The Long Night (22 page)

"Another ship?" Kira repeated. She felt as if her entire body had gone numb.

"He does know the situation here, doesn't he?" Mouce asked.

"If he's within hailing distance, he's within scanning distance," Kiser said. "He knows."

"And he's bringing the Nibix into this mess?" Higginbotham shook his head. "I sure hope he knows what he's doing."

"We don't know whether or not he is bringing the Nibix," Kira said. "We're assuming that, but we could be wrong."

Mouce smiled. "I would love to see the expression on the Grand Nagus's face when he learned he had scurried all this way for no profit at all."

"Let's stop the speculation and see what's really going on," Higginbotham said.

But Kira was already ahead of him. She had indicated to Tappan to put Sisko on screen.

When his face appeared, she felt even more relief. He looked normal. Part of her had been worried that he would have been in some strange battle or would disappear into some space anomaly like the Nibix herself.

"Hello, Commander," she said, hoping that her relief didn't show in her voice.

"Major," Sisko said. She could see the bridge of the Defiant behind him. "I see you have lots of company."

"Yes, sir," Kira said. "And more on the way. Deep Space Nine is the most popular place in the galaxy right now, and Quark's isn't even open."

Sisko chuckled. "I'm sure I'll hear about that when I return."

Kira grinned. "I'm sure you will."

Then his smile faded. "Major, the Defiant along with the Federation ship Long Night will be there in one hour. The Long Night's main drives are out, but it will be able to maneuver in close. You might have a repair team standing by. Sisko out."

The screen went blank. He disappeared before she had a chance to ask a single question. Such as where did he find the Long Night and what happened to the Nibix? Or was Higginbotham's guess right? Was the Long Night the Nibix?

Kira might try a stunt like that, but not Benjamin Sisko, Mr. Rules and Regulations himself. Although he had been willing to bend the rules a number of times. Not often enough for her tastes, but on occasion.

"The Long Night?" Kiser asked. "I don't think that name is in the Federation registry of approved ship titles."

"I didn't know there was a registry," Mouce said dryly.

"I believe that's the famous Kiser sarcasm, Captain," Higginbotham said. "The Federation prefers rousing names for its ships like Enterprise or Defiant. In absence of that, the ships are usually named for a famous person, place, or thing."

And then his eyes widened, and his gaze met Kira's.

"The long night," she said to him, "is another name for cold sleep."

"He is bringing the Nibix in," Mouce said. And then she laughed. "Of all the reckless, wonderful things to do."

"We need to get back to our ships," Kiser said.

"Wait!" Higginbotham said. "He's playing it this way for a reason. We must do the same. As far as we're concerned, this is a Federation vessel."

"Subject to Federation protection," Kiser said. Then he grinned. "Make certain your weapons systems are up."

Mouce laughed. "First thing I do." She returned to the position she had been in when she arrived.

"Drop the shields," Kira said to Ensign Jones. "Let's allow our guests to leave."

The other captains went to their original positions as well. Mouce looked at them, then tapped her comm badge. "Mouce to Bosewell. One to beam up."

As her frame dissolved into multicolored light, Kiser hit his badge, requesting a beamup. And when he was gone, Higginbotham did the same.

Finally they were gone. The bridge was empty except for Kira and her crew.

"Ensign Jones," Kira said, "the entire station should be at battle stations, but I want you to double-check. Raise our shields again, and make certain our weapons are ready to go."

"Aye, sir," Jones said.

Kira glanced at the blank screen. She wished she were with Commander Sisko right now. This was her kind of fight. Gutsy, adventurous, and one hell of a good time.

She would make certain he brought the Nibix to Deep Space Nine.

Or she would die trying.

Sisko clicked off his communication with Kira and sat down hard in his chair. He wished he could send a message to Dax. But to say much more would hurt their ruse.

Ensign Kathé turned to him, her hair swinging as she did so. "Do you think they'll buy it, Commander?"

Sisko smiled. "Of course not, Ensign. But they'll have to pretend they do."

GENERAL CAYBE LOOKED like a caged animal. He had been wanting to take action, any kind of action, for hours now.

