**** Okal ****

The ship shook slightly. Rafko turned to look back at me.

"Another hit?" I asked.

"No, feels like the stabilizers are offline," I responded. "I'll go give them a hand in engineering. We must have taken some serious hits during the battle with Sirella."

I knew my way around the Rotarran. I had been studying Klingon weaponry, ships and language in order to impress my commanding officers. However, a little cultural background knowledge was going to do me little good if I ever saw Captain Worf again.

I turned the corner, grateful to be away from the problems behind me. I needed to concentrate on something other than impending death. I didn't have many friends, and I couldn't stand the thought of two of them dying.

I made my way to Engineering without a hitch. There were sparks and steam coming from nearly every conduit. Some faces turned to look at me.

"nuqneH?" <What do you want?> One of them shouted at me. I think he was trying to rattle my nerves. He walked up to me and even louder shouted "qajatlh! nuqneH!" <I speak to you! What do you want?>

Standing my ground I looked at him square in the face and said "I've come to help."

He looked at me. I wasn't the prettiest girl after our long evening, and I sure wasn't Klingon. Muttering almost to himself he mumbled, "qavoqbe..." <I don't trust you>

My stance didn't change. He looked back to survey the damage done to the Rotarran. He then looked at me. "jIlaj," <I accept> he said and motioned for me to follow him.

They were making slow progress. They had already shut down the flow regulators in order to get the deuterium injector back online. My Klingon maitre'd ushered me to a busted console. Apparently, I was the only one petite enough to fit inside the small hatch underneath. It lead me directly to the phaser banks power system. I realized what was happening. I had to get the phasers back online incase Sirella attacked again. Without asking, I grabbed a few tools from the floor and crawled in. I wanted to work fast so I could help them get the stabilizers back on line. It was hot in the small crawlspace. The ship rocked again. I could hear the angry, frustrated yells of the men each time the ship would heave. They were losing patience. Quickly I finished with the phasers. I had re-routed power through the annodyne capacitor to get them to recharge quicker. It would be fifteen minutes until our phaser banks could operate at full power. Until then, we'd have no phaser power at all.

I crawled out. I had a smear on my neck where I had brushed my hair away several times, and my fresh uniform had ripped when it had caught on the metal plating. Looking around I saw that most of the crew were huddled around one corner of the room. I walked over. The Klingon I had spoken with earlier patted me on the back. I nearly flew into the air. I explained to him what I had done to the phaser bank. He explained to me that the crew had the stabilizers under control. He thanked me for my help, and sent me on my way.

I sauntered into Infirmary. It was so much cleaner than Engineering. It almost seemed to me that Xenia breathed a sigh of relief when I walked in. I looked and in the corner I saw Nu'Daq standing there.

"It looks like we have all systems online now," I announced. I was willing to say my arm had been chewed off by a targ if it would have broken the tension in the room.

Martok nodded, "Then we shall return to Deep Space Nine. We will have much to do as it appears that Sirella's plan has not been foiled as we first thought." He left for the Bridge.

I just had to hope that Sirella didn't show up firing in the next ten minutes. Offensive wise-, for that time, we were a sitting duck. As much as I didn't want to leave Nu'Daq and Xenia alone for fear one of them would stick their foot in their mouth, I felt I had to talk to Martok. If even just about the phaser bank.

I walked over to Xenia. I rested my hand on her arm.

"Are you okay?" I hated to see her so torn like this.

"Yes. I'll be fine. It's just that... I thought Nu'Daq's culture was more important to him than I was. Now... it seems like..." She let her sentence end there.

I squeezed her arm so she'd know she always had my support. "I'll be back in a few minutes. I have to talk to Chancellor Martok. You two won't tear the place apart will you?"

She looked at me. She noted the sarcasm in my voice and grinned half-heartedly. "I know I won't. I have to call Julian anyway, to let him know about the antidote I constructed before it harms anyone else."

