Myriad Universes 02_ Echoes and Refractions - Keith R. A. DeCandido [84]
Damar hated the Order, and hated dealing with people who were even suspected to be agents.
But he had one more spin of the dabo wheel to make before he let Garak go. Holding up a padd, he tossed it onto the table in front of Garak, where it landed with a metallic clack. “And then there are the purchases.”
“I make many purchases in my line of work, Dalin.”
“Yes-textiles, sewing machinery, display units. And yet, the parts on this list don’t conform to any piece of equipment that’s registered for your shop. However, my colleagues on the station’s engineering staff have informed me that these parts are essential to creating a containment unit.”
“Really? How fascinating.”
“Do you deny that you are creating a containment unit, Mister Garak?”
“Please, Dalin, it’s just Garak-plain, simple-”
Damar rose to his feet. “There is nothing plain or simple about you, tailor!” Immediately, he brought his temper under control. “What is it that you intend to do with this equipment?”
“Simply a tinkering project I’m working on in my spare time. Business has been slow of late. Fewer Cardassians have come to my shop, and most Bajorans cannot afford my wares. If not for the Ferengi, I fear I would go out of business entirely. While the walk-in business is always appreciated from ships passing through, it’s regular customers who keep the modern business alive, and those-”
Feeling the interrogation slip through his fingers again, Damar sat back down. “I don’t care about the ins and outs of shop management, Garak. Just answer the question.”
Garak shifted in his chair. “Yes, well, I’m afraid I’m not very…comfortable with telling the specifics to such a man as you, Dalin. You see-the device in question is…”
When Garak’s hesitation threatened to go on for ten seconds, Damar repeated, “Answer the question!”
“It’s a gift for a friend. A fairly salacious one, if you must know. You see, it enables the two users-or more, if they’re so inclined-to-”
The sexual practices of Garak’s friends were even lower on the list of things Damar wished to be informed of than the economics of Garak’s business. “I want you to produce the device you’re creating for your friend.”
“Dalin, I really don’t think this is the kind of thing that an officer of your standing should be exposed to. Really, it’s quite crude.”
Getting to his feet once again, Damar walked around to the other side of the desk. “I believe I’ll be able to tolerate it.” He grabbed Garak by the arm and hoisted the tailor to his feet with one hand. With the other, he picked up the padd with the equipment list. “Come on.”
In truth, Damar knew this was a waste of time. Garak wouldn’t have told the lie if he didn’t have physical proof to back it up. If he was creating a containment unit-of the type, say, to hold the liquid contents of a shapechanger, similar to that used by Doctor Mora Pol on Bajor shortly after discovering Odo-he wouldn’t make it obvious, and would have in fact disguised it as something else, such as a sex toy.
If he was telling the truth, then Damar was wasting his time and would look like an idiot.
Damar had never understood why Dukat had put the shapechanger in charge of security after Thrax’s departure in the first place. True, he’d gained a reputation for mediating disputes on Bajor, and in the seven years he’d served at the post, he’d proven to be an able investigator, but to put him in charge of security on the Promenade? That was simply asking for trouble. No one knew what his species was, and he was cared for by a Bajoran scientist-yes, one who’d proven loyal to Cardassia, but still…
Odo’s recent disappearance was welcome to Damar, and not just because Damar got his job-along with the promotion from glinn to dalin, which meant a significant pay increase as well as more prestige in Central Command. No, the shapechanger was trouble, and always had been. He was always fair to the damned terrorists down on Bajor.