Hibar Ribe wouldn't let him, and the general knew better than to question him. Ribe sat in his chair, keeping his expression as neutral as possible, while he watched the events unfold before him.

The advisors were conferring. They had been conferring since he gave his last order. Mostly they were trying to determine what he was thinking. It made him wonder how often they wasted time trying to discover what he was thinking instead of actually thinking for him as they were supposed to.

The rest of the crew on the flagship was working tirelessly. The general had run them through their paces an hour ago, keeping them fresh and alert. Ribe wasn't sure what the general expected, but Ribe knew what he expected.

He expected to see the Nibix appear in his viewscreen and then in the dome any moment now. Especially after Commander Benjamin Sisko's last communiqué.

"The Federation Deep-Space Ship Long Night?" Ribe asked. "Does such a ship exist?"

The general snapped to attention. The advisors stopped muttering. The crew worked harder at pretending there was no tension around them.

"It seems to," the general said. "But we are checking to be sure."

Imbeciles. The general might believe that Sisko was towing a Federation ship, but Ribe did not. He stood. His lack of control on this ship frustrated him. If he thought he could, he would turn it around and head toward the coordinates of Commander Benjamin Sisko's message, find the Nibix, and blow it up.

But he couldn't. He had to wait until it appeared. He had to pretend, for his sake and the sake of his people, that he was overjoyed. He would have to pretend that the Nibix's destruction was an accident.

An accident he would have to devise quickly.

He glanced up at the dome and saw a few ships above him. More had arrived while they waited. The starship captains had also beamed aboard Deep Space Nine and made plans. It was no coincidence that after Sisko broadcast his message, the captains returned to their ships and upgraded their status to red alert.

The Nibix was coming here.

Ribe glanced at the general and then the rest of the bridge crew. If he couldn't destroy the Nibix, he and a few of his most trusted advisors had to take control of that ship and keep it sealed until his ancestor's sabotage could be covered.

Somehow.

Kira studied the screen before her. No sign of the Defiant or the Long Night yet.

She had to think of it as the Long Night. If she allowed any other name into her mind, she might blurt it out at the wrong moment.

"Mr. Tappan," she said, "give me the status on the other ships."

"The four unidentified ships slowed when they monitored the commander's message," Tappan said. "They are waiting just outside scanning range. Jepson's ship has taken up a position near the Cardassians. The three Ferengi ships have aligned themselves behind the negus's ship. All three starships are in positions around the station and are at red alert."

The alliances were beginning to show. Leave it to the promise of wealth to destroy any hope of peaceable terms. She desperately wanted to call Sisko and ask him just what he was thinking. Then she could plan her strategy. Instead, she had to work on her guesses, based on her knowledge of Commander Benjamin Sisko.

"How long until the Defiant arrives?" she said, knowing she had only asked that question a short time ago.

Tappan glanced at his screen. "Thirty minutes until the Defiant and the Long Night are within range."

Kira leaned against the railing and forced herself to take a deep breath. Thirty minutes. Thirty more minutes of waiting. This was the part she had always hated. When she had joined the Resistance, her cell leader had warned her about her dislike of waiting.

"If you're not careful," he had said, "you'll anticipate every attack, and destroy any chances we have."

She wasn't going to anticipate anything. Maybe nothing would happen. Or maybe she would find herself in the biggest firefight she had seen in years.

The cold had seeped through Dax's gloves. Her fingers moved more slowly than she would like. She hunched over the green panel in front of her, watching the glow grow. The power sources were tied to the green gems that the Jibetians had guarded so well.

The lights had transformed the control chamber from that of a coffin ship to that of a working ship. She could almost imagine what it had been like to work here all those centuries ago. Although no one really had a chance to work here. Not after the ship set off. The sabotage had seen to that.

O'Brien stuck his head out of the panel beside her and grinned. His ruddy skin was streaked with black dirt. Even his teeth had specks on them. He had been working like a madman and had managed to get some of the equipment running, and running well.

"I have the viewscreen hooked up so we're not flying blind," he said.

