Myriad Universes_ Echoes And Refractions Part 28

"Wait a minute," Corsi said, "if this is a shapechanger, can't we find him that way?"

"What way?" Primmin asked.

"Well, if he's not really a Romulan-"

Kira shook her head. "They're able to disguise their life-sign readings. Like you said, Lieutenant, they throw themselves into the part."

"So they're masking life signs and using the transponders?"

"They have to be," Eddington said. "The disguise wouldn't work otherwise."

"It's also possible," Kira said, "that they're able to change their shape so thoroughly that they actually do read to sensors as a Romulan."

Corsi leaned back and shook her head. "And we're supposed to beat these guys?"

"Yes," Worf said bluntly.

Eddington set down his padd with a mild clunk on the table. "There's a third place Koval might be. In fact, that would be ideal."

Worf frowned. He had access to the same briefings as Eddington and knew nothing of this. "Is this from SI's agent on Romulus?"

Shaking his head, Eddington said, "We haven't heard from her in a couple of weeks, actually-which isn't unusual, especially in times of war-but this came from another source, just before we left Mars. It's reliable, believe me."

"Go ahead," Worf said very slowly. He was dubious about this source, especially since he did not know Eddington. Were Ro presenting this, Worf would have no doubts, but he'd also been working with Ro for years, and knew what she was capable of. On the one hand, Starfleet wouldn't have sent Eddington if he wasn't good at what he did. On the other hand, resources were strained; just because Eddington was the best person available didn't mean he was necessarily all that good.

"Koval also has a mountain retreat, built into the rock of Kor Thon. According to my source, n.o.body still alive knows about it besides Koval."

"And your source, apparently," Kira said snidely.

"I trust this information. It came with a set of coordinates. The only problem is-it's constructed out of sensor-proof plastiform." Eddington sighed. "Look, if we find a transponder in Koval's house, then we're fine. We beam in, turn on Kira's device, and hope for the best. We don't even need Kira there to do it."

"Yes, you do."

Eddington closed his eyes and let out a long breath. "With all due respect, ma'am, you're not a trained Starfleet operative. You're a civilian and-"

"I've been fighting the Carda.s.sians for my entire life, Commander. I've been part of the resistance since I could hold a phaser. Don't tell me-"

Before this devolved into yet another argument, Worf said, "The subject is closed." That quieted Kira and Eddington both. "Kira single-handedly escaped Bajor and defected to Federation s.p.a.ce to bring us this intelligence. She is also responsible for exposing the president as a shapechanger. Her partic.i.p.ation in this mission has already been approved."

"Thank you," Kira said pointedly.

"As you say, sir," Eddington said in a tone that Worf thought of as a little too reluctant, but acquiescent nonetheless. "In any case, if Koval's not at home, we should at least try the mountain retreat. The shapechanger probably knows about it, and it'd be a useful place to get away from it all."

Worf didn't like this. The retreat could very easily be heavily secured and rigged with traps. But then, beaming into a high-ranking Tal s.h.i.+ar agent's house wasn't a low-risk operation, either. "We will see what the sensor data tells us when we arrive. Once we enter the system, we will go into orbit about Remus, then spend a full day examining the patrol patterns and sensor grids around both planets."

"Why Remus?" Kira asked.

"Most of Remus is a barren wasteland," Daniels said. "They use it for mining and some heavy-weapons construction, but that's it. It's a lot less secure than Romulus, so it's safer to orbit there."

"Once we have found an insertion point," Worf continued, "we will do a near-warp transport of the attack team. Are there any questions?"

No one had any.

"Dismissed."

To Worf's great annoyance, scans of Koval's mansion revealed nothing of use.

Once the cloaking device was hammered out, the next task given to Sisko and Scott was to adjust the sensors so that they could scan a particular location on one twin planet from orbit around the other. The best they could do was allow such a scan of Romulus from Reman orbit during those occasions when the Defiant's...o...b..t brought it as close to Romulus as possible, and then only for a few minutes at a time.

But for a full two days, there was never a sign of a transponder of any kind in Koval's mansion. There were plenty in Tal s.h.i.+ar headquarters-which Worf had scanned only in order to be thorough-and sensors, as expected, couldn't penetrate the sensor-proof s.h.i.+elding on the mountain retreat in Kor Thon.

Just finding that s.h.i.+elding was a victory of sorts, however. Kor Thon was a ma.s.sive peak on which there were no known constructions. That there was a sensor-proof rectangular shape dug into the mountain whose floor was parallel to the surface many kilometers below meant that there was certainly something there. Whether it was Koval's mythic retreat or something else, they could not determine.

The Defiant bridge came equipped with a small table aft on the bridge, in lieu of a captain's ready room. Worf sat there now with Sisko and Eddington. "Is there any way," Worf asked his first officer, "to penetrate the s.h.i.+elding?"

