The next one of my older Sutherland stories to be revised and posted is Shore Leave. This story is a more comedic tale as the captain and crew visit Deep Space Nine after their recent encounter in "Shakedown Cruise". It also sets into motion plot threads that see their resolution in at least two other stories, "Ties that Bind", and "Rocks and Shoals." And here we go...Deep Space Nine will never be the same again...
Shore Leave: Part One
Deep Space Nine
As the circular open elevator carrying the two officers stopped at the Operations Center, the Trill science officer for the space station, Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax laughed, “You should have seen the look on Captain Hanson’s face when, instead of the bridge operations simulator that he’d called up in the holodeck for our class, an Argellian pleasure house appeared! And then two holographic Orion women wearing nothing more than thongs and a smile went up to him and…well…I’ll tell you the rest later… ” she teased as she noticed Chief O’Brien and a couple of Bajoran techs avidly listening in.
Between fits of laughter, DS9’s Bajoran first officer, Kira Nerys exclaimed, “I can’t believe it! How did you two pull that off?”
Snickering, Jadzia explained, “We spent the night before breaking through the holodeck security systems and firewalls and slipped Liz’s program into the system…”
Shaking her head, Kira smiled, “Well…I’m glad the two of you aren’t cadets anymore…”
“On no…” Dax exclaimed, flashing an evil grin, “She’s much worse now…” Turning towards the Bajoran officer manning the communications system, the Trill officer requested, “The Sutherland should be coming into our space pretty soon. When they hail us, could you ask Captain Shelby to beam over to Operations?”
“Yes sir,” The tech crisply acknowledged.
Taking a look at a padd given to her by a Starfleet officer, Major Kira sighed, “Looks like we’re going to have a busy couple of days. The IKS T’Ong has just received clearance to orbit…Sutherland and that Ferengi freighter that it’s towing should be arriving within the next couple of hours…and a Cardassian freighter has just arrived.” Turning to Chief O’Brien, the major asked, “Chief? How are things going on your end?”
Shaking his head in disgust, the burly Irish chief petty officer grimaced, “The airlock at Runabout Pad A needs to be repaired, and we’ve got an issue with the waste reclamation system backing up into one of the cargo bays, plus we’ve been busy running changeling sweep drills with Odo and security and…” Miles sighed, “…Quark is still complaining about the air filtration system in his bar.”
“Well…Quark can wait until his lobes fall off, Chief.” Kira declared with a smirk. All amusement disappearing from her face, she added, “The changeling sweeps have top priority…the other station related problems come second…Quark is at the bottom of the list.”
“Right, Major,” The Chief quickly answered back as he made his way to the elevator.
“Just another day on Deep Space Nine,” Jadzia snickered as she assumed her position at the science station.
***************************************
USS Sutherland
“Captain’s log—Stardate 49001.3—Captain Elizabeth Shelby recording. After our encounter with the entity, we rendezvoused with the USS Hypatia and beamed over a skeleton crew under the command of my science officer, Lt. Commander Varok. The Sutherland then returned to the derelict Ferengi freighter, the Pursuit of Commerce, and we are now taking it in tow with us to Deep Space Nine where we will put in for a brief period of rest and recreation. While there, I plan to meet with Captain Sisko as regards both the entity and the contraband that we found on the freighter. Also, I am looking forward to meeting up with an old friend…”
“Sir?” Lieutenant Lavelle, currently manning the helm, called out, trying to get his captain’s attention. “We’re approaching Deep Space Nine.”
“Very good, Mr. Lavelle.” Shelby responded, her body language giving no indication as to her growing anticipation at her pending reunion with Jadzia. Addressing Lieutenant Atoa, she ordered, “Open hailing frequencies.”
“Hailing frequencies open, sir.” Atoa acknowledged. “DS9 is responding.”
“Thank you, Mr. Atoa, put them on main viewer,” the captain commanded as a Bajoran woman wearing the grey uniform of the planetary militia appeared on the screen. “DS 9 Operations…” Captain Shelby said with a friendly smile, “…this is the USS Sutherland requesting docking instructions for us and a security detail for the Pursuit of Commerce.”
