriend, was scheduled to spend the Bajoran Holiday of Hospitality with Nerys, by only contacting her with six hours' notice of his arrival, it would force her to take drastic measures.
Julian hoped that the drastic measure would be to contact his old friend Garak.
His eyes flicked forward again, only nineteen minutes now, until they dock.
The shuttle was hot and humid, despite the modern design. The shuttle probably wasn't under the care of an engineer as capable as his old friend Miles O'Brien. A soft smile formed on his lips, thinking of the other man's complaints if he saw the state of this shuttle.
The shuttle definitely could use an air freshener, the scent of the other passengers was almost overpowering.
Julian's smile faded as he remembered the reason why he couldn't tell Miles about this journey back to Deep Space Nine.
The damn USS Okanogan! He squeezed his eyes shut at the intrusive memory.
Only seven more minutes to go.
The stalking had started near the end of the Dominion War, a lip stick message scrawled on his bathroom mirror: I'll be watching you!
At the time he had reported it to Odo, but the Security Chief wasn't in the best of shape. Who would be in a war against his own people.
But still Odo had looked at the security records, there had been a level five medical override used on his door. It had been while Julian was off station, serving on the Defiant.
It was during the apex of the war, multiple ships and crews were passing through the station every day.
Odo had pithily asked if Julian 'had any love affairs with his medical staff that had gone sour?'
Julian had not, except for Leeta and Ezri, he had kept his liaisons, consensual, fun and above all brief. Due to his clandestine position on Deep Space Nine, he hadn't dared to start anything deeper. His thoughts turned a bit wistful as he remembered a certain pair of bright blue eyes.
But no, there was no one Julian could think of that would write the message.
'I hope this works,' Julian thought, before noticing how tightly his hands are gripped into fists.
Consciously he forces his hands to relax. He rubs his forehead.
The stalking had continued with what Miles called at the time, 'practical jokes'. His replicator had been reprogrammed to make his underwear one size too small. That had taken him two weeks to figure out. He remembered Miles laughing until he cried as he thought of Julian suffering through tight jocks.
That had been done by a standard maintenance access code, nothing special about it that Miles could see.
Over six months there was just a build-up of small inconveniences, like missing med kits, discrepancies in the supplies, where the access log showed Julian taking supplies or equipment, when he hadn't even been on the station.
Three minutes before they reached the dock.
"Passengers please prepare to disembark the shuttle at the attendant's direction. Please do not step in to the aisle until we are fully docked, and the Airlock has been engaged," the disembodied voice instructed through the shuttle's speakers.
The noise rose in the cabin as the various passengers began to gather their belongings. Excitedly talking with each other.
Julian couldn't help but cast a discerning eye over the passengers, to see if anyone was paying attention to him. No one seemed to be watching him.
There was a neatly dressed woman who seemed out of the ordinary compared to the other people in the cabin.
'Don't be paranoid, you checked the manifest before boarding the shuttle,' he reminded himself, shaking his head as if trying to dislodge the persistent thought.
Julian's eyes narrowed as he assessed those around him for possible weapons. Nothing.
He wiped his damp palms on the legs of his uniform pants. He caught his reflection in the shiny surface of another passenger's bag.
He winced at his appearance, he was a mess. Beard overgrown, hair shaggy, and haggard looking. It took Julian effort to look this disreputable.
Julian sighed.
All the better for playing the part of a fallen hero.
'Hell, this was driving him mental.'
Julian craned his neck so that he could look out the viewing window at the front of the shuttle, where the more expensive seats were located. He shifted in his threadbare seat. The grey arm rests had been rubbed smooth by countless others before him.
They were so close now, that Julian wasn't able to see the whole station. Just the dark pitted metal of the docking ring as the clunks and clangs vibrated through the shuttle.
Julian hugged his standard issue duffel close to his body. His heartbeat picked up. He was sure this would work.
He hoped Nerys had taken the bait.
He would know in the next three hours, whether or not she had booked him on the next scheduled freighter to Cardassia.
To Garak.
Conversations: Kira and GarakFive hours earlier
The colour balance was off, the vibrant colours leached from the image, Kira wished it had been fixed. Sometimes she missed the old days, where Chief O'Brien would be cursing up a storm about shoddy Cardassian equipment. Yet somehow, he was always able to get it running again.
She tried not to sigh.
"Commander Kira!" Garak's voice interrupted her thoughts. He didn't seem to change at all, always dapper in his well-cut suits. She idly wondered if he still made his own clothes.
"Garak! Nice to see you," she said. "I won't take much of your time." Kira intended to get this over with as quick as possible.
"Is this about Doctor Bashir?" Garak inquired.
Nerys sighed, "I only found out he was on his way twenty minutes ago!" A slight frown could be made out despite the poor picture quality.
"I was just about to call you," Garak admitted with a smile. He wondered what had changed for his old friend to be finally seeking him out after all these years. He felt his stomach roil, something that happened a lot less often now the war was over.
"If that's how it's going to be, give me warning next time the Pakled are enroute." She laughed, not surprised that Garak still had his contacts on the station. "Look, I need your help."
"Of course, Commander," Garak replied.
"Julian can't stay on the station this time. I need somewhere for him to go." Kira started to explain.