Shaking his head, Sisko said, "No. Whatever they're using, it just bounces sensors right off." He smiled. "Scotty's had a few choice words on the subject."

Worf said nothing to that, though he was grateful that his first officer and chief engineer had reached a rapprochement. He had no desire to walk in on another shouting match in engineering.

"I think we have to send in two teams," Eddington said. "One to the mansion, one to the retreat."

"No," Worf said. "We only have one of the devices."

"So?"

"Without it, the shapechanger can transform into anything, and will easily escape."

Testily, Eddington said, "You're not giving my teams enough credit."

"According to Kira," Sisko said, "the shapechangers can change into water and leave through the plumbing, change into an avian and fly away, or change into gas and just disperse."

"At which point," Worf added, "your team will be exposed as having invaded Romulus and will be captured, and the mission will have failed. A second insertion team will not be possible after that."

"You're a.s.suming," Eddington said, "that that Bajoran woman knows what she's talking about."

Growing weary of Eddington's constant questioning of Kira's bona fides, Worf folded his arms over his baldric. "Yes. We will send one team into the mountain retreat. If Koval is there, Kira will activate the device, and you will neutralize him. If not, we will retrieve you at the next window."

"All right," Eddington said. "I'll take Corsi's team down."

18.

s.p.a.ce Station Terok Nor In Orbit of Bajor Carda.s.sian Union Corat Damar had awakened to a message from Gul Dukat requesting that he report to the gul's office in ops first thing in the morning. Not being one to s.h.i.+rk orders, Damar dispensed with all but the most minimal of morning ablutions, put on his uniform in record time, and jogged to the nearest lift.

When he arrived at ops, the door to the gul's office opened at his approach before he had a chance to signal-meaning Dukat had set it to open automatically upon reading his biosigns.

That was unusual enough; even more so was the fact that the office was empty. However, once the door closed behind Damar, the pleasant feminine computer voice spoke. "Message for Dalin Damar from Gul Dukat."

Damar walked over to the shatterframe screen on the wall and said, "Play message."

The face of Dukat appeared on the screen. "Greetings, Damar. My apologies for this, but I was called away on rather sudden business in the middle of the night. I didn't wish to wake you, hence this message. Until further notice, you are prefect of Terok Nor. I'm sure one of your deputies can handle security in the meantime." He leaned forward. "One duty that neither you nor that deputy need concern yourself with: Odo. He has been sighted in Federation s.p.a.ce."

At that, Damar gasped. "How did-"

But the recording continued. "Obviously this is cause for concern-but no longer for you. For now, simply maintain your post. Oh, and some upgrades were performed to the sensors. They now can perform antiproton scans, which will enable them to detect cloaked s.h.i.+ps. Such scans are to be performed routinely." Dukat then mentioned a few more bits of business relating to the station-s.h.i.+ps that were late, cabin a.s.signments that needed to be resolved, and so on-before finally concluding, "Good luck, Damar. I'm sure you'll do well."

The screen went blank, but Damar continued to stare at it incredulously. Why am I being put in command? There were two dals on the station who outranked him, either one of whom should have been put in charge, not to mention a dozen or so other dalins who had seniority.

And then there was Odo. Somehow, he'd managed to cross the border into Federation s.p.a.ce. Admittedly, Odo was resourceful, and a shapes.h.i.+fter to boot, so it was certainly within the realm of possibility. Especially if he had help. Angrily, Damar decided that the first order he would give to Glinn Comra when he received his temporary promotion to chief of security was to arrest Garak and search his store. They wouldn't find anything, and there wasn't really anything to charge him with, but if Odo made it to the Federation, he probably had help, and Garak was the most likely source of that aid.

At least I hope Comra's promotion is temporary. Dukat had provided no timetable for his return, had said that Damar was in charge "until further notice"-not "until I return"-and that he was prefect, not acting prefect, as would be expected. Dukat also didn't say where he was going. Normally Damar would a.s.sume that he was returning to Carda.s.sia for government business-it wouldn't be the first time-but normally Dal Kalec or Dal Bokri would be in charge of the station in such cases.

The doorchime sounded. Damar shook his head, moved over to the guest side of the desk-he couldn't quite bring himself to sit in Dukat's chair-and touched the control that opened the door.

Kalec entered, a sour expression on his face. "Well, Prefect, it seems that you're in charge now."

Holding up his hands, Damar said, "Look, I didn't ask for this. I only just found out from a recorded message the gul left. I don't know why-"

"Oh, please, Damar," Kalec said with a sneer, "the prefect's been grooming you since you got here. So, Prefect, what are your orders?"

Wonderful. Just wonderful. "Gul Dukat ordered antiproton scans. Have they commenced?"

