“‘Boss’?” Ro said. “Isn’t that sort of an odd title for a politician?” She had heard of government officials being called many things, but bosshad never been one of them.
“With Morn,” Quark said, “I don’t ask questions.”
“Why not?”
“Because he might answer them,” Quark moaned, “and then another hour of my life would be gone.” Ro chuckled, well aware of Morn’s penchant for seemingly endless conversation.
As the lift changed direction, Ro noticed something. She looked over at Quark, and said, “You’re not wearing that cologne anymore.”
Quark offered a little shrug. “You didn’t like it,” he said.
“That’s very considerate.”
“That’s the 305th Rule of Acquisition,” he told her. “‘Always be considerate.’”
“No. Really?” she said, and felt immediately foolish for having asked. She may not have known all the Rules of Acquisition—or any of them, for that matter—but she could have guessed that being considerate was not a business principle widely held by the Ferengi. She really must be tired. Quark apparently saw her embarrassment, because he did not bother to say anything, but only raised the ridge above his eyes. “Don’t laugh,” she warned.
“Who’s laughing?”
“Well, how was business tonight anyway?” she asked, clumsily changing the subject.
“Good,” Quark said. “Except for me buying a round for everybody.”
“At least you got one back,” Ro said, referring to the drink she had bought him earlier, after Shakaar’s announcement. She had enjoyed that, although she had been called away on a security matter soon after.
“Best drink I ever had,” he said, his appreciation clearly genuine.
The turbolift decelerated to a stop, and the door slid open before them. Ro stepped out into the habitat ring, but when she looked around, she saw that Quark had remained in the car. “Aren’t you coming?” she asked. “I thought you were going to walk me to my quarters.”
He did not move, but looked at her with a serious expression on his face. “May I ask you a question, Laren?”
Ro suspected she knew what the question would be, and she made a decision she could not entirely believe she was making. “The answer is yes,”she said.
Quark lips parted in a big smile, his eyes wide with surprise. “You haven’t even heard the question yet,” he said.
Ro reached out to the side of the doorway, then leaned back into the turbolift, holding Quark’s gaze. “I trust you,” she said.
Quark looked into her eyes for a few seconds, but then he said, “You might want to wait for me to ask this question before answering.”
“Okay,” she said. “Go ahead.”
“I, uh, I wanted to, uh, know,” he said, stumbling along. “I wanted to know if you would like to go out with me?”
“You mean on a date?” she asked solemnly. Quark nodded. “Then the answer is yes.”She pushed away from the side of the doorway and swung back into the corridor. “Now, walk me to my quarters,” she said. “I’m exhausted and I need to sleep.”
Quark exited the car, and the two began walking toward her quarters, side by side. They were both quiet for a few moments, a silence Ro found very comfortable, something she had not experienced in quite some time. Even with Bajor joining the Federation, and her future filled with nothing but uncertainty, she felt content right now. And before she realized she was doing it, she reached over and took Quark’s hand in her own.
They walked like that all the way to her quarters.
70
Prynn opened her eyes as though from a long and restful sleep. She had no conscious thoughts as she lay on her back, staring up in the dimly lighted room. After a few seconds, for no good reason, she turned her head to the right. When she saw Shar lying on the diagnostic bed next to her, she bolted up, leaning on her hands. In an instant, she recalled everything that had taken place on the planet, up until the moment Shar had yelled at her to get the helmets. It seemed impossible that they had not been killed, but—
Dad,she thought, remembering the great gray column, expanding outward, obviously from an explosion—an explosion where he had been. Prynn spun quickly around to look at the diagnostic bed to her left. It was empty. Dad,she thought again, calling to him in her mind, but she knew that he was gone. She dropped down onto her side on the bed. Tears blurred her vision and rolled down her face. She felt hollow. She had lost her father, and to make it worse, she had also lost the last seven years with him.
At the periphery of her perception, Prynn heard the whisper of a door. She ignored it, unable to focus on anything but her sorrow. She squeezed her eyes shut as she began to sob.
“Ensign Tenmei?” Through the sounds of her grief, she heard the voice of Dr. Bashir. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and she opened her eyes. Before her, she saw the shape of his face, though she could not make out his features in the shadowy lighting. “Are you in pain?” Bashir asked.
Pain,Prynn thought, and could not begin to describe the agony that consumed her. She tried to answer, but she could not stop crying. Finally, she managed to say, “My father.”
“Oh,” Bashir said. “Ensign, your father’s going to be fine.”
Her tears seemed to stop immediately. “What?” she asked, raising her head. “What?”
“Your father’s here in the medical bay,” Bashir told her. Prynn stared at him, unmoving. She felt him exert pressure on her shoulder, trying gently to push her. She allowed him to guide her, and she peered into the gloom where he pointed. “Computer,” Bashir said, “lights up one-quarter.”
As the illumination in the medical bay increased, Prynn looked up at Dr. Bashir’s face for a moment. Then she peered back to where he was pointing, at a diagnostic bed halfway across the room. She saw the figure of a man lying atop it and recognized her father’s profile at once. The sheet covering him up to his shoulders rose and fell at his chest, confirmation of his breathing.
Prynn laughed, a sharp, involuntary noise as uncontrollable as her crying had been. “He’s alive,” she sputtered. She laughed again, even as tears began streaming down her face once more.
“Yes, he is,” Bashir said. Prynn leaned backward, ready to fall onto the bed, but the doctor put a hand behind her and lowered her down. “Computer, night lighting,” he said. The shadows returned, the doctor’s face fading from sight once more. “I’m going to get you something to help you sleep,” he told her.
“Wait,” she said, grabbing his arm as he started to go. “How did we get here?”
“I wasn’t on the bridge when it happened,” he said, “but I believe that the clouds cleared above you, and we just beamed you up. You and Ensign ch’Thane were wearing environmental suits, so you were able to survive down on the planet during its…transformation.” He tapped at her hand, then softly pulled it from his arm and set it beside her on the bed. “I’m going to get something to help you through the night,” he said again, and he walked away.
Before he returned, Prynn had already fallen back to sleep.
71
As Kira prepared to leave her quarters for her office, she thought again about contacting Kasidy. She had tried to reach her last night, right after Shakaar’s announcement, but Kas’s comm system had not been accepting incoming transmissions. She knew that Kas sometimes shut down her comm when writing letters, not wanting to be distracted. Kira had not bothered to leave a message.