Myriad Universes 02_ Echoes and Refractions - Keith R. A. DeCandido [136]
Parting from Odo had been the hardest thing when leaving the Enterprise. But even with the cloak, there was a better than even chance that Picard’s ship would have to face off against Terok Nor and whatever ships were docked there. Odo’s knowledge of the station-not to mention Dukat’s usual tactics-and of how to navigate the Denorios Belt to get to the wormhole would be vital to the Enterprise’s ability to complete its mission.
And it was just as well that Kira didn’t believe that the wormhole was the Celestial Temple, since the Enterprise’s mission was to destroy it. Kai Opaka had been one of those who believed it at first, but when no signs came for several years after the Cardassians found the wormhole, she changed her stance. Then, of course, she was killed, the latest in a series of depraved acts by Dukat-or, rather, by the alien thing that had replaced him.
She still recalled her final conversation with Odo in the Fleet Yard corridor right outside the airlock that would take her to the Defiant. “Nerys,” he had said hesitantly-which alone was noteworthy, as hesitancy was not one of Odo’s usual modes.
“What is it, Odo?”
“I just wanted to thank you. If it hadn’t been for you, I probably would have been so caught up in being reunited with my people, I wouldn’t have seen them for what they are. But you opened my eyes.” He had made a grumbling noise. “If I had real eyes, anyhow.”
Kira had smiled. “It needed to be done, Constable,” she said, using the title she’d granted him when they first met, during the investigation of Vaatrik’s murder, Odo’s first case as station security chief.
That had reminded her of something. “Look, Odo-we may never see each other again, and-”
“And you want to tell me that you killed Vaatrik. I know.”
“What?” Kira had felt her jaw literally drop open with astonishment. “How did you-”
“After I…resigned my post, I hid with several resistance cells. One of them made an offhand mention of your mission to confront Vaatrik and said that it ended badly.”
Abashed, Kira had stumbled over her next words. “Odo, I-I’m sorry, I-I wanted to-”
“It’s all right,” he had said. “We both have had bigger concerns. And you didn’t know you could trust me at the time. I forgave you long ago.” Odo had then put his hand on Kira’s cheek-a gesture of affection that was as out of character as his earlier hesitation. “Good luck, Nerys. Walk with the Prophets. And know that if we never see each other again, that-that it was worth it.”
It had sounded to Kira as if Odo had wanted to say something else. But before she could ask him, he had turned and headed toward the Enterprise.
She was still wondering now as she beamed down to Koval’s mountain retreat with Eddington, Corsi, and sixteen security personnel. They materialized in a sitting room that had a window on one wall. A snowdrift piled up outside the window at a forty-five degree angle, and Kira could hear the wind beating against the walls just outside. Briefly, she wondered why anyone would put a window in a place like this.
The beam-down itself had been a bit bizarre. Kira had never participated in a near-warp transport, but it was the only way for the Defiant to decloak long enough to make the transport without being detected. For a moment, Kira felt as if she were inside the mountain…
Guards immediately and silently went into each room, while Eddington took out a tricorder. “I’m not picking anything up. No Romulan life signs, no transponder.”
Kira sighed. “Well, it was worth a-”
Screams loud enough to be heard over the wind,