“Actually, I indicated a preference for starship duty on my application,” Jaza said. “I realize there are no guarantees, but I’ve grown a bit restless on Bajor.”
Ro smiled. “I know the feeling. I’ll remember we spoke when your application hits my desk.”
Jaza’s delight was apparent. “I appreciate that, Lieutenant.”
“Thank you, Captain,” Lenaris said, finally looking up from the padd. “That’ll be all.”
“Yessir,” Jaza replied. He nodded at Ro. “A pleasure meeting you, Lieutenant. I look forward to speaking with you again,” he said, and marched back toward the MCC.
Ro nodded, watching him go. When he was out of earshot, she said to Lenaris, “He seems like he’ll make a fine addition to Starfleet.”
“Captain Jaza is one of my best officers,” Lenaris said. “He’d be an asset wherever he went. I’m sorry to lose him.”
Ro turned and looked at him. “I imagine you’re experiencing a lot of that these days, aren’t you?”
Lenaris shrugged as the two of them started walking toward the MCC. “It isn’t exactly unexpected. We’ve known all along that some Militia personnel would be absorbed by Starfleet once Bajor joined the Federation. But I’m seeing transfer requests from people I never imagined would want to leave Bajor, not after fighting so hard to win our world back from the Cardassians. And I never stopped to consider how many young people would want to attend Starfleet Academy. My sister’s children—a girl and two boys—all plan to report to the recruitment office in Ashalla the day it opens next month. It’s a lot of change to accept at once.”
“They’re good changes, though,” Ro said.
“Are they?” Lenaris asked. “I thought so too, at first. Then this happened.” He gestured expansively at the ruin around them.
Ro frowned. “What does what happened here have to do with—?”
Lenaris held out the padd to her.
“What’s this?” Ro asked as she took the device.
“The revised incident report, based on an investigation my people conducted after some anomalies showed up in the initial findings.”
Ro frowned as she thumbed through the text. After a few moments, she looked up at him. “Deliberate?”
“That’s what the evidence is telling us.” Lenaris watched as Ro took another few seconds to absorb the details from the padd, items he’d already committed to memory: residual traces, at the epicenter of the destruction, of triceron, a volatile compound used in some incendiary devices; satellite data showing a single skimmer departing the region shortly after the explosion, headed toward Jalanda, followed shortly thereafter by a Besinian freighter lifting off from the city’s spaceport…a ship that had arrived on Bajor only hours earlier.
“Son of a—-” Ro slapped her combadge. “Ro to Brahmaputra.Patch me through to Captain—”
“Kira already knows, Lieutenant,” the general cut in.
Ro looked at him. After a few seconds, Lenaris heard the runabout’s onboard computer prompt Ro to restate her request. “Cancel,” Ro said into her combadge, cutting the connection with another slap. She waited for Lenaris to continue.
“We confirmed the new findings only an hour ago, while you were still en route to Bajor,” the general explained. “I notified Deep Space 9 immediately, of course; once the freighter left the system, it was out of my jurisdiction. My understanding is that the Defiantset out in pursuit of the Besinian ship immediately, even though the trail was already two hours old at that point.”
“What do we know about the ship?”
“Very little. It was a freelance courier. Having found ourselves unable to verify the authenticity of the credentials they presented when they first requested permission to land, we’re proceeding on the assumption that they transmitted forgeries in order to cover their real agenda.”
Ro shook her head. “But what kind of agenda would anyone have against these people?”
“That, Lieutenant, is why our meeting wasn’t canceled,” Lenaris told her. “Captain Kira expects you to investigate the matter personally.”
Asarem
With the early-morning light of B’hava’el pouring through the enormous bay windows of the first minister’s residence, Asarem Wadeen nibbled at a warm slice of makapabread spread with mobajam while she read through a padd containing her morning brief, the Bajoran global situation report.
The number-one item in the brief was the incident in Hedrikspool, though apparently nothing new had come to light since she’d gone back to bed after first being apprised of the matter, four hours ago. It was intolerable that an alien ship could come to Bajor and cause such death and turmoil, and then escape. Kira Nerys, to her credit, had been determined not to allow the perpetrators to get away, but realistically, Asarem knew the odds were against the captain. The ship had come and gone too quickly, before anyone had completely understood what had befallen the isolated hamlet, for even the Defiantto have a reasonable hope of catching those responsible. The bottom line was that the security monitoring the traffic to and from Bajor had failed, and would need to be reevaluated if such despicable crimes were to be prevented in the future.
Item two: The new figures from the Ministries of Trade, Agriculture, and Cultural Exchange were encouraging. Bajoran educators and artisans, musicians and writers, designers, builders, and farmers were highly sought after on a number of Federation planets. In addition, exports of every kind were on the rise, including, Asarem noted with amazement, authentic Bajoran cuisine and ingredients, which had apparently earned quite a reputation since the Occupation ended. Less than a decade ago, her people were coping with the threat of famine. Since then, Bajor not only had become completely self-sufficient again in feeding its own people, but was ready to meet offworld demands for native produce and prepared foods. Several planets with interest in Bajoran exports would be reciprocating with resources of their own, not the least of which was Coridan, whose abundance of dilithium would help facilitate a new era of Bajoran colonization.
Item three: On the foreign-policy front, she saw that once the Federation Council convened its new session, hearings were expected to be scheduled on the matter of the Trill government’s unilateral handling of the parasite affair, possibly to determine if criminal charges needed to be filed. A footnote on the revised death toll from the recent civil upheaval on the Trill homeworld gave Asarem pause. It was becoming increasingly clear to her that the Trill were already paying dearly for their subterfuge, the very fabric of their society needing to be rewoven. As angry as she still was about the manner in which they had exposed the threat to Bajor, the fact remained that they hadexposed it, making it possible for her people to take steps against the remaining creatures. Asarem made a note to herself: Although her government would favor holding specific individuals accountable for any crimes committed in the parasite affair, she would also make sure Bajor voted against any punitive action against the Trill people. Bajor had nothing to gain by making the situation on the Trill homeworld any worse.
Item four: A report on the continuing aid to Cardassia Prime concluded that inadequate health care was still the number-one problem there. It made her recall with shame her farcical meetings with Cardassian ambassador Natima Lang months ago, when Shakaar—or rather, the parasitic alien masquerading as Shakaar—had instructed then-Second Minister Asarem to keep the Cardassians at arm’s length. Lang had practically begged her for Bajor’s compassion, and Asarem had been required to withhold it, despite the way in which it tore at her to do so. Thankfully, Vedek Yevir’s maverick act of interfaith diplomacy had rallied popular support for Cardassian rapprochement, which Asarem had been able to officially endorse as first minister once the Shakaar-thing had been exposed. She made a note to pass the report on to Councillor Rava so she could put it before the Federation Council, and to set up a meeting with the Bajoran minister of health to discuss what additional medical support Bajor could offer Cardassia.