“Negative,” Merimark said. “Energy readings are minimal. There doesn’t seem to be—” The ensign stopped speaking abruptly, and Ezri spun quickly around in her seat to face her. “I’m reading two life signs at the bottom of one well, one life sign at the bottom of the other.”

Ezri vaulted out of the command chair and raced to Merimark’s station. “Are they human?” Ezri asked, looking for the answer on the console. “Andorian?” She felt her heart pounding in her chest, a desperate hope forming in her mind.

Merimark’s fingers flew across the panel, causing words and numbers to march across her display. “One Andorian,” she said. “And two humans. Two of them are in environmental suits.”

“Transfer the coordinates to the transporter,” Ezri said at once.

“Aye, sir,” Merimark said.

“Dax to medical bay.”

“Go ahead,”Bashir replied.

“Julian,” she said with barely restrained excitement, “we’ve located an Andorian and two humans down on the planet. We’ll have them beamed directly to you.” She felt absolutely astonished at the unexpected turn of events, both disbelief and joy coursing through her.

“