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Worlds of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Volume Two

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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Mass-Market Paperback / February, 2005
0-7434-8352-9

"Unjoined" written by Andy Mangels and Michael A. Martin
"Fragments and Omens" written by J. Noah Kym

Excerpt:

An excerpt from "Fragments and Omens", the Bajor story by J. Noah Kym

General Lenaris Holem scooped up a handful of ash and allowed the dawn wind to scatter it. He watched it sift between his fingers, leaving his palm stained black, and wondered whose life it represented. Man? Woman? Child? Had they been asleep when the end came? Or had the natural gas leak already done its work by the time it ignited?

Lenaris surveyed the devastation through the thinning smoke. The tiny hilltop village had been effectively incinerated, reduced to charred ruins and a choking dust cloud that twisted up and across the sky over Hedrikspool Province. Not for the first time, Lenaris wondered how such things fit into the Tapestry. He tried to recall if some obscure reference to this event could be found among the prophecies of Trakor, Shabren, Talnot, Ohalu, or any of the others. Had one of them foreseen it? And if they had, did that mean all this could have been prevented?

Such questions had nagged at him for much of his life. Growing up in the Relliketh camps, under Cardassian rule, Lenaris had always been riddled with doubt. It kept him, he believed, from taking anything for granted. As much as respected those among his fellow Bajorans more pious than he, he took little comfort in the belief some of them held, that even during the worst times of the Occupation, the universe was unfolding as it was meant to. Looking around him now at what remained of Sidau village, he ached for that kind faith, the certainty that even horrors of this magnitude had some meaning in the greater scheme of things.

"General?"

Knees popping as he stood, Lenaris brushed the ash from his rough hands before responding to the voice. Twenty-five years in the resistance, followed by eight as a senior officer of the Militia, had left their marks on him. His curly gray hair continued to recede, the lines on his face were becoming more pronounced... but what troubled him most were the aches in his legs and lower back, which were becoming more distracting as the years passed. "Thank you for coming, Lieutenant," he said. "I apologize for the sudden change of venue for our meeting."

"Under the circumstances, I would never expect an apology, sir. To be honest, I was surprised you didn't decide to postpone our appointment."

Lenaris turned to face his visitor, and found he still hadn't grown accustomed to seeing Ro Laren back in a Starfleet uniform. Her previous stint with the Federation's exploratory and defensive arm notwithstanding, he'd grown accustomed to thinking of her as Militia. So much so that sight of her in the black and gray uniform, trimmed in the gold of the organization's security and services division, still surprised him. "How much do you know about what happened here?" he asked.

"I read the initial incident report on my way over from the station," Ro said. "It's tragic. I understand there were nearly three hundred people living here. For all of them to lose their lives in something so easily preventable..."

So she hasn't spoken to Kira yet.

Ro stepped carefully around the debris, taking in the view of the fog-shrouded valley beyond the village's crumbled outer wall. "They were an odd bunch," she observed.

Lenaris's eyes narrowed. "Oh?"

Ro hesitated for a second or two before elaborating. "There's little about them in central archives, but from what I gather, they were a pretty insular community. Out here in the middle of nowhere, shunning outside contact for the most part. And, supposedly, they had a strange annual tradition in which they believed they fought off a Dal'Rok, of all things." Ro shook her head as if she found the mythical spirit's very name laughable. She turned away from the view and shrugged. "As I said... an odd bunch."

"They were Bajorans, Lieutenant," Lenaris said quietly, but with more intensity than he meant to project. "That they were perhaps more eccentric than most, and not as modern as you or I, is irrelevant. Whoever these people may have been--or not been--they deserve better than to be remembered as objects of scorn."

Ro blinked. "I assure you I intended no disrespect, General."

"I'm not sure I give a damn what you intended, Lieutenant," Lenaris said. "What I know is how you came across: arrogant, dismissive, and contemptuous."

Ro's gaze shifted to one side for a moment, the way it often did when she was contemplating a cutting response to someone challenging her. Lenaris had grown quite familiar with the look during those first few weeks after she'd returned to her people following the end of the Dominion War. But then her expression softened, and when she spoke again, her voice lacked its previous edge. "You're right," she said. "That was completely inappropriate. It won't happen again, sir."

Lenaris nodded, letting her know he considered the matter closed. A small part of him, however, was mildly amused that Ro Laren, of all people, was learning restraint. He wondered darkly if he was meant to take that as an omen.

Ro asked, "Has the Militia confirmed how the accident took place?"

"Not exactly," Lenaris said, just as he spied a figure sprinting toward him from the mobile command center at the edge of the village. Wearing a red Militia uniform like Lenaris's own and holding a padd in one hand, the officer's boots kicked up ash and soot as he ran. Captain Jaza. Right on time.

