Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: The Forgotten

[Deciviel]

Odo, the station security chief, was afoot, making his daily rounds around the station.
Today, however, he was not just making his usual rounds. He had another job to do as well. A job
he wasn’t particularly looking forward to, but it had to be done. A job that involved his not too
trustworthy, and rather annoying, Ferengi acquaintance, as Odo sees him.
He stepped foot into Quark’s bar, making his way past the Dabo tables surrounded by
humanoids of all types, gambling away their hard-earned money. As the constable sat down at the
bar, Quark noticed him and came to him.
“Odo,” said the Ferengi, “What a surprise to see you here.” He took out a glass and began
pouring a greenish alcoholic beverage for another customer. “Anything I can get for you?” He
finished pouring the drink and gave it to a customer sitting near him.
“You know as well anyone that I don’t drink,” Odo replied, “or eat, or breath, or intake substance
or perform any other bodily function that you humanoids require. And if I did, I surely would not
consume the putrid commodities you serve.”
“Putrid as they may be,” Quark said, “they bring in the profit.”
“I’m sure.” said Odo sarcastically. He took his eyes away from Quark’s for a second, then said,
hesitantly, “Quark, as much as I hate to say it. . . I need you.”
“I must say, I’m flattered,” said the Ferengi, confused and rather disgusted, “But, I’m afraid you’re. . . not my type.”
Odo looked at him at him questionably, then said, “I don’t mean it like that, Quark.” He was a bit
annoyed, not to mention disgusted as well. “I mean I need you. . . for a mission.”
“What kind of mission?”
“I’d... rather not discuss it now.” replied Odo, looking away again.
“Don’t wanna talk about it, huh?” Quark said. In the background, the word “Dabo!” was
exclaimed from one of the Dabo tables, and Quark glanced nervously at it for a moment, then
said, “What’s in it for me? I don’t risk my life for someone else unless I profit from it.”
“As I recall, I didn’t mention a word about risking your life.” Odo said.
“You didn’t need to,” said Quark, “I could tell. Any mission that requires the assistance of a
Ferengi of my skill and stature must be a dangerous one.” He was certainly proud of himself.
“Hmph,” scoffed Odo, “Don’t flatter yourself.” He was looking at Quark again.
“Oh, but I must,” said Quark, “I really must.” A brief moment passed, and then he said, “As I was
saying, what’s in it for me?
Odo looked him in the eye and said, “More latinum than you could count.”
Quark was extremely intrigued by this. He leaned over to Odo and asked, “So, when do we
start?"

[shrek man]

Very nice!

[Voy_Girl]

Good

[Deciviel]

***

Commander Sisko has sat in his office for almost the
entire day, except of course for the
occasional raktijino, or to use the bathroom. Today
was a slow day for everyone, as nothing of
great importance was taking place. There were no
visitors from the other side of the wormhole
expected, nor were there delegates of any sort
awaiting a grand tour of the station. At last Sisko
was getting what he's been looking forward to for
quite some time- a nice break from the chaos
of life on the station. A chance for him to unwind and
maybe catch up on some work. He hadn't
expected, though, that his relaxing day would be one
of boredom as well.
As he read his son's latest story off a PADD, he set
it down for a moment and gazed out
the window. The stars looked like fireflies he had
seen once as a child, vacationing with his
parents in the Amazon. They were a beautiful sight. For
a moment, he wished he could reach out
and touch them with his hand, but that moment lasted
only a heartbeat, and he turned back to his
son's story. As he began the first line of the third
paragraph, the doors of his office opened to
produce the shapeshifter Odo.
"Constable," said Sisko, "Good to see you." He put the
PADD down and said, "I take it there are
no problems that require my attention?" Whenever Odo
came to see him, Sisko knew, there was
always some sort of issue to be tackled.
"Not...really, Commander." Said the shapeshifter. Odo
witnessed a slight look of disappointment
in his commanding officer's eyes. "However, I came
here to...discuss something with you."
"Please." said the Commander, "I'm all ears."
"I need to request the use of a runabout."
"For what?" asked Sisko inquisitively.
"It's a personal matter, really." Odo said.
"Constable, you know I don't authorize the use of a
runabout without knowing what it's for."
said Sisko. "Is there a problem?"
"No, not at all." said Odo. Sisko could tell that this
was only the half-truth.
"Then I don't see any reason why you can't tell me
what you need it for."
Odo paused for a moment, then said, "If you must
know...I need it to apprehend someone. A
fugitive." Sisko's ears perked up a bit at the sound
of Odo's words. Perhaps this would provide
him with the thrill he was looking for.
"A fugitive?" said Sisko.
"That is correct." Odo replied. "A highly dangerous
and unpredictable fugitive named Kaar
Deh'lan."
"And what is this Kaar guilty of?"
Odo was hesitant to respond, but he did. "Kaar was the
leader of a Bajoran resistance cell during
the occupation. He was quite clever in his ways,
especially at torturing the Cardassian soldiers
they captured." He paused, then continued. "He was...a
close friend of mine."
"I see." said Sisko.
"Gul Duran, one of the overseers of this station
during the occupation, gave me the job of
tracking down his cell and erradicating them. I was greatly
honored that I was entrusted with this task, but I
couldn't see past our friendship."
"And so what happened?" Sisko asked.
"I knew him well enough to know where he would most
likely be, so I tracked him down. I finally
confronted him on Bajor, but I couldn't bring myself
to kill him. So I let him go." Sisko was very
attentive at this point. "When I returned to the
station, I told Duran that I could not find them, that
they most likely died of exhaustion or disease."
"And did he believe you?" Sisko asked.
"He was suspicious, of course, as are most Cardassians," Odo said, "but he believed me. The next day, the innocent son of a high ranking Cardassian was murdered by Kaar's cell. It caused quite an uproar on Cardassia, as well as the demand for his capture."
"I get the picture now." said Sisko. "Is this in any way related to the visit from the Dar'tali a couple of days ago?"
"Indeed." said Odo. "Several of my Dar'tali sources have told me that Kaar was last seen on a transport heading to Ferenginar. My guess is that he's been surgically altered, which will make my job even more difficult than it already is."
"Ferenginar?" said Sisko. "Seems to me like you could use the help of our good friend Quark."
"I've already enlisted his help." said Odo. "Although I trust drunken Klingons better than him."
A small chuckle escaped Sisko's lips, then he said, "Well, Constable, permission granted. Take the Rio Grande."
Odo nodded in Sisko's direction and said, "Thank you, Commander."
He turned around to walk out when Sisko interjected, "Odo,"
the shapeshifter looked back at him.
"I know this will be hard for you," he got up from behind his desk and walked to Odo, "So I want you to know, you have my support in whatever decision you make."
"Thank you, Commander." said Odo, finding comfort in his words. He turned around then and stepped out of the office.

[Voy_Girl]

Really good job...