“You’re cleared to assume standard orbit, Sutherland. Tugs are being dispatched to take charge of the Ferengi freighter,” the duty officer replied. Then, after a moment, the Bajoran again spoke, “Captain Shelby?”
“Yes?” Liz replied.
“Lieutenant Commander Dax sends her regards and asks if you can beam over directly to operations?”
“Tell her to expect me in five minutes.” Liz replied, her smile growing larger. Vacating the center chair, she turned towards her first officer, “Commander, you have the bridge.” Seeing the look of anticipation on the faces of her bridge crew, she added in a mildly teasing voice, “Oh…I almost forgot. Shore leave is authorized for all off duty personnel.”
“Yes sir.” Hobson acknowledged, his lips turning up into the slightest of half smiles before turning his attention first to Anara and then to Lavelle. “Mr. Rysyl—coordinate with the tugs from DS 9 as regards the freighter. Mr. Lavelle—once DS 9 has taken charge of the Ferengi ship, proceed with station control instructions.”
“Aye, sir.” Lavelle answered crisply, then, turning towards Ensign Django sitting next to him, he cracked a lopsided grin as he quipped in a whisper, “Someone better tell DS 9 to look out ‘cause the Sutherland’s coming to town!”
**************************************
After she had materialized on the transporter pad of the former Cardassian station, Captain Shelby looked about. Noting the heavy functional design that typified Cardassian structures, Liz couldn’t help but recall a lecture on comparative aesthetics given by her favorite Academy instructor, Ledron Davin. Even now, after all these years, she could still hear the reedy voice of the Zeon scholar…
And what does Cardassian architecture tell us about this people? Well…its emphasis on function over form informs us that pragmatism is a very important aspect of their psyche…
“Betts!”
Her face breaking out into a wide grin as she recognized the source of the greeting, Shelby called back as she leaped off the transporter pad, “Jadzia!” Embracing the raven-haired Trill in a tight hug, Liz then stepped back and noticing the extra pip on her friend’s collar, she teasingly congratulated her on her recent promotion. “Way to go, Lieutenant Commander! It’s about time! Of course, if you’d have listened to me when we were cadets and gone command or tactical/security like I did, you’d be a captain by now!”
“No thanks!” Jadzia smiled back. “I see what Ben has to put up with every day and he can have it.” Hearing a throat being cleared, Dax momentarily blushed. “Oops…forgive my manners,” she apologized, gesturing towards the dark-skinned Starfleet captain and the Bajoran officer standing next to him, “Captain Elizabeth Shelby, I believe you know Captain Sisko, commanding officer of Deep Space Nine and this is Major Kira Nerys, first officer.”
“Congratulations on your promotion, Ben.” Shelby said with a smile as she extended her hand, “It’s about time.”
Taking his fellow captain’s hand in his, Ben grinned, “Thank you, Elizabeth. How long has it been?”
“About three—four years,” Liz replied with a smile as Captain Sisko turned towards his Bajoran first officer.
“Captain Shelby and I ran into each other on several occasions while I was on the Defiant project.” Ben explained as the foursome walked into his office.
“I see…” Kira remarked, inwardly chuckling at how it seemed that almost all Starfleet officers seemed to know—or know of—each other.
Chuckling, Liz said as she regarded Kira, “Pleasure meeting you, Major. I hope you won’t hold whatever they might have told you against me.”
“I’ll try not to…” The Bajoran woman said with a smile as she remembered her earlier conversation with Jadzia.
Flashing a mischievous grin, Liz addressed the station commander as the group took their seats around the station commander’s desk. “I stopped by your father’s restaurant before heading out here…”
Laughing, Ben quipped, “I hope you didn’t leave him in the same condition you did the last time you were there…” He teased as he recalled his father telling him about when Liz had showed up at the restaurant with an especially attractive and voluptuous Betazoid woman.
Blushing slightly, Liz remembered the surprised look on the old Cajun chef’s face when he popped in on the couple in the private dining booth that time. Biting back her initial retort as she spied Major Kira out of the corner of her eye, Liz instead settled for a much more innocent response, “Don’t worry Ben, I was a good girl. I didn’t go a la carte this time, I stuck to the menu.”