"You asked for a copy this, sir?"

Lenaris thanked the captain as he accepted the padd. He spoke as he keyed on the display. "Lieutenant, I'd like you to meet Captain Jaza Najem, one of my scientists. Captain, Lieutenant Ro Laren."

Jaza nodded. "A pleasure, Lieutenant. I've been looking forward to meeting you."

"Really?" Ro said. "Why is that?"

Never lifting his eyes from the padd, Lenaris explained, "This is Captain Jaza's last week under my command. He's decided to join Starfleet."

"I submitted my transfer application a few days ago," Jaza elaborated. "I was told to report to the evaluation center in Ashalla next week for an interview. I understand you and Commander Vaughn are overseeing the review process?"

"Initially, yes," Ro confirmed. "The commander and I are primarily evaluating career Militia personnel who qualify for direct transition to active Starfleet duty. I expect Command will be sending instructors for those requiring additional training, and recruitment officers for civilians wishing to enroll in Starfleet Academy. In fact, it was to discuss those very matters that I came to meet with General Lenaris. Are you hoping to remain in-system, Captain?"

"Actually, I indicated a preference for starship duty on my application," Jaza said. "I realize there are no guarantees, but I've grown a bit restless on Bajor."

Ro smiled. "I know the feeling. I'll remember we spoke when your application hits my desk."

Jaza's delight was apparent. "I appreciate that, Lieutenant."

"Thank you, Captain," Lenaris said, finally looking up from the padd. "That'll be all."

"Yessir," Jaza replied. He nodded at Ro. "A pleasure meeting you, Lieutenant. I look forward to speaking with you again," he said, and marched back toward the M.C.C.

Ro nodded, watching him go. When he was out of earshot, she said to Lenaris. "He seems like he'll make a fine addition to Starfleet."

"Captain Jaza is one of my best officers," Lenaris said. "He'd be an asset wherever he went. I'm sorry to lose him."

Ro turned and looked at him. "I imagine you're seeing a lot of that, these days, aren't you?"

Lenaris shrugged as the two of them start walking toward the MCC. "It isn't exactly unexpected. We've known all along that some Militia personnel would be absorbed by Starfleet once Bajor joined the Federation. But I'm seeing names I never imagined would want to leave Bajor, not after fighting so hard to win our world back from the Cardassians. And I never stopped to consider how many young people would want to attend Starfleet Academy. My sister's children--a girl and two boys, all plan to report to the recruitment office in Ashalla the day it opens next month. It's a lot of change to accept at once."

"They're good changes, though," Ro said.

"Are they?" Lenaris asked. "I thought so too, at first. Then this happened." He gestured expansively at the ruin around them.

Ro frowned. "What does what happened here have to do with--?"

Lenaris held out the padd to Ro.

"What's this?" Ro asked as she took the device.

"The revised incident report, based on an investigation my people conducted after some anomalies showed up in the initial findings."

Ro frowned as she thumbed through the text. After a few moments, she looked up at him. "Deliberate?"

"That's what the evidence is telling us. Lenaris watched as Ro took another few second to absorb the details from the padd, items he'd already committed to memory: residual traces, at the epicenter of the destruction, of triceron, a volatile compound used in some incendiary devices; satellite data showing a single skimmer departing the region shortly before the explosion, headed toward Jalanda, followed shortly thereafter by a Besinian freighter lifting off from the city's spaceport... a ship that had arrived on Bajor only hours earlier.

"Son of a--" Ro slapped her combadge. "Ro to Brahmaputra. Patch me through to Captain--"

"Kira already knows, Lieutenant," the general cut in.

Ro looked at him. After a few seconds, Lenaris heard the runabout's onboard computer prompt Ro to restate her request. "Cancel," she said into her combadge, cutting the connection with another slap. She waited for Lenaris to continue.

"We confirmed the new findings only a hour ago, while you were still en route to Bajor," the general explained. "I notified Deep Space 9 immediately, of course; once the freighter left the system, it was out of my jurisdiction. My understanding is that the Defiant set out in pursuit of the Besinian ship immediately, even though the trail was already two hours old at that point."

"What do we know about the ship?"

"Very little. It was a freelance courier. Having found ourselves unable to verify the authenticity of the credentials they presented when they first requested permission to land, we're proceeding on the assumption that they transmitted forgeries in order to cover their real agenda."

Ro shook her head. "But what kind of agenda would anyone have against these people?"

"That, Lieutenant, is why our meeting wasn't cancelled," Lenaris told her. "Captain Kira expects you to investigate the matter personally."

Copyright © 2005 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.