Refugee Part 17
by Kathy P
The atmosphere in Ops was tense as the crew, both Star Fleet and Bajoran, worked to figure out the reason behind the Bajoran ship, the Etpeak, explosion just minutes after it left Deep Space Nine.
Jadzia frowned in frustration as the results of her latest scan scrolled across her terminal's screen. "Computer. Isolate the finding in sector one-beta-nine," she instructed the computer.
Kira turned toward the Trill. "Did you find something?" she asked. The red-haired Bajoran moved over to the Trill to look over her shoulder at the finding on the computer terminal.
"I think so. Come take a look," Jadzia said as she made room for Kira to join her in front of the computer station.
"See these chemical compounds that were detected?" she said, pointing out the symbols on the screen. "I've never seen anything like them before. I don't know of anyone who combines these chemical in this specific way."
Kira pressed her lips together as she studied the familiar looking symbols on the screen. "I've seen this before," she muttered, as her eyes narrowed in concentration. "There's an old friend of mine on Bajor that I'm sure would know this," Kira said, giving up placing the symbols from her memory.
Establishing a communication channel, Kira quickly tracked down one of her old partners from the Bajoran Resistance cell she had belonged too during the Cardassian's occupation of Bajor.
A pleasant looking Bajoran man of middle age came onto the computer. "Kira," he said with a surprised smile. "How long has it been? Six, seven years?"
Kira returned the man's smile, her eyes crinkling at the corner, "Six years, Tanib."
"Six years," Tanib repeated with a chuckle. "Have you been behaving yourself up on that space station, Kira?"
Kira smile turned feral, "Of course, Tanib. Don't I always behave?"
Tanib snorted inelegantly. "Oh, all the time, Kira. I know you didn't contact me to just banter over old times. What can I help you with?"
"Straight to the point, Tanib. I always liked that about you," Kira replied. "I was wondering if you could look at a chemical compound that I'm trying to track down."
"Sure thing. Send all your data down to my computer and I'll take a look at it."
Kira punched in a few commands on the computer terminal. "It's on it way."
Tanib swiveled the screen placed on his desk toward him. His eyes widened as the data downloaded onto his screen. With a low whistle he looked up at Kira. "Where did you find this? I haven't seen this in years."
Kira flickered a glance over at Jadzia who shook her head slightly. Tanib held up a hand as he took in the exchange. "No, you don't have to tell me, Kira. I think that I would prefer not to know."
"Do you remember the mining operation that the Cardassian's used on Bajor?"
Kira nodded.
"Well, my friend, this is the compound that the Cardassian's used to blast through the rock to reached whatever ores they were mining for. Now the ironic thing is that this compound is highly unstable. Most of the times the Bajoran workers were blown to bits with the rock they were trying to get through."
The terrorist-turned-scientist's revelation caused Jadzia and Kira to look at each other in concern. Kira started to swear. "I knew I had seen that compound before."
Tanib chuckled cynically. "You see, the Cardassian's didn't care how unstable it was because they made Bajorans work with it. It's a relatively cheap and easy compound to make, but you would have to be out of you mind to use it."
With a snort Kira said, "Sounds like Cardassians to me. Thanks for the help, Tanib."
"Any time, Kira. Keep yourself away from that compound, you here me?"
"You better believe it."
Signing off, Kira hit her combadge. "Kira to Sisko."
"Sisko here," came the response.
"Lieutenant Dax and I have found the cause of the Etpeak's explosion," Kira informed him.
"On my way."
"And, Captain," Kira stated bluntly, "You'll probably want Odo here as well."
There was a slight pause before Captain Sisko replied. "Understood. Sisko out."
Jadzia blew out a troubled breath. "This isn't going to go over very well," she stated simply.
Crossing her arms Kira snorted, "That's the understatement of the century, Jadzia. I think that, as Julian would say it, the shit is about to hit the fan."
With a wry grin, Jadzia swung around to her science station again. "I'm going to do a scan of the station to see if there is any more of that compound on board."
Kira shuddered at the thought.