Feeling somewhat left out of the conversation, Kira prompted, “You should take a tour of the Defiant when you get the chance.”
“Thanks, I’d like to see how she handles...” Liz replied with genuine sincerity and then her lips turned up into a rueful grin, “I’m afraid we gave it a little too much juice though.”
Smiling broadly as well as feeling slightly guilty as he realized that his first officer was being left out of the banter, Sisko responded, making a point to include Kira, “That’s all right. We’ve managed to iron out most of the bugs thanks to Chief O’Brien.”
“That’s good to hear. I remember working with the Chief while I was on the Enterprise. He’s a damned good engineer.” Liz praised and then teased with a wicked grin, “If it wasn’t for the fact that I’ve already got one hell of an engineer I’d try to steal him away from you.”
“Not a chance.” Ben riposted with a crooked grin of his own. Then, his face taking on a much more serious demeanor, he queried, “I understand you found something interesting in Subsector 310?”
“A couple of things actually,” Liz answered back, her grin also vanishing. “But I think we might want to discuss them with your security chief present.”
“Well…Constable Odo and Lieutenant Commander Eddington should be here any moment now.” Ben said as a humanoid figure wearing the tan uniform of Bajoran security and a balding human wearing the black jacket with yellow shoulders that marked him as Starfleet operations exited the elevator and quickly entered the Captain’s office.
“Constable Odo…Lieutenant Commander Eddington.” Sisko said by way of introduction, “This is Captain Shelby of the USS Sutherland. Picking up the baseball that sat on his desk, he turned his attention to the visiting captain as the two newcomers took their seats. “So…what did you find out there, Captain?”
“As regards the entity…” Liz replied, “My science officer, Mr. Varok, is still analyzing what data we have. We do know that it was about to metamorphose, and that it subsisted off of the emotional and mental energy of sentient beings—that was what happened to both the Ferengi ship and the crew of the Hypatia and what it tried to do to us. We also know that it was headed here intending to do the same thing to everyone on the station in order to complete its change—but, unfortunately, that’s about it for now.”
“I see…” Ben remarked, stroking his chin. “Well…thanks for keeping the wolf from our door, Captain. As you’ve probably heard, we’ve had enough problems recently.”
Nodding her head gravely, Elizabeth replied, “So I’ve heard. Jadzia told me about your encounter with the Changeling on the Defiant.” In a sympathetic tone, she added, “I’m sorry about the loss of life.”
Returning his guest’s kindness, Sisko thanked her, “Fortunately we were able to stop it before it caused a war…” Then, seeing that the subject was making Constable Odo feel increasingly uncomfortable, he quickly changed topics, asking, “What about the Hypatia?”
“I assigned her a temporary skeleton crew under Mr. Varok.” Liz responded, “She should be here in a day or so.”
Turning towards his science officer, Benjamin directed, “Old Man, when the Hypatia docks, I want you to coordinate with Mr. Varok and see if between the two of you, you can come up with some more information.” Following Dax’s acknowledgement of his order, Sisko returned to Captain Shelby, “Regarding what you found on the Ferengi freighter, I have to admit, I’m more than a little concerned…”
“So am I…” Liz replied, “The political situation here is volatile enough without even more weapons being added to the mix.”
Mr. Eddington interjected politely, “I quite agree, Captains. Not only does it appear that the Klingons are supplying the Maquis, the Federation made weapons you found also imply the possibility of their being obtained through sympathizers in Starfleet…”
As Eddington’s words sunk in, a dark cloud seemed to take shape around Captain Sisko as he remembered his good friend, Cal Hudson, and his recent defection to the Maquis. Keeping as tight a rein as possible on the anger and hurt building inside him, Ben stated in a slow and deliberate tone, “It’s a known fact that the Maquis enjoy some support within certain ranks in Starfleet…”
“True, Captain.” Commander Eddington said diplomatically.
