“About what?” Kira asked.
Shakaar put his drink down on an end table beside the sofa, then leaned forward. “I wanted to know who you favor as the next kai.”
“Oh,” she said, not prepared for the question. “Well, I guess it’s a foregone conclusion at this point that Vedek Yevir will be elected.”
“I’m not asking for a prediction,” Shakaar told her. “I’m interested to find out who you believe would best serve as Bajor’s spiritual leader. Or did I misinterpret you, and you think that Yevir is the best person for the job?”
“No,” Kira said, too quickly, she thought. Her discomfort with Yevir as kai had less to do with his call for the Attainder and more to do with whyhe had done it. “No,” she went on, “I don’t think Yevir would be a good kai.”
Shakaar regarded her for a few seconds, his eyes peering into hers. Finally, he sat back on the sofa. “It’s more than that, isn’t it?” he said. “It’s not that you don’t think Yevir would be a good kai; it’s that you think he’d be a bad one.”
Kira sighed. “Yes, I do think he’d be a bad kai,” she confirmed. “More than that, I think that he might actually be dangerous.”
“Dangerous?” Shakaar said. “How? Like Winn?”
“No, not like Winn,” Kira said at once. She could still grow agitated and angry when she thought of the former kai, a woman who had been motivated by ego and ambition, a political animal far removed from what Kira considered to be a server of the faith. “I don’t think Yevir is driven by ambition,” she explained. “He truly has a strong faith and a real commitment to our people. But I also think his faith is…voracious.”
Shakaar looked at her with a quizzical expression. “Surely you don’t object to somebody having a passion for their devotion.”
“No, of course not,” Kira said. “But Yevir’s passion is unbridled… unthinking.He believes so fully that the Prophets guide his every decision that he doesn’t really consider the consequences of his actions.”
Shakaar nodded slowly, offering a nonverbal sound of understanding, although Kira could not tell whether he agreed with her assessment. “All right, so not Yevir,” he said. “Then who? Ungtae?”
Kira could feel herself making a face, no doubt an expression that conveyed both her affection for the old vedek and her reservations about him being elected kai. “I like Ungtae,” she said. “He’s a good man, with a long record of good service…”
“But?” Shakaar asked.
“I don’t know,” she said. “He’s a man of great faith, humble, maybe even wise, but he’s just so…plain.”
“What’s wrong with plain?” Shakaar asked.
“Nothing, really,” Kira said. “And I’d probably be perfectly happy with Ungtae. It’s just that I would rather see a kai who didn’t just satisfy the Bajoran people, but inspired them.”
Shakaar smiled at her. “Somebody like Opaka,” he said.
“Yes,” Kira said, returning his smile.
“You really held her in high regard.” It was not a question.
“All of Bajor did,” she said. “But yes, I think she was an amazing woman. Gentle but strong, self-possessed but humble. She was a genuine leader, somebody we could all look to for spiritual guidance.”
“I liked her too,” Shakaar said.
“I know you did.”
“But you still haven’t answered my question,” he said. “If not Yevir or Ungtae, then who?”
“If I had to choose right now?” Kira asked rhetorically. The irony of the notion vexed her, since the Attainder would prevent her from voting for the next kai. “Vedek Pralon.”
“Pralon?” Shakaar repeated, reaching for his glass of mobajuice. “Really?”
“You don’t think Pralon would make a good kai?”
Shakaar sipped from the glass, and then said, “Oh, I think Pralon would be a fine choice, but I just wonder how she would be in dealing with other governments.”
Other governments?Kira thought, and realized that he must mean the Federation. The reason he was seeking her opinion became clear; Kira probably had more experience with the Federation, at least in the guise of Starfleet, than any other Bajoran. He must also believe that membership was imminent. “I don’t know if Vedek Pralon has had much contact with the Federation,” she said. “But I think she could handle it.”
“I’m not talking about the Federation government,” Shakaar said. “I’m talking about—”
A message over the comm system interrupted him. “Ops to Colonel Kira,”came the voice of Ensign Ling.
“Go ahead,” Kira replied.
“Colonel, the Alonis ambassador is asking to speak with you,”Ling reported. Kira had greeted Tel Ammanis Lent, the Alonis ambassador, over a com channel when her ship had arrived at the station earlier. Because of the environmental suits that the aquatic aliens required in an atmosphere, Lent had chosen to remain aboard her vessel until the reception.
“Tell her I’m on my way,” Kira said, standing from her chair.
“Aye, sir,”Ling responded.
“Kira out.” To Shakaar, she said, “I’m afraid I have to go.”
“Of course,” he said, standing up as well. “Maybe we can continue this later.”
“All right,” she said. “I’ll see you this evening.” Shakaar nodded his acknowledgment, and Kira headed for the door. She thought that the impromptu meeting had gone well, but as she strode out into the corridor, she found herself surprised that Shakaar still valued her opinion.
49
Bashir reexamined his preparations. Every tool aboard ship that he could conceive of needing, whether it be a device, a drug, or a member of his limited staff, now populated the medical bay. This time, he would be ready for whatever happened to Ezri. This time, he would not permit her life to be endangered.
“Are you all set?” Bashir asked as he checked her condition on the medical display. In addition to all of the other measures he had taken, he had also primed Ezri for her second contact with the object. He had insisted on being allowed a couple of hours to design a treatment that would fortify those areas and processes within her body that had previously been threatened. Now, as he stood beside the diagnostic bed on which she lay, he felt confident that he had provided Ezri the medical reinforcement to safely withstand the coming trauma.
“I’m ready,” Ezri said. She peered up at him, an expression of determination set into her features. Bashir thought that he also saw a speck of fear in her eyes, an observation that actually pleased him. No matter how strongly Ezri believed that she had to take this course of action, her fear indicated that she had not made the choice without the proper consideration. Indeed, her decision to proceed despite her fear seemed heroic. As he looked down at her adorable round face and into her beautiful deep eyes, an intense feeling of pride surged within him. The emotion filled him up, and all he could think was how much he loved this woman.
“All right, then,” Bashir said. He reached up and tapped his combadge. “Bashir to Bowers.”
“Bowers here.”
“We’re ready to begin,” Bashir told him. As long as Ezri remained in the medical bay, and Commander Vaughn on the planet’s surface, Bowers would be in command of Defiant.
“Acknowledged, Doctor. Keep me informed,”he said. “Bowers out.”