Dax tapped an auxiliary panel in front of her. O'Brien had rigged it on top of the Nibix's communication controls. A perfect blend of Federation and ancient Jibetian technology. If he continued to do that, the ship truly would become a Federation vessel.

After a moment of sputtering, the small viewscreen winked on. Space zipped by in warp. A familiar sight. Just not one she had expected to see on the Nibix.

"Well done," she said.

"I also have a camera on the screen hooked up so you can broadcast," he said.

She wiped her face with the back of her glove, wondering idly if she were as filthy as O'Brien was. Probably. Maybe the extra layer of dirt kept her that much warmer. The tiny heater in the back wasn't helping much, and the heat that O'Brien turned on had made the temperature rise from unbearable to frigid.

She glanced quickly behind her to make sure nothing in the background showed the true identity of the ship. The walls were black, and the paneling wasn't working at all. No green glow. No insignias. Just a polished wall, like ones on a thousand ships. She knew that the ruse of flying in as a Federation ship wasn't really going to fool anyone, but at least she had to keep up the appearances.

O'Brien stood and brushed off his pants. "I don't have enough time to do much more."

She smiled at him. "You've done wonders." The fact that the ship flew at all, that the heat and lights were on, and that she had communications capabilities were small miracles.

Not like the gigantic miracle Julian would have to hope for once they arrived on Deep Space Nine.

She tapped her comm badge. "Julian, it's almost time."

"I'm ready," he responded, his voice shaking a little. She could hear his teeth chattering from the cold. It was good, for all of them, that they were nearly to the station.

"Stand by," she said. Then she contacted Sisko, using her comm badge, wishing she could test the board in front of her. "Commander, we have full visual and broadcast capabilities and are waiting for you to give the word."

There was a short pause, then she heard Sisko say, "Well done, Lieutenant. Contact the Madison now. We might as well get this started."

"Will do," she said.

"Good luck," Sisko said.

"The same to you," she said.

She took a deep breath and nodded to O'Brien. He flipped two switches and then indicated she should start.

"Lieutenant Jadzia Dax in temporary command of the Federation Deep-Space Ship Long Night calling the Starship Madison."

Captain Higginbotham's face appeared on the small screen in front of Dax almost immediately. She could barely make out his features. He was holding back a smile. "Madison here," Higginbotham said. "What can we do for you, Long Night?"

Dax took a deep breath. She and Sisko had gone over what she was to say, but she still needed to be very careful. "We have a medical emergency," she said. "An injured crewman needs care and Dr. Bashir of Deep Space Nine has asked that your chief medical officer and the chief medical officer from the Starship Idaho confer with him on the station."

Higginbotham frowned. He had clearly not expected that. "I'll contact the Idaho for you, Lieutenant," he said. "Both doctors will be waiting for Dr. Bashir on Deep Space Nine. Madison out."

The screen went back to showing the white lights of warp speed. Dax let herself breathe for the first time in a minute.

"That man is a pro," O'Brien said.

Dax nodded. "He and Benjamin have some history. Benjamin said he wouldn't ask any questions. And he didn't."

"It's good he didn't," O'Brien said, "because answering them would have been difficult."

"Oh, it wouldn't have been that bad," Dax said, finally allowing herself to smile. "Unless we had let it slip that the patient had a severe case of frostbite."

KIRA HAD NEVER worked with a crew so tense. Most of the established Ops personnel were off the station or had been off duty when the crisis started. Except for Jones and Tappan, who seemed unaffected by all the happenings around them, the rest of the crew shot nervous glances at both Kira and at the screens.

She wished Captain Mouce hadn't questioned her on the bridge.

She also wished she had Sisko's ability to put people at ease.

She wished she didn't pace when she was nervous. She looked behind her more than once, half expecting to see a path left by her black boots.

"Major!" Ensign Jones said. "The Defiant."

Kira whirled. On the screen before her, the Defiant and the ship it was towing dropped out of warp at full transporter distance from the station. She had never seen a starship like the one beside the Defiant. It was long and sleek and black and five times the size of the Defiant herself. The ship had clearly not been made at Utopia Planetia or any of the other ship-building facilities located throughout Federation space.