"Not as yet. Dalin Karris has had trouble getting the new configuration online. Not that it matters. What possible use can an antiproton scan be, aside from a ridiculous power drain?"

"According to the prefect, such a scan can detect cloaked s.h.i.+ps."

Kalec snorted. "What, the Klingons or the Romulans are going to take time from their war to invade?"

"Or the Federation. The latest intelligence reports indicate that they've started experimenting with cloaking technology."

Another snort. "If you believe that sort of thing, I suppose."

Frowning, Damar asked, "What sort of thing?"

"The lies the Obsidian Order sends you in the form of 'intelligence reports.' The Order couldn't find their own neck ridges with both hands. We're supposed to believe them? Besides, the Federation doesn't have the stomach for that kind of covert war."

Damar was starting to understand why Dukat didn't leave Kalec in charge. Somehow, Damar didn't think it was a coincidence that antiproton scans were commencing just as Dukat was leaving the station and there were reports of Starfleet s.h.i.+ps using cloaks. Dukat obviously was expecting trouble-enough that he thought it prudent to be elsewhere and to have his security chief running the station.

Glancing over at the dal-who still had the same sour expression, as if his fish juice had gone off-Damar said, "Tell Karris that the antiproton scan is her top priority."

"Why? There's still maintenance work to be done on three of the upper pylons, the replicators on the habitat ring are still malfunctioning, and-"

"I don't care," Damar snapped. "Gul Dukat's orders were clear."

Kalec glowered at Damar. "Gul Jasad is staying on the habitat ring while his s.h.i.+p is repaired. He's the one who's been complaining about the replicators. For that matter, Karris is currently on his s.h.i.+p, trying to figure out what's wrong with his dilithium chamber. Do I take her off that?"

"Yes," Damar said. "I'll take responsibility-and I'll talk to Jasad. Just get it done, Kalec."

Making an exaggerated bow, Kalec said, "As the prefect commands, sir." Then he turned on his heel and left the office.

Within half an hour, naturally, Jasad was contacting him directly. "What is the meaning of this?"

Deciding to be deliberately obtuse to make it clear just how unimportant Jasad was, Damar said, "The meaning of what, Gul?"

"The repair crews have departed my s.h.i.+p, and a technician has yet to report to my quarters to repair the replicator unit!"

"I'm sorry, Gul, but I'm afraid our maintenance schedule-"

"This isn't maintenance! These are repairs that I was told would be given top priority! We are on a critical mission, and we need to be s.p.a.ce-worthy as soon as possible. What's more, this replicator refuses to give me anything edible!"

"Regarding the replicator, Gul, I suggest you go to Rom's Bar or the replimat-I'm sure they will have food to your liking. In fact, if you go to Rom's, anything you order there will be on the house."

"Really?" That seemed to mollify the gul somewhat-but only for a moment. "Still, there is the matter of my s.h.i.+p. I demand that-"

"I'm sorry, Gul, but that's truly the best I can do. Your s.h.i.+p will be repaired as soon as we can get to it."

"They had already gotten to it, until you removed the technicians!" Jasad frowned. "Who exactly are you? One of Dukat's flunkies? I want to speak to Dukat."

Damar felt the muscles in his neck tighten against the bone. "I'm afraid Gul Dukat isn't on station at the moment, but my instructions do come directly from him. There is a security concern that requires significant upgrades to Terok Nor's sensor array. I'm afraid they now have top priority."

"What kind of security concern?"

"I'm not at liberty to discuss that on an open channel, Gul. Suffice it to say, if we do not implement these upgrades, then your s.h.i.+p will have much greater problems than a faulty dilithium chamber."

Jasad scowled. "You're just a dalin-I'm supposed to believe-"

"What you believe is of very little interest to me, Gul. Right now, I have a station to run."

"I have friends, Dalin, friends who will not appreciate my being treated in so cavalier a manner by someone who has delusions above his station."

"Right now, Gul Jasad, Terok Nor is my station-and it will remain such until I am relieved by Gul Dukat. Feel free to contact whatever friends you want, but this conversation is over."

With that, he signed off.

Then he went to the replicator and ordered a full carafe of kanar. With a trembling hand, he grabbed the carafe the second it materialized with a mild hum and starting gulping it down, hoping it would slow his racing heart.

I'm not ready for this, he thought. Dukat, why did you do this to me?

After drinking half the carafe, Damar contacted Rom and told him to let Jasad have whatever he wanted on the house. Rom tried to negotiate that down to only drinks, not games or holosuites, but Damar insisted-and reminded Rom of the half-dozen favors the Ferengi owed Damar, favors that had kept Rom out of a holding cell. That got the barkeep to relent.

"Comra to Damar."

"Now what," Damar muttered, then activated the comm. "Go ahead, Glinn."