)*()*()*()*()*()*()*(
The mood was tense as Kira and Jadzia informed Captain Sisko of their findings from their investigation of the Etpeak's destruction. The Star Fleet captain sat silently behind his desk as he listened to the women's report. Odo stood off to one side, a slight scowl on his usually blank face, his arms crossed over his chest.
After the officers' finished their report, Sisko leaned forward, his hand clasped loosely together on top of his desk. "So it was a Cardassian device that destroyed the Etpeak."
Rising up from his chair, Sisko slammed a fist down on his desk top. "Dammit," he cursed. "Are there any traces of the chemical compound on the station?"
"No, there are no traces of the compound here on the station," Jadzia replied, "but we did find some on the ship that Larin's delegation arrived on."
Stifling another curse, Sisko turned to Odo. "Constable, I want some of your men to escort Gul'en Larin to the conference room, right now." Turning back to Dax he ordered. "Lieutenant, contact Admiral MacDonald and Minister Garrett and ask them to meet us there. Bring all of your findings with you."
With a curt nod, Odo headed out of Sisko's office followed by Kira and Jadzia. Sisko moved to follow them when his combadge single went off.
"Emissary. I need to talk to you."
Sisko looked at the ceiling of his office, pleading for patience as Kai Win's voice came over the computer system. Hitting his combadge, he replied, "Kai Winn. I'm sorry, but I'm extremely busy at the moment. Can this wait until later?"
"I'm sorry, Emissary, but this cannot wait. I just wanted to inform you that I have ordered the terrorist who was responsible for the destruction of the Etpeak, into custody."
This stopped Sisko cold, "What are you talking about?"
"When the Etpeak exploded, I was empowered by the Bajoran ministry to investigate the cause. I discovered that the Cardassian, Larin Darheel, was responsible so I ordered Bajoran security to bring him to security."
"What!" Captain Sisko all but roared. "You have no authority to order anyone on this station into custody."
"That maybe so, Emissary, but I thought that it would be wise to remove the Cardassian from the station as soon as possible."
With a scowl on his face Sisko groaned out, "We'll discuss this later, Kai."
"As you wish, Emissary," came her smug reply.
Storming out of his office, Sisko saw Odo off to one side, speaking softly with Kira. Moving over to the couple, he said, "Odo. Kai Winn has decided to take matters into her own hands. She's ordered Larin into custody."
Both Kira and Odo looked shocked at the news.
"Kira, inform Admiral MacDonald and Minister Garrett of this development. Odo, you come with me."
Together the two men left Ops, both of them hoping that they could avoid any major complications from the Kai's actions.
)*()*()*()*()*()*()*(
Larin fumed silently as he was led into the turbolift by two large Bajoran men. His hands were fastened in front of him with gelcuffs.
Just moments before he had been leaving his quarters when he was grabbed by the arm. The only thing that had kept him from lashing out was the Bajoran security uniforms that the men had been wearing. Gelcuffs had been slapped onto his wrists and he was led away. All of his inquires about why he had been apprehended were met with stony silence as had his request to contact his husband.
The only flash of hope he had was when Jalli, the Hebitian priestess, had stepped out of her quarters just as he was pushed into the turbolift. Larin had seen her eyes widen in surprise shock as she took in the gelcuffs he was wearing and his Bajoran guards. He knew, without a doubt, that Marrett was aware of what was happening now.
As the turbolift came to its smooth stop, Larin felt a large, beefy hand close around his upper arm, propelling him out of the lift onto the promenade.
Stiffening with anger, he pulled away from the Bajoran guard's grasp. With his head held high, he walked down the promenade, aware of the steadily growing crowd around him. He ignored the whispering and glares that were being thrown his way.
As he moved down the promenade, Larin couldn't remember ever being so angry or embarrassed. He was thankful that Marin wasn't around to see him being treated like this.
A flash of purple caught Larin's attention. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a figure keeping pace with him and his guards, weaving though the gathering crowd.
As they reached security, the purple robed figure pushed its way through the crowd. Larin stopped in his tracks as his eyes focused on the blaster that was pointed directly at his chest.
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