Refugee
by Kathy P.
Part 8
Julian woke up slowly the next morning wrapped tightly in Garak's arms. He snuggled even further into the embrace, enjoying the feeling of security and contentment that it evoked.
He was looking forward to his day off today. Yesterday had been very busy for him with the Hebitian's casualties, he usually enjoyed the hectic pace, but he was eager to having some time off with his husband.
Julian listened to his husband's breathing. It was still slow and regular. He didn't expect him to wake up for a while more as Garak usually liked to sleep a little later than him. Julian often teased him that it was one of the perks of owning your own business.
Every once and a while Julian would think about how his life had changed. Everything seemed so perfect and normal for him now that it was hard to believe that he and Garak had only been intimate for the last two months. It seemed like they had been together forever. True, they had known each other for the last five years, but only as casual friends. He had quickly developed stronger feelings for the mysterious Cardassian, but it was so hard to read the man, and he was not sure if his feelings were returned.
Over the last year he started to feel that Garak might return his feelings for him. He had noticed that whenever he mentioned any dates that he had been on Garak would quickly change the subject or make a comment about how Julian's relationships never last.
That day in the replimat two months ago was the defining turning point for them. He suddenly realized when Garak was teasing him about past relationships that the Cardassian was tentatively feeling him out on the issue of commitment.
Julian knew that he did not have a very good tract record with the ladies, but that was because in his heart he knew that Garak was the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.
He realized, sitting at that table, that to Garak it would seem that he could not commit to any one person. How wrong he was. That first kiss sealed his fate. He knew that this relationship would be the one to last.
Gazing now at his husband he took in his proud features. He was fascinated in the differences between them. Garak's grey skin complimented his own dark honey-coloured skin and he loved the scales that decorated his husband's body. Their builds were different as well. Garak was quite muscular where Julian was slim.
Smiling at his own musings, he quietly slipped out of bed and headed for the shower. After his morning ablutions he headed into the main room. Glancing over at the computer terminal he noticed a waiting message.
Walking over to the terminal he played the message. He smiled at the invitation from Larin to have dinner with his family tonight.
He was pleased that the Hebitian seemed to like them so much for he found them fascinating. He was more than ready to accept an invitation from them. Julian made a mental note to mention it to Garak when he woke up to see if he wanted to go.
Going over to the replicator he ordered a Tarkalian tea and sat on the couch. He usually waited for Garak to wake up on his days off to share breakfast. They usually did not have time to spend together in the mornings so they made a point of sharing their morning meal whenever they could.
Snuggling up on the couch he grabbed the novel the Garak had been reading last night. Sipping his tea he read until he heard movement coming from the bedroom. Setting the novel down he flashed a grin at his husband when he walked into the room.
"Good morning Elim," he greeted him.
"Morning Julian," he said as he headed over to him. He placed a kiss on top of his head and reached out to caress his cheek. "Are you ready for breakfast?"
They sat down at the table to eat their food. They chatted about their plans for the day. Garak wanted to go to the holodeck and run one of Julian's spy novel simulations. Julian agreed thinking that it would be fun.
Remembering Larin's invitation he said, "Oh by the way, Larin has invited us over for diner tonight. He wants us to meet his parents." Julian's eyes went wide as he remembered the previous day. He lightly slapped himself on the forehead. "I don't know where my mind is," he said at Garak's slightly puzzled look. "I forgot to tell you about the children!"
"What children?" Garak asked taking a sip of juice.
"Larin and Marrett's. You should have seen it Garak. They have a little boy around five years old named Marin and a baby daughter named Megwyn. Marin, he is quite precocious, reminds me of Larin," Julian said smiling as he remembered the two winsome children.
"I can imagine," Garak said as he tried to picture the captivating Hebitian's children.
Lately he had been thinking about the possibility of children in his life. He hadn't brought the subject up to Julian yet, thinking that life was precarious at the moment with the Dominion war, but still, he had his dreams.
Whenever he thought of his dream children he pictured them as looking a lot like Julian. He envisioned small, golden-colored children with his husband's intelligence and curiosity, brightening their lives.
He put the thought behind him for now and focused on Julian again. "I see no problem having diner with them tonight. It should be interesting meeting his family."
Together they finished their breakfast and started their day, looking forward to spending time with each other.
************************
Captain Sisko turned away from the computer terminal in his office, angrily slapping his hand down on his desk. He had just received word from Bajor that Kai Winn was coming to the station to discuss the status of the continuing talks with the Hebitians.