Constable Odo added, “Of course there’s another possibility—that the weapons were purchased on the black market and Daimon Quorak was planning on meeting with representatives of the Cardassian colonists—the Maquis aren’t the only ones involved in gunrunning, you know.”
“That possibility did occur to us.” Captain Shelby responded, further elaborating. “Information that Mr. Atoa—my tactical officer—was able to decrypt from the open logs didn’t give us any information other than the sort of stuff that one would expect—crew disciplining…grumbling about his last quarter’s profits…some idle fantasizing about a certain Trill officer on this station…” She said, giving Jadzia a wink, “Other than that…” she shrugged, “…nothing.”
“That’s not surprising…” Odo remarked, “…given the nature of the enterprise. However…” the shape shifter added, “Just because Daimon Quorak didn’t make an entry in the ship’s log doesn’t mean that there isn’t some sort of record.”
“True…” Liz interjected. “If nothing else, he’d want some sort of documentation for protection in the event of a double cross and/or for blackmail purposes.” She then flashed a brief smile, “Rule Number 72…”
“Never trust your customers.” Jadzia quipped, a smile crossing her face as well. “Glad to see you’ve kept up with your Rules of Acquisition.”
Tilting his head, Odo replied, “Precisely, Captain.” Then, the constable further inquired, “What else did you find in your search of the ship?”
“We didn’t find much else except for this…” Liz said as she presented a Ferengi padd. “Mr. Atoa found it hidden in a secret compartment—with enough booby traps to beat the band.” Taking a breath, she continued, “We haven’t been able to decrypt everything in the padd’s memory as yet…”
“Interesting…” Odo remarked as he perused the sparse information on the padd, nodding his head as he read a name that figured prominently. “Daras Tobar.” The constable growled. “Former Kon Ma—he was discredited when it became revealed that he was part of the Circle…”
“So…” Liz asked after Sisko and Odo had filled her in on first the Kon Ma, and then the Circle and its attempted takeover of both the station and Bajor, “How do you think he figures into this—I can’t see him helping out the Cardassians. Do you think he might have switched his allegiances to the Maquis?”
“We’re not sure yet,” Eddington answered. “We’ve tried to infiltrate someone into his organization for some time, but…”
“Our agents…” Odo said, picking up from where his colleague left off, “…both Starfleet and Bajoran security…always end up either dead or following an empty trail.”
Eddington added his face a picture of frustration, “No matter what we do — he’s always one step ahead of us.”
“Mmm…” Liz muttered, thinking for a few moments before responding. “Maybe what you need is a fresh perspective…”
“What do you mean?” Ben asked, curious as to what his colleague was currently thinking.
“Give me a few days to flesh out the details…” Captain Shelby replied somewhat airily, “Then you and I are going to need to have a private chat.”
“Just let me know when.” Ben responded, “And I’ll make the time.” Then, standing up, he announced, “Well…unless there’s something else, I think we can call this meeting over.”
As the gathering stood up and began to exit, Jadzia turned to Liz, “So…Betts…what sort of plans have you got for the rest of the day?”
“Well, Jadz…” Liz drawled, “I was thinking about maybe unwinding for a bit in a holosuite. I’m not really in the mood right now for anything rowdy…maybe a nice leisurely couple of hours in a Roman bath program I have…”
“If that’s what you want…” Jadzia said, “…then I’ve got the perfect program for you. How does the thought of spending some time in the baths on Trill sound?”
“Mmmm…” The starship captain purred, “Sounds tempting.”
Then turning towards Major Kira, Dax offered, “How about you Nerys? It’s the perfect thing for you—calm…relaxing…”
Shaking her head, Kira chuckled, “You know how I feel about holosuites—if it’s worth doing—then it’s worth doing for real…”
Not giving up, Jadzia further coaxed, “You don’t know what you’re missing…a nice hot bath followed by a massage…”
“I couldn’t even if I wanted to…” Kira politely demurred, “I have to get with Odo on the security updates and then another meeting with Captain Sisko, and finally a meeting with Vedek Lanai…”
Well…at least meet us for dinner…” Jadzia pleaded.
“Yes, please.” Liz enticed.