I smiled as I turned for the exit. I tried not to look at Nu'Daq. He hadn't really said much to me about anything other than this whole plague ordeal and about La'Zra. I felt somewhat uncomfortable only knowing one side of the story. I decided that after we get back to DS9, he and I were going to have a very long talk.

**** Laizia ****

Jadzia had moved her unconscious daughter to the small office that would serve as a ready room for Worf when they headed out in two days. While her husband tried to figure out where their trio of errant officers had gotten to, Dax sat by Laizia's side, waiting for her to awaken....

Laizia slowly opened her eyes with a soft moan. At first, all she saw was darkness. Then her vision began to clear--revealing a blurry something in her line of vision. She blinked and the blur vanished as she focused on her mother's anxious face.

"Lam're?"

Jadzia's eyes brightened. "Oh thank Kahless, Lai...." She hugged Laizia close for a moment, then backed up to look closely at her daughter. "Are you all right?"

Laizia nodded. "I think so...."

"Why did they drug you?" Dax asked, her confusion warring with her mother's protective instinct.

Laizia looked away, but Jadzia tilted her daughter's chin up. Turquoise eyes met turquoise and finally Laizia started to tell--why she'd forgotten her promise and wandered off, what she'd overheard and why Nu'Daq had drugged her. The shock grew on the Trill's face with each word, then Jadzia's eyes narrowed.

Worf entered in time to catch the tail end of Laizia's explanation and his eyes darkened dangerously. "I am going to kill...."

Jadzia held up a hand. "No, Worf. We need to handle this the right way." She tapped her combadge. "Dax to Odo. We have a situation you need to be aware of...."

**** Nu'Daq ****

Nu'Daq looked at the two talking. Xenia and Catava, his shipmates. But he was uncomfortable. Not ill, Xenia's cure had been effective, and his body felt just as fine as always, albeit a little tired. But he could sense, they were talking about him, about Xenia. But his and Xenia's relationship was a thing of the past. Fate had turned them into shipmates, but that was all. Nu'Daq had to shut out whatever emotions lingered inside him, ignore them, flush them out.

"Luckily Xenia won't tell them anything about her past either. Telling about her past and her involvement with Nu'Daq would jeopardize her career," Nu'Daq thought to himself.

Sometimes he felt like telling Captain Worf about Xenia, but somehow he always persuaded himself not too. He hoped, that she would not turn out to be a danger to the ship and the mission.

"If anyone needs me, I'll be on the bridge", Nu'Daq said out loud, not to anyone particular. He walked out and headed for the bridge.

As he entered the bridge, he noticed, that everything seemed to work fine. The bridge was humming with activity. Martok looked at him;

"Nu'Daq, my friend. Good to see you on your feet again." He came over to Nu'Daq and shook his hand.

"Thank you, sir. May I speak with you privately?"

Martok headed for his ready room, and Nu'Daq followed. As the doors closed behind them, Nu'Daq started the little speech, he had prepared.

"Sir, we are going to return to DS9 within the hour. I thank you for your help, but I do not see the need for you to be dragged more into this mess, than you've already been. I will personally take responsibility for the actions performed by my shipmates and myself in this ordeal and answer to any disciplinary actions, Captain Worf will see fit. I suggest you leave DS9 immediately after my shipmates and I return to the station. There's no guessing, what Sirella might be up to back on Qo'noS."

Martok looked at him with a slight grin: "Do you seek punishment, my friend. Do you want it, like a lover seeks the company of his mistress in the middle of the night?"

Nu'Daq looked at him with a puzzled expression on his face.

Martok continued: "I believe your actions in this matter have been honorable. Thanks to you a delicate ploy against the peace talks has been uncovered, the death of two valuable Starfleet officers has been prevented and you have proven yourself worthy of your post. Why should Captain Worf want to punish you?"