"He is still my friend, Garak, or I wouldn't be looking for somewhere he can go. But Ezri's due on the station in the next ten hours, with more preplanning, and I don't need another war." She couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt. She tried to keep her face neutral, not wanting the perceptive Cardassian to know how she was feeling.
Both Ezri and Julian were her friends. And Julian had betrayed Ezri's trust when he broke into her files. It also ended their somewhat tepid romantic relationship.
She had been careful in the six years since that event to remain outside of their arguments. To this day she didn't understand his motivation for snooping in Ezri's confidential patient files. He may have been arrogant and annoying, but he was always conscientious of his patients.
Nerys couldn't help frowning as she remembered an argument between the doctor and Sisko she had witnessed. Where Julian had absolutely refused to divulge a patient's confidential information.
How could a man who defended his patients that fiercely betray his colleagues? But he must have done it. He never offered any defence, just took the reprimand, and slunk off. Her eyes softened; her lips were down turned as she thought of Julian.
"He is always welcome here," Garak assured her with a smile. While staying calm for Kira, he felt an uptick in his pulse. He was worried about what it could mean for his small family.
How convenient for Julian to be coming to the station just as Ezri was about to arrive. Garak almost snorted. He knew his old friend, better than anyone else on the station, he suspected, and he was deeply worried.
"What's your plan?" Kira pressed, wanting to make sure that Julian will be safe on Cardassia with Garak.
Kira had been surprised at the end of the war when she realised Julian and Garak hadn't kept up their friendship. Of all the people that had bonded during those first intense years on Deep Space Nine, she was sure that it would be Julian and Garak who maintained that friendship.
As far as Kira knew, she was the last of their merry little family who regularly kept in touch with Julian. She had always suspected that Julian's and Garak's friendship was much deeper than either of the two men advertised.
"I'm not sure," Garak admitted, with the barest tilt of the head.
He truly had no plan for Julian's visit. But he was concerned, things must be coming to a head if he is seeking him out.
"You must have a plan?" Kira insisted.
"Oh, I have many plans," Garak admitted with a sigh.
"Anything you'd care to share?" Kira asked, curious.
"Perhaps a few lunchtime conversations. Some culture, visit some museums," Garak offered. Trying to make sure he didn't raise Kira's suspicions.
"Thank you, Garak," Kira said, relief clear in her voice. "I would normally welcome Julian to the station. But with Ezri and what happened, well, I am glad you understand."
"Always a pleasure for one of my friends from my Deep Space Nine days."
Garak tries not to hurry through their goodbyes, but he sighs in relief when Kira cuts the connection.
'Julian is coming here' he thinks worriedly as he gently rocks himself in his office chair. They have kept in sporadic contact with each other over the years. Using the same drop box method, they used to clandestinely communicate with each other during their time on Deep Space Nine.
It was with considerable surprise that Garak, shortly after the first year that the Federation had taken over the station, that he discovered that one Doctor Julian Bashir was a covert operative.
He never did discover who Julian worked for. Garak knew he wasn't an agent of the Federation's Section 31; he was much too good to belong to that organisation. Julian reluctantly confessed to being a deep undercover agent. But he never revealed or even hinted for whom he worked.
Briefly Garak considered a Klingon agent, they had certainly been known for infiltrating Star Fleet in the past. But Julian was ultimately too patient to be a Klingon.
Then Garak thought he might be a Romulan. But he was never sure. One thing he was sure about was that Julian was the best cyber hacker he had ever met, bar none.
In one of his wilder fancies he wondered if he could be Cardassian.
If there is one thing that he is certain about is that Julian didn't break into Ezri Dax's files and he didn't casually store said files on his personal server using a data-pad. It's unthinkable.
Garak pushed himself from the chair and walked to stand by his window in his office. He liked looking out over the city and watch as it was slowly brought back to life. He felt a lump form in his throat as he thought about the resilience of his own people.
He thought of all the covert intelligence Julian had slipped him during his time in the resistance. How that information had helped free his people from Dominion oppression. On Cardassian or Jem'Hadar troop movements. What the Vorta were up to. The supply runs. Truly astounding information and most importantly always accurate.
One grey hand rested on the window frame as he leant towards the warm sun flooding through the window.
He thought about their last real communication. Over a suspiciously excellent communication link. His old friend had looked unusually worried, both men shared a deep pragmatism, but Julian had seemed shook up by the incident with Ezri's pad.
Garak would even go as far as to say that Julian looked spooked.
Garak had never known the man to be anything but confident and a little cocky, as if he knew a secret that no one else knew.
Julian had given Garak a precis of the stalking that Julian had been experiencing, that seemed to culminate in the frame-up for breaking into Ezri's files. Julian had reluctantly told Garak, that he would have to track down this mysterious stalker and he would contact Garak when he did.
But it was over six years since he last saw his friend.
And three years since the mysterious Okanogan incident. Garak hadn't delved too deeply into that affair, not wanting to tip off anyone stalking Julian. All he knew was that it had fractured Julian's relationship with Miles O'Brien.
Garak didn't think it could be good news for the way Julian had arranged for his meeting with him.
He thought it was time to find out what happened on the USS Okanogan.
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