He had a deeply ingrained feeling that she was coming just to stir up trouble. The Kai was never one to follow the government's decisions. Instead she used her power in her capacity as Kai in the Bajoran's religion to promote her own ideas of how things should be.
Sisko had been preparing for the next meeting with the Hebitians. He was impressed with the information that Larin had been able to provide for them so far and was hoping to obtain some more.
Star Fleet intelligence was in an excited state over the revelation of the Jem' Hadar's base locations. All of their other sources confirmed the locations and military strikes were currently being planned for the bases located closest to the border.
With the arrival of the Daerle the stakes had gone up for the Hebitians. Sisko realized that Larin needed to get a place ready for the remaining Hebitians to flee to. Their hiding place in the badlands had been compromised and the ships in their fleet were on the run. He was not sure how much longer they could continue like that and he also knew that not many places would be understanding of stray ships of Cardassian design flying through their quadrants.
Now if only the Kai did not create any problems, Star Fleet would have more intelligence on the Dominion and the Hebitians would have a safe planet to settle on.
*********
Larin took his place at the meeting table. He noticed the look of contentment on the Bajoran Minister's face. Hopefully this was a good sign on how his search for a planet for the Hebitians to settle was going.
He was alone at the meeting this time as Marrett was staying with Alie and the children. The two men were still worried about the reaction that Alie's presence caused the other day and Marrett had volunteered to watch over her. They wanted to make sure that there would be no problems with her being on the station before they left her alone with their children. They trusted the female Vorta implicitly, but were wary of the reaction of some fanatic that might try to harm her and in extension the children.
Larin remembered how Alieana had came to be with them. He had taken her into his home when the Vorta decided that she could not follow her programming anymore and had come to him for help. It was very rare that the genetically produced Vorta rebelled against their Changeling lords.
Alie informed them about the Dominion's plan for the Hebitians. She was instrumental in warning them about the coming attack.
When he took the Vorta into his household he had been surprised by her strong maternal feelings toward his son. Thanks to medical technology, he was three months pregnant with his second child and the eager help of the Vorta was a blessing to him.
He was prepared to fight for Alie's rights. The Vorta had quickly become a very good friend and Larin was determined to help her out.
Larin gazed around the table noticing the absence of the Minister's Aide. He was relieved that he didn't have to put up with Heb's bad attitude. The negative emotions projected by the man were quite draining and, when Larin wanted to devote all of his energy to helping his people, an unwelcome intrusion.
Admiral MacDonald sat talking quietly to Captain Sisko for a moment. Straightening up in their chairs they devoted their attention to the Hebitian ambassador.
"Gul'en Larin,' Admiral MacDonald said politely, "I heard about the injuries from the Daerle. How is everyone today?"
"There were a few serious injuries but everyone should recover," Larin replied. "Chief O'Brien and Kali estimate that it will take about a week to fix all the damage to the ship. I appreciate all the help you have given us."
The Admiral accepted Larin's thanks, "It was the right thing to do. The Captain has informed me that your father was on board. Will he be helping you with the talks? I was expecting him to be here today."
Larin raised an eye ridge at the question, his lips twisted wryly, "No, the Gul'en will not be joining the talks. He feels that I am more than capable of holding them myself," he said bluntly.
Throwing a quick glance at Benjamin the Admiral backtracked, "No doubt Gul'en, I didn't mean to question your authority."
The Hebitian smiled slightly at the befuddled Admiral. He knew what it was like to put one's foot in one's mouth so he took pity on him. "I understand Admiral," he said to reassure the man. "I know you are still dealing with the misconceptions on how we as Hebitians will react to any given situation. Traditionally Cardassians are very patriarchal and it would be expected that a father would take over for a son. But we judge people on their own merits. I was assigned the task of negotiating these talks and I am the one who will be making the decisions."
"We understand Larin," Admiral MacDonald said. He was hiding his smile at the younger man's lecture. The Admiral was coming to understand the Hebitians point of view. It amused him to see the Gul'en lecture him on basic Federation beliefs. It still surprised him that such a unique minority group was able to hold onto its differences in Cardassian society.
Larin noted the Admiral's attempt to hide his smile. He was mildly surprise that he hadn't received a lecture from the Star Fleet Admiral about concealing the fact that a Vorta was part of their group. *Well if they are accepting her presence who am I to argue?* he thought.
Minister Garrett clasped his hands in front of him. "I have some good news for you Larin. I put out the word that I was seeking a planet for your group to settle on and I received an excellent offer."
The young man sighed in relief. He had really not been looking forward to living on a cramped station but he had resigned himself to the possibility. "That's wonderful news Minister," he said gratefully.