Nu'Daq wanted to answer. He thought about how they had kidnapped Laizia, tried to hijack the Valjean, gone AWOL right in front of Worf. How he was the prime suspect in the assault on that strange Klingon woman. And how much he actually wanted to be removed from his position. A part of him had hoped, that Worf would remove him from his present assignment and return him to the Klingon Imperial Forces. But another part of him wanted to stay with his shipmates, to be near Xenia.

Before Nu'Daq could answer, Martok spoke again: "When we return, I'll have a talk with Worf. Don't worry, my friend".

"But...."

"No but's. Resume your station"

Nu'Daq wanted to protest, but somehow he couldn't. He returned to the bridge and his tactical console. For the next hour, he just stood there wondering. Thinking about his life, all that had happened.

Within the hour they approached DS9. As they entered communications range, they were hailed by the station. "Identify yourself and state your purpose...."

Martok raised from his chair: "This is Chancellor Martok of the Klingon Empire onboard the IKC Rotarran. I am here to talk to Captain Worf and to return four of his officers, who have served me and the Klingon Empire valuably."

"You may dock at docking bay 3. Over and out."

The Rotarran slowly edged her way to docking bay 3. Martok came up to Nu'Daq. "Let's go." Nu'Daq called Xenia and the others, and they all assembled at the airlock. They stood there for a moment, looking at each other, afraid of what might happen the next couple of minutes. Now they had to face Worf.

The airlock opened. Inside Worf was standing, alone. He looked angrily at the four officers and then turned towards Martok. "Welcome to DS9, Chancellor"

"Thank you Worf. Before you deal with your officers, we need to talk". Worf was silent for a moment, his angry eyes looked at Katja, Catava, Xenia and Nu'Daq. "Very well. The four of you go to Nu'Daq's quarters and consider, what you will explain to me. Martok and I will go talk". "Yes sir," they all answered and hurried down towards the habitat ring. As Nu'Daq looked back, he saw Martok and Worf go back onto the Rotarran. "What now?" he thought to himself.

**** Rafko ****

The tension between the four of us as we walked to Nu'Daq's quarters was palpable. I didn't think it was possible for us to be more quiet.

"Bashir to Rafko."

I felt relieved to have the chance to talk to *someone* if only to break the silence. Nu'Daq stared stonily ahead as I answered Julian's hail.

"Rafko here."

"Can you come to the Infirmary? I've got something interesting you may want to see."

I looked at Katja, Okal and Nu'Daq. Okal shrugged her shoulders.

"We'll be fine without you," she said.

"I don't want any of you to take this on yourselves," I said in a warning tone. I jabbed a finger at Nu'Daq. "Especially you. We're all in this together, so don't try anything or say anything stupid."

Katja actually smiled, "I was just there for the ride."

With that, I turned around and headed for the Infirmary. When I reached there, Bashir was examining a woman of Japanese descent.

"Xenia," Bashir came to my side.

"What's going on?"

"This woman has been infected with a Cardassian virus of some kind. The same virus that infected Jadzia's sister."

I groaned. Too many viruses!

"Will she be okay?" I asked.

"I am working on some possibilities now," Bashir said. "But the best thing right now is to put Kasumi in stasis until I can come up with a cure."

"Sounds good," I said, looking back at the trio. "That's Utena, isn't it? The Valjean's new helm officer."

"Yes," Julian said. I had read Utena's personnel file - a habit I acquired since I wanted to be acquainted with the people whose health would be my responsibility - and in many ways our backgrounds were similar. We had both been raised on Earth after our parents were killed in the Occupation. Unlike Utena though, my parents had not wanted me to explore my Bajoran upbringing at all.

That's not to say my foster parents weren't kind or loving; they could not have children of their own and they never wanted to be reminded of the fact that I had had parents other than them until the age of five.

From the day I had come to live with John and Paula Rafko, they had impressed upon me that I was Terran - not Bajoran - and they even changed my name to reflect that fact.

Now, surrounded by Bajorans, I found it so difficult to reconcile myself to that heritage - only because I had no point of reference, nothing in common with them - no matter how hard I tried.