“All right…” The major finally agreed. “I’ll meet you at Quark’s at say…1900 hours.”
“Sounds good.” Jadzia replied. “We’ll see you then.”
Shore Leave: Part One
Deep Space Nine
As the circular open elevator carrying the two officers stopped at the Operations Center, the Trill science officer for the space station, Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax laughed, “You should have seen the look on Captain Hanson’s face when, instead of the bridge operations simulator that he’d called up in the holodeck for our class, an Argellian pleasure house appeared! And then two holographic Orion women wearing nothing more than thongs and a smile went up to him and…well…I’ll tell you the rest later… ” she teased as she noticed Chief O’Brien and a couple of Bajoran techs avidly listening in.
Between fits of laughter, DS9’s Bajoran first officer, Kira Nerys exclaimed, “I can’t believe it! How did you two pull that off?”
Snickering, Jadzia explained, “We spent the night before breaking through the holodeck security systems and firewalls and slipped Liz’s program into the system…”
Shaking her head, Kira smiled, “Well…I’m glad the two of you aren’t cadets anymore…”
“On no…” Dax exclaimed, flashing an evil grin, “She’s much worse now…” Turning towards the Bajoran officer manning the communications system, the Trill officer requested, “The Sutherland should be coming into our space pretty soon. When they hail us, could you ask Captain Shelby to beam over to Operations?”
“Yes sir,” The tech crisply acknowledged.
Taking a look at a padd given to her by a Starfleet officer, Major Kira sighed, “Looks like we’re going to have a busy couple of days. The IKS T’Ong has just received clearance to orbit…Sutherland and that Ferengi freighter that it’s towing should be arriving within the next couple of hours…and a Cardassian freighter has just arrived.” Turning to Chief O’Brien, the major asked, “Chief? How are things going on your end?”
Shaking his head in disgust, the burly Irish chief petty officer grimaced, “The airlock at Runabout Pad A needs to be repaired, and we’ve got an issue with the waste reclamation system backing up into one of the cargo bays, plus we’ve been busy running changeling sweep drills with Odo and security and…” Miles sighed, “…Quark is still complaining about the air filtration system in his bar.”
“Well…Quark can wait until his lobes fall off, Chief.” Kira declared with a smirk. All amusement disappearing from her face, she added, “The changeling sweeps have top priority…the other station related problems come second…Quark is at the bottom of the list.”
“Right, Major,” The Chief quickly answered back as he made his way to the elevator.
“Just another day on Deep Space Nine,” Jadzia snickered as she assumed her position at the science station.
***************************************
USS Sutherland
“Captain’s log—Stardate 49001.3—Captain Elizabeth Shelby recording. After our encounter with the entity, we rendezvoused with the USS Hypatia and beamed over a skeleton crew under the command of my science officer, Lt. Commander Varok. The Sutherland then returned to the derelict Ferengi freighter, the Pursuit of Commerce, and we are now taking it in tow with us to Deep Space Nine where we will put in for a brief period of rest and recreation. While there, I plan to meet with Captain Sisko as regards both the entity and the contraband that we found on the freighter. Also, I am looking forward to meeting up with an old friend…”
“Sir?” Lieutenant Lavelle, currently manning the helm, called out, trying to get his captain’s attention. “We’re approaching Deep Space Nine.”
“Very good, Mr. Lavelle.” Shelby responded, her body language giving no indication as to her growing anticipation at her pending reunion with Jadzia. Addressing Lieutenant Atoa, she ordered, “Open hailing frequencies.”
“Hailing frequencies open, sir.” Atoa acknowledged. “DS9 is responding.”
“Thank you, Mr. Atoa, put them on main viewer,” the captain commanded as a Bajoran woman wearing the grey uniform of the planetary militia appeared on the screen. “DS 9 Operations…” Captain Shelby said with a friendly smile, “…this is the USS Sutherland requesting docking instructions for us and a security detail for the Pursuit of Commerce.”
“You’re cleared to assume standard orbit, Sutherland. Tugs are being dispatched to take charge of the Ferengi freighter,” the duty officer replied. Then, after a moment, the Bajoran again spoke, “Captain Shelby?”