"The planet is Golana. It is a Bajoran colony planet and a close friend of mine is Governor there. He contacted me when he heard about my search and I filled him in on your situation. The planet is not widely settled so you will have your privacy. Golana is primarily an agrarian society so you will have to provide a lot of you own necessities of life."
Sitting up in his chair in excitement Larin beamed at the Minister. "That will be no problem for us at all. Don't forget we come from an agrarian-based society. We are more than capable of looking after ourselves. When can I contact the Governor? I would like to go over some details of our settlement."
"Why don't I arrange a meeting over subspace. I'll contact you when it is all arranged," the Bajoran offered.
"That's fine by me," Larin replied. "Now for my part of the bargain." He slid a computer padd over to the Admiral. "Here is the location of a Dominion space yard. According to our information they are building the yard to fortify their fleet in our quadrant."
Picking up the padd the Admiral scanned it. "I thought that there was only the one yard in Cardassian space. This is going to be a major problem for us if it is completed," he looked up at the Hebitian. "Thank you Larin. I'll get this information to Star Fleet intelligence immediately."
Larin accepted his thanks. He felt a little guilty and wished that he could just give them all the information they needed but he knew that it was not possible. He needed the intelligences reports to facilitate his negotiations.
The Admiral leaned forward in his chair clasping his hands on top of the conference table. "Now, I think we should discuss yesterday's incident."
Throwing the Admiral an innocent look he said, "What incident is that?" he said brightly. *Damn, I thought that I was going to be off the hook on this one.*
"Captain Sisko informed me of the episode between the Vorta and station security. I only have one question. Why didn't you inform us of her presence? This could have all been avoided if we knew to expect her." Admiral MacDonald was annoyed that the Hebitian had not revealed that information to them. He shuddered over the potential disaster that had almost happened yesterday. In one stroke the whole negotiations could have been destroyed and all the vital information that the Hebitians held would have been lost.
Larin gave the men a piqued look. "Well, to put it bluntly, I felt that if I told you that there was a Vorta coming to your station you might kick us out." He fiddled with his braid, wishing he didn't have to have this conversation. He felt that the men at the table would not understand his decision to harbor Alie, especially since they seemed to be having difficulty separating Hebitians from Cardassians.
Making eye contact with each man he continued. "Besides, Alie was never meant to join us here on the station. It was our plan to send her directly to the planet that we would settle on. Marrett and I would have missed her help with the kids, but her safety was more important. Unfortunately, when the Jem'Hadar attacked our fleet the plans changed."
Larin was still upset over the attack and had to shove down the wave of grief that accompanied the thought. He had a job to do and was determined to devote himself to it. There would have to be time for him to grieve later.
"When I heard that my children where on board the Daerle I considered that she might be on board as well, but as a father," he looked directly at Captain Sisko for this, "my main concern was for my children."
Captain Sisko nodded his understanding.
"I'm sorry that the security team was taken be surprise, but I still feel like they overreacted. After all she was carrying a baby at the time." Larin closed his eyes for a moment when he felt his anger surge. His protective instincts were very strong and just the thought of his daughter in danger made him tense up.
Admiral MacDonald felt sorry for the unnerved father in Larin but was still concerned over the lack of communication between them. "Larin, you say that we have to look beyond the appearance of people to see their true selves and I think that this should apply to you as well. You didn't trust us to know about the Vorta, Alieana, but you seem to expect us to trust you implicitly. It can't be both ways. I think that we both have a lot to offer each other if we can work together Gul'en."
Fidgeting in his chair Larin had to admit the truth of his statement. "I agree Admiral," he said spreading his hands, "If I had more warning I'm sure that I would have informed you." He really wanted this relationship to work out for both sides but he the differences between them that sometimes seem to be overwhelming.
"I am trying to provide all the facts that I think are important to you. I am more than willing to answer any questions that you have, but you must understand, I have the welfare of my people to think of," he said sincerely. "To save ourselves we had to come to you, the Federation and Bajor, for help and we appreciate all the assistance you have given us."
Larin choose his next words carefully. "The underlying fact is that I want these talks to succeed for all of us. I can't guarantee that there won't be more surprises in the future, but I will do everything in my power to warn you and I promise that we would never set out to intentionally harm anyone."
The men around the table absorbed the younger mans words. They were again impressed with his sincerity.
"That's all I needed to know Larin," Admiral MacDonald said. Smiling at the young man's relief he continued. "So tell me about your children."
Larin grinned with relief and started to talk about his favorite topic.
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