"Are you in a lot of trouble?" Bashir asked in a low voice.

"I don't know," I admitted. "I hope not."

"Everyone is talking, you know, about what happened to Laizia, and everything else," Bashir's voice trailed off as Utena approached us.

"Dr. Bashir," she said in a tremulous voice. I noted that Utena was quite young - but her service and academic records were excellent. But standing next to her, I felt old and weary.

"Lieutenant," Julian said kindly.

"Is there anything you can do for my mother?" Utena asked. "Anything at all?"

"I am doing my best," Bashir said. He nodded at me. "Now that Dr. Rafko is here, we may be able to come up with a treatment schedule."

"I'm concerned because I'm leaving on the Valjean the day after tomorrow," Utena continued, her eyes now focused on me. "I don't want to leave my mother like this."

"I understand," I said gently. "We will do everything we can."

Utena nodded; her eyes misted for a second and then she turned away. Bashir shook his head.

"I hate things like this," he said. "They never really teach you in Starfleet Medical how to handle situations like this."

"No, you can't learn it from a textbook," I agreed. "What can I help you with now?"

Bashir looked relieved, "Well, for starters, here are my initial readings..."

We worked together in comfortable silence for the next hour or two, but soon, my eyes began to close and I felt myself jerking awake.

"You're tired, Xenia," Bashir said sympathetically.

"It's been a long day," I said, without irony.

"And you haven't talked to Captain Worf yet," Bashir pointed out.

"Don't remind me," I groaned.

"How about this," Bashir said. "Go back to your quarters and rest up. I'll keep working. Maybe tonight around 2300 hours, we can meet up at Vic's. How does that sound?"

I resisted the urge to say that Vic's was what had landed me in all this trouble to begin with.

"That sounds good," I answered. "I'd like that."

Instead of returning to my own quarters, I went to Nu'Daq's. I found Okal, Katja and Nu'Daq still sitting there, obviously still waiting to meet with Captain Worf.

"The Captain is still discussing the situation with Chancellor Martok," Okal told me.

I sank in the chair next to Okal, leaned my head back, and closed my eyes.

"We still don't have any good ideas of what to say," Katja said quietly. "Though we are leaning very much towards the truth."

"A good place to start," I answered. "We might as well be honest. Everyone knows what happened."

"I will accept responsibility," Nu'Daq thundered. "We have discussed this many times."

"No," I said firmly.

"This is not open for debate," Nu'Daq said.

"I won't allow you to do that," I told him.

"It is my decision."

Klingon stubbornness drives me insane; occasionally it's endearing - this was not one of those situations.

"I outrank you," I told him. "The decision is mine. We will face the consequences together. All of us. Equally."

Nu'Daq looked sullen, but he accepted what I said. I sat back down, exhausted.

My eyes had barely closed before the door chimed. We sat up.

It was Captain Worf.

**** Nu'Daq ****

Nu'Daq and the others were walking towards Nu'Daq's quarters. Tired, exhausted and worried they went along without a word. Nu'Daq revered the silence, he didn't feel the need to speak.

"Bashir to Rafko"

Nu'Daq recognized the voice of that irritating little man. He probably just called her to the infirmary in an attempt to seduce her. Nu'Daq could still remember Rafko and Bashir together. If he hadn't been so tired, he would probably have said something....

"Rafko here."

"Can you come to the Infirmary? I've got something interesting you may want to see."

Sure he does, Nu'Daq thought to himself.... Xenia was about to leave for the infirmary, but looked at Nu'Daq and the others for a second, as if she was asking permission to leave.

"We'll be fine without you," Okal said.

Xenia looked at Nu'Daq with a serious look on her face. "I don't want any of you to take this on yourselves," she said in a warning tone. She jabbed a finger at Nu'Daq. "Especially you. We're all in this together, so don't try anything or say anything stupid." Nu'Daq didn't answer her, he tried to ignore her, albeit somewhat unsuccessful.