“Yes?” Liz replied.
“Lieutenant Commander Dax sends her regards and asks if you can beam over directly to operations?”
“Tell her to expect me in five minutes.” Liz replied, her smile growing larger. Vacating the center chair, she turned towards her first officer, “Commander, you have the bridge.” Seeing the look of anticipation on the faces of her bridge crew, she added in a mildly teasing voice, “Oh…I almost forgot. Shore leave is authorized for all off duty personnel.”
“Yes sir.” Hobson acknowledged, his lips turning up into the slightest of half smiles before turning his attention first to Anara and then to Lavelle. “Mr. Rysyl—coordinate with the tugs from DS 9 as regards the freighter. Mr. Lavelle—once DS 9 has taken charge of the Ferengi ship, proceed with station control instructions.”
“Aye, sir.” Lavelle answered crisply, then, turning towards Ensign Django sitting next to him, he cracked a lopsided grin as he quipped in a whisper, “Someone better tell DS 9 to look out ‘cause the Sutherland’s coming to town!”
**************************************
After she had materialized on the transporter pad of the former Cardassian station, Captain Shelby looked about. Noting the heavy functional design that typified Cardassian structures, Liz couldn’t help but recall a lecture on comparative aesthetics given by her favorite Academy instructor, Ledron Davin. Even now, after all these years, she could still hear the reedy voice of the Zeon scholar…
And what does Cardassian architecture tell us about this people? Well…its emphasis on function over form informs us that pragmatism is a very important aspect of their psyche…
“Betts!”
Her face breaking out into a wide grin as she recognized the source of the greeting, Shelby called back as she leaped off the transporter pad, “Jadzia!” Embracing the raven-haired Trill in a tight hug, Liz then stepped back and noticing the extra pip on her friend’s collar, she teasingly congratulated her on her recent promotion. “Way to go, Lieutenant Commander! It’s about time! Of course, if you’d have listened to me when we were cadets and gone command or tactical/security like I did, you’d be a captain by now!”
“No thanks!” Jadzia smiled back. “I see what Ben has to put up with every day and he can have it.” Hearing a throat being cleared, Dax momentarily blushed. “Oops…forgive my manners,” she apologized, gesturing towards the dark-skinned Starfleet captain and the Bajoran officer standing next to him, “Captain Elizabeth Shelby, I believe you know Captain Sisko, commanding officer of Deep Space Nine and this is Major Kira Nerys, first officer.”
“Congratulations on your promotion, Ben.” Shelby said with a smile as she extended her hand, “It’s about time.”
Taking his fellow captain’s hand in his, Ben grinned, “Thank you, Elizabeth. How long has it been?”
“About three—four years,” Liz replied with a smile as Captain Sisko turned towards his Bajoran first officer.
“Captain Shelby and I ran into each other on several occasions while I was on the Defiant project.” Ben explained as the foursome walked into his office.
“I see…” Kira remarked, inwardly chuckling at how it seemed that almost all Starfleet officers seemed to know—or know of—each other.
Chuckling, Liz said as she regarded Kira, “Pleasure meeting you, Major. I hope you won’t hold whatever they might have told you against me.”
“I’ll try not to…” The Bajoran woman said with a smile as she remembered her earlier conversation with Jadzia.
Flashing a mischievous grin, Liz addressed the station commander as the group took their seats around the station commander’s desk. “I stopped by your father’s restaurant before heading out here…”
Laughing, Ben quipped, “I hope you didn’t leave him in the same condition you did the last time you were there…” He teased as he recalled his father telling him about when Liz had showed up at the restaurant with an especially attractive and voluptuous Betazoid woman.
Blushing slightly, Liz remembered the surprised look on the old Cajun chef’s face when he popped in on the couple in the private dining booth that time. Biting back her initial retort as she spied Major Kira out of the corner of her eye, Liz instead settled for a much more innocent response, “Don’t worry Ben, I was a good girl. I didn’t go a la carte this time, I stuck to the menu.”
