“Incident?” Dukat laughed. “You speak as though this is some past event! My men have been unable to repair the detection grid on a global scale, Kubus, and we have only been able to maintain secondary systems in a few locales. Someone is going to pay for this.”
Kubus was ready for him. “I have heard a great many rumors from my contacts,” he offered. “They believe this is primarily the work of terrorists in Dahkur. They hide somewhere in the hills, though there has been no physical evidence of their exact location. It might be preferable to simply…” Kubus hesitated as he noticed that Dukat was shaking his head, but he uncertainly went on, “…destroy the entire region…”
“No,” Dukat told him. “There are valuable commodities in that part of Dahkur. Minerals, timber…Give me someone else, Secretary.”
“Someone else?” Kubus felt uncomfortably pressed, his mind going blank. He had been sure that the cell in Dahkur would be enough to satisfy Dukat, and he didn’t know what to say now that his suggestion had been rejected.
There was a long pause while Kubus tried to come up with something useful. “Well, there is believed to be an especially large cell in Kendra Province. I have no hard evidence that they had any involvement, but—”
“Did I ask for hard evidence?” Dukat said coldly. “Can this cell be pinpointed?”
“I…believe…their hiding place is somewhat more definitive than some of the others, but—”
“Then why have they not been brought to my attention before now?”
Kubus suddenly realized what a terrible mistake he was making. “Well…sir…that cell…It’s rumored that one of their members…is the son of our religious leader—”
“The kai’s son?” Dukat said, his expression suddenly changing to reflect his apparent interest. Kubus felt his heart sink like a stone.
“Yes, sir, that’s correct. No Bajoran is willing to reveal their exact location, but there is a general idea of where they might be found, near the forest just outside of the Kendra provincial seat…”
“Issue a statement, Kubus. If this Kendra cell does not surrender themselves, I will be forced to destroy the surrounding villages. However, if anyone from Kendra is willing to reveal their location before they surrender…well, the villages will be spared, of course…” He trailed off, a self-satisfied smile surfacing.
“Prefect,” Kubus said nervously, aware that he was inching into dangerous territory, “I’m not sure you understand the gravity of what you ask. I must tell you, I think the cell from Dahkur—”
“Oak,” Dukat said, and Kubus blanched. No good could come following the gul’s use of his given name.
“I hesitate to bring this up at such a sensitive time,” the prefect said, “But Legate Kell recently suggested to me that it would be in my best interests to appoint a new Bajoran cabinet. He believed it would be beneficial to simply execute all the current members of the Bajoran government and start anew. Of course, I assured him that I had no intention of betraying those who had been faithful to me for such a long time.”
Kubus recognized the threat, but he could not be responsible for an ultimatum involving Kai Opaka’s son. “Gul, respectfully—I don’t believe that any Bajoran would willingly reveal the whereabouts of the kai’s son.”
“Well,” Dukat said, “we’ll see if you’re right, won’t we, Secretary?” He stood from his desk, turning his back on the old man, who wasn’t quite sure whether he had been dismissed.
“I’ll take care of your request as soon as I’m able,” Kubus said miserably, rising to go.
Dukat did not turn around. “You’ll take care of it now.”
“This is Alynna Nechayev, Vice-Admiral of Starfleet Command, representing the United Federation of Planets. I am attempting to reach Kalem Apren of Bajor. This is Alynna Nechayev, Vice-Admiral of Starfleet Command…”
Apren struggled for a moment to fight his way out of the haze of sleep. He could have sworn he’d heard his name coming from another room of the house—muffled, but still distinctly a woman’s voice, and something unusual about her accent…
Kalem Apren of Bajor…This is Alynna Nechayev…
Apren was on his feet at once, dashing for the comm system that was set up in the other room of his modest stone house. He was surprised that it hadn’t woken his wife—but then, her name had not been called. He had slept like the dead, considering the excitement that had taken place in the past twenty-four hours. The people of the Kendra Valley were exhausted with hopeful anticipation. Most Bajorans were accustomed to violent outbreaks on their world, but very few of those outbreaks resulted in much measure of Bajoran victory—and never a victory as wide-scale as this one seemed to be.
He seized the transmitter device at once, and began to speak.
“Hello, hello? This is Kalem Apren, citizen of Bajor. Is…is this channel secure?” He hesitated before continuing, but the voice spoke again before he could say anything else.
“Mister Kalem, I must warn you, this channel is not secure. I repeat, this channel is not secure.”
Did it even matter, now, if the Cardassians overheard? In fact, Apren wondered if it wasn’t better that they did, considering what had been happening. The woman went on. “I have contacted you by request of Keeve Falor, who sent word to a Federation starbase that you wished to speak with a representative of my government.”
“Vice-Admiral Alynna,” Apren said, fumbling over the correct way to address the alien woman. He spoke quickly, frantically—for he didn’t know how long this connection would hold out. “Thank you for contacting me…finally.” He added the last word as a loaded afterthought, for he knew, from Keeve and others, that this was not the first time Alynna Nechayev had been in contact with Bajorans. Just prior to the occupation she had worked as an operative for her people, trying to learn more about the Bajoran situation in hopes that her government could help. But in the end, the Federation’s political structure had barred her from interfering in the so-called annexation of Bajor to the Cardassian Union.
Apren had to admit to himself that Keeve Falor’s skepticism was well-placed, but he had to maintain hope, especially now that things seemed to be taking a turn. Even as they were speaking, Cardassian targets all over Bajor were burning, and Apren expected more destruction to take place before Cardassian forces could rein in the violence.
The woman spoke. “I have been hoping to contact someone to represent Bajor for a very long time now—someone, that is, besides Jas Holza or Kubus Oak…”
“Of course,” Apren said, impatient to get to the point of the conversation. “Perhaps you have heard of what is happening here today, Vice-Admiral.”
“Today? Please tell me what you mean.”
“Today has been a landmark in the fight for independence from our oppressors,” Apren said. “Dozens, possibly even hundreds of Cardassian targets were simultaneously attacked, releasing a worldwide flood of violence. Some Bajorans are fearful, it seems, from the reports I have been getting, but most are jubilant—and angry. Even farmers from the smaller villages are taking up arms. I have been taking reports all day long from contacts on every continent—”
“A global uprising,”the woman interrupted him, sounding surprised. “This is news indeed. Perhaps the situation will warrant Federation involvement, depending on the circumstances…”
Apren was disgusted. “Of course, you must discuss it with your diplomats, your politicians, and your military organizations before you can do anything. You cannot simply deduce that your assistance would be helpful here, and act accordingly. By the time you sort out whether it is prudent to become involved, it may be too late to do anything.”