Xenia left for the infirmary. Katja, Okal and Nu'Daq continued towards Nu'Daq's quarters. Every now and then Okal or Katja tried to stir up some conversation, but it was futile. Nu'Daq didn't feel like talking at all, and by looking at him both Okal and Katja lost the incentive to talk.

As they entered Nu'Daq's quarters they remembered the mess. The place still looked like a horde of targs had rampaged it. Nu'Daq managed to find two chairs reasonably undamaged. "Sit", he said to Okal and Katja, and they obeyed without protests. Nu'Daq sat down on the floor, closed his eyes and started mind-walking...

After a few minutes Okal broke the silence. "What are we going to tell Captain Worf?". Nu'Daq heard Katja's voice respond. "I don't know. Shouldn't we tell him the truth. I don't know him very well, but he seems to be a fair and just man." Okal gave a sigh. "But this doesn't look good. All the things we've done. I count a handful of violations, least of which is attempting to hijack a starship. And kidnapping the captain's daughter?!" Nu'Daq could feel two pairs of eyes falling upon him. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Katja and Okal looking at him.

"It was necessary to bring the girl with us. She would have told."

"Maybe", Okal continued, "but it was nevertheless a stupid idea"

Nu'Daq looked at her with a slight hint of anger. "You may call it stupid, but it has been done."

Okal regretted her choice of words, but realized excusing would make it worse, so she just ignored it. "But what do we tell Captain Worf?"

"I will take full responsibility. It was I, who caused all this to happen. I kidnapped the girl. I wanted to hijack the Valjean. I called Martok for help. I will take the blame". Nu'Daq was pleased with that solution. It was the honorable thing to do. He would save his shipmates' careers and he would be discharged from Starfleet and go back to the Klingon Imperial Fleet, where a major part of him wanted to be.

Okal and Katja obviously didn't like that solution. And for the next couple of hours they kept insisting, that they would all carry the blame, but Nu'Daq ignored it. The path ahead was clear, and nothing they said would convince him otherwise.

After a few hours of futile debating Xenia entered the room. "The Captain is still discussing the situation with Chancellor Martok," Okal told her. Xenia said down in an empty, halfway broken chair and closed her eyes. Nu'Daq looked at her. Even now she looked as beautiful as ever. But she was in the past. Nu'Daq looked away....

"We still don't have any good ideas of what to say," Katja said quietly. "Though we are leaning very much towards the truth."

"A good place to start," Xenia answered. "We might as well be honest. Everyone knows what happened."

Nu'Daq turned to face her again. "I will accept responsibility," Nu'Daq said with a firm voice. "We have discussed this many times."

"No," Xenia responded

"This is not open for debate," Nu'Daq said.

"I won't allow you to do that."

"It is my decision."

"I outrank you," Xenia replied. "The decision is mine. We will face the consequences together. All of us. Equally."

Nu'Daq was angered and surprised, that she would pull her rank on him. For a moment he wanted to shout out: "I do not take orders from someone like you", but he restrained himself. Destroying Xenia's career was not honorable. Realizing he could not do anything about it, Nu'Daq turned away again.

Suddenly the door bell chimed. The hour of judgment had arrived.

**** Okal****

We walked. As short as the voyage was from the docking ring to Nu'Daq's quarters, I wanted it to last forever. I felt it was like my last walk as a free standing citizen of the Federation and officer of Starfleet. I was staring straight ahead. I couldn't think about anything other than each step forward. First right, then left. Right. Left. Right....

"Bashir to Rafko"

The electronic sound of the doctor's voice disrupted my oh-so-serious train of thought.

"Rafko here."

"Can you come to the Infirmary? I've got something interesting you may want to see."

Please, Gods, no more excitement tonight. I don't think I can handle anymore. I looked at Xenia. Her gaze shifted over all three of us. "We'll be fine without you," said. I nodded my head to signal my approval which I felt she wanted.