Feeling somewhat left out of the conversation, Kira prompted, “You should take a tour of the Defiant when you get the chance.”
“Thanks, I’d like to see how she handles...” Liz replied with genuine sincerity and then her lips turned up into a rueful grin, “I’m afraid we gave it a little too much juice though.”
Smiling broadly as well as feeling slightly guilty as he realized that his first officer was being left out of the banter, Sisko responded, making a point to include Kira, “That’s all right. We’ve managed to iron out most of the bugs thanks to Chief O’Brien.”
“That’s good to hear. I remember working with the Chief while I was on the Enterprise. He’s a damned good engineer.” Liz praised and then teased with a wicked grin, “If it wasn’t for the fact that I’ve already got one hell of an engineer I’d try to steal him away from you.”
“Not a chance.” Ben riposted with a crooked grin of his own. Then, his face taking on a much more serious demeanor, he queried, “I understand you found something interesting in Subsector 310?”
“A couple of things actually,” Liz answered back, her grin also vanishing. “But I think we might want to discuss them with your security chief present.”
“Well…Constable Odo and Lieutenant Commander Eddington should be here any moment now.” Ben said as a humanoid figure wearing the tan uniform of Bajoran security and a balding human wearing the black jacket with yellow shoulders that marked him as Starfleet operations exited the elevator and quickly entered the Captain’s office.
“Constable Odo…Lieutenant Commander Eddington.” Sisko said by way of introduction, “This is Captain Shelby of the USS Sutherland. Picking up the baseball that sat on his desk, he turned his attention to the visiting captain as the two newcomers took their seats. “So…what did you find out there, Captain?”
“As regards the entity…” Liz replied, “My science officer, Mr. Varok, is still analyzing what data we have. We do know that it was about to metamorphose, and that it subsisted off of the emotional and mental energy of sentient beings—that was what happened to both the Ferengi ship and the crew of the Hypatia and what it tried to do to us. We also know that it was headed here intending to do the same thing to everyone on the station in order to complete its change—but, unfortunately, that’s about it for now.”
“I see…” Ben remarked, stroking his chin. “Well…thanks for keeping the wolf from our door, Captain. As you’ve probably heard, we’ve had enough problems recently.”
Nodding her head gravely, Elizabeth replied, “So I’ve heard. Jadzia told me about your encounter with the Changeling on the Defiant.” In a sympathetic tone, she added, “I’m sorry about the loss of life.”
Returning his guest’s kindness, Sisko thanked her, “Fortunately we were able to stop it before it caused a war…” Then, seeing that the subject was making Constable Odo feel increasingly uncomfortable, he quickly changed topics, asking, “What about the Hypatia?”
“I assigned her a temporary skeleton crew under Mr. Varok.” Liz responded, “She should be here in a day or so.”
Turning towards his science officer, Benjamin directed, “Old Man, when the Hypatia docks, I want you to coordinate with Mr. Varok and see if between the two of you, you can come up with some more information.” Following Dax’s acknowledgement of his order, Sisko returned to Captain Shelby, “Regarding what you found on the Ferengi freighter, I have to admit, I’m more than a little concerned…”
“So am I…” Liz replied, “The political situation here is volatile enough without even more weapons being added to the mix.”
Mr. Eddington interjected politely, “I quite agree, Captains. Not only does it appear that the Klingons are supplying the Maquis, the Federation made weapons you found also imply the possibility of their being obtained through sympathizers in Starfleet…”
As Eddington’s words sunk in, a dark cloud seemed to take shape around Captain Sisko as he remembered his good friend, Cal Hudson, and his recent defection to the Maquis. Keeping as tight a rein as possible on the anger and hurt building inside him, Ben stated in a slow and deliberate tone, “It’s a known fact that the Maquis enjoy some support within certain ranks in Starfleet…”
“True, Captain.” Commander Eddington said diplomatically.
Constable Odo added, “Of course there’s another possibility—that the weapons were purchased on the black market and Daimon Quorak was planning on meeting with representatives of the Cardassian colonists—the Maquis aren’t the only ones involved in gunrunning, you know.”