She started to leave, but turned on a heel quickly. Xenia looked at Nu'Daq with a serious look on her face. "I don't want any of you to take this on yourselves," she said in a warning tone. She jabbed a finger at Nu'Daq. "Especially you. We're all in this together, so don't try anything or say anything stupid." Nu'Daq didn't answer her, he tried to ignore her, albeit somewhat unsuccessful.

Xenia left for the infirmary. Katja, Nu'Daq and I continued towards Nu'Daq's quarters. Every now and then Katja or myself tried to stir up some conversation, but it was futile. Nu'Daq didn't feel like talking at all, and by looking at him both I seemed to have lost the incentive to talk. I think Katja felt the same way.

I remembered the mess. The place still looked like a hoard of targs had rampaged it. Nu'Daq managed to find two chairs reasonably undamaged.

"Sit", he said.

I did as he asked. I didn't have the energy to protest. It was so quiet. The room was so dark and dreary. The tension thick. I was growing more edgy with the growing silence. Nu'Daq was silently meditating. I've never really understood the concept myself and it was greatly irritating under the current circumstances.

After a few more minutes I broke the silence. "What are we going to tell Captain Worf?".

Katja, relieved I said something first, respond. "I don't know. Shouldn't we tell him the truth. I don't know him very well, but he seems to be a fair and just man."

I sighed. "But this doesn't look good. All the things we've done. I count a handful of violations, least of which is attempting to hijack a starship. And kidnapping the captain's daughter?!" With that I stared straight at Nu'Daq. I didn't want to kidnap the girl.

Nu'Daq opened his eyes and looked straight at the two of us. "It was necessary to bring the girl with us. She would have told."

"Maybe", I continued, "but it was nevertheless a stupid idea"

Nu'Daq looked at me. Anger was twinkling in his eyes. "You may call it stupid, but it has been done."

'I should have chosen better words,' I thought. In my regret I stared at the wall instead of fueling his anger by retracting my statement. "But what do we tell Captain Worf?"

"I will take full responsibility. It was I, who caused all this to happen. I kidnapped the girl. I wanted to hijack the Valjean. I called Martok for help. I will take the blame". Nu'Daq was pleased with that solution. It was the honorable thing to do. He would save his shipmates' careers and he would be discharged from Starfleet and go back to the Klingon Imperial Fleet, where a major part of him wanted to be.

That outcome was unacceptable. Katja and I argued with him. Heated at times. We knew that even though we were all in it together, and try as we might we couldn't change his mind. We went on and on for hours to no avail. After arguing ourselves hoarse, we stopped. I started to nod off in my chair. I was exhausted. Physically and emotionally.

After what seemed like forever Xenia entered the room. "The Captain is still discussing the situation with Chancellor Martok," I told her. Xenia said down in an empty, halfway broken chair and closed her eyes. Nu'Daq looked at her.

"We still don't have any good ideas of what to say," Katja said quietly. "Though we are leaning very much towards the truth."

"A good place to start," Xenia answered. "We might as well be honest. Everyone knows what happened."

Nu'Daq turned to face her again. "I will accept responsibility," Nu'Daq said with a firm voice. "We have discussed this many times."

"No," Xenia responded

"This is not open for debate," Nu'Daq said.

This was no time to argue. Katja and I shifted our gazed between the two of them like they were playing hoverball.

"I won't allow you to do that."

"It is my decision."

"I outrank you," Xenia replied. "The decision is mine. We will face the consequences together. All of us. Equally."

She pulled rank. This was serious. It was always Nu'Daq and Xenia. It was never a matter of seniority. They were officers, but they were more. If she pulled rank, it surely meant she was angrier than she wanted anyone else to know.

Just as that little discussion came to a conclusion, the door chimed. Oh boy. The best was definitely yet to come.

Go to Log 8

Back to the RPG Homepage

Back to WDFA