“That possibility did occur to us.” Captain Shelby responded, further elaborating. “Information that Mr. Atoa—my tactical officer—was able to decrypt from the open logs didn’t give us any information other than the sort of stuff that one would expect—crew disciplining…grumbling about his last quarter’s profits…some idle fantasizing about a certain Trill officer on this station…” She said, giving Jadzia a wink, “Other than that…” she shrugged, “…nothing.”
“That’s not surprising…” Odo remarked, “…given the nature of the enterprise. However…” the shape shifter added, “Just because Daimon Quorak didn’t make an entry in the ship’s log doesn’t mean that there isn’t some sort of record.”
“True…” Liz interjected. “If nothing else, he’d want some sort of documentation for protection in the event of a double cross and/or for blackmail purposes.” She then flashed a brief smile, “Rule Number 72…”
“Never trust your customers.” Jadzia quipped, a smile crossing her face as well. “Glad to see you’ve kept up with your Rules of Acquisition.”
Tilting his head, Odo replied, “Precisely, Captain.” Then, the constable further inquired, “What else did you find in your search of the ship?”
“We didn’t find much else except for this…” Liz said as she presented a Ferengi padd. “Mr. Atoa found it hidden in a secret compartment—with enough booby traps to beat the band.” Taking a breath, she continued, “We haven’t been able to decrypt everything in the padd’s memory as yet…”
“Interesting…” Odo remarked as he perused the sparse information on the padd, nodding his head as he read a name that figured prominently. “Daras Tobar.” The constable growled. “Former Kon Ma—he was discredited when it became revealed that he was part of the Circle…”
“So…” Liz asked after Sisko and Odo had filled her in on first the Kon Ma, and then the Circle and its attempted takeover of both the station and Bajor, “How do you think he figures into this—I can’t see him helping out the Cardassians. Do you think he might have switched his allegiances to the Maquis?”
“We’re not sure yet,” Eddington answered. “We’ve tried to infiltrate someone into his organization for some time, but…”
“Our agents…” Odo said, picking up from where his colleague left off, “…both Starfleet and Bajoran security…always end up either dead or following an empty trail.”
Eddington added his face a picture of frustration, “No matter what we do — he’s always one step ahead of us.”
“Mmm…” Liz muttered, thinking for a few moments before responding. “Maybe what you need is a fresh perspective…”
“What do you mean?” Ben asked, curious as to what his colleague was currently thinking.
“Give me a few days to flesh out the details…” Captain Shelby replied somewhat airily, “Then you and I are going to need to have a private chat.”
“Just let me know when.” Ben responded, “And I’ll make the time.” Then, standing up, he announced, “Well…unless there’s something else, I think we can call this meeting over.”
As the gathering stood up and began to exit, Jadzia turned to Liz, “So…Betts…what sort of plans have you got for the rest of the day?”
“Well, Jadz…” Liz drawled, “I was thinking about maybe unwinding for a bit in a holosuite. I’m not really in the mood right now for anything rowdy…maybe a nice leisurely couple of hours in a Roman bath program I have…”
“If that’s what you want…” Jadzia said, “…then I’ve got the perfect program for you. How does the thought of spending some time in the baths on Trill sound?”
“Mmmm…” The starship captain purred, “Sounds tempting.”
Then turning towards Major Kira, Dax offered, “How about you Nerys? It’s the perfect thing for you—calm…relaxing…”
Shaking her head, Kira chuckled, “You know how I feel about holosuites—if it’s worth doing—then it’s worth doing for real…”
Not giving up, Jadzia further coaxed, “You don’t know what you’re missing…a nice hot bath followed by a massage…”
“I couldn’t even if I wanted to…” Kira politely demurred, “I have to get with Odo on the security updates and then another meeting with Captain Sisko, and finally a meeting with Vedek Lanai…”
Well…at least meet us for dinner…” Jadzia pleaded.
“Yes, please.” Liz enticed.
“All right…” The major finally agreed. “I’ll meet you at Quark’s at say…1900 hours.”
“Sounds good.” Jadzia replied. “We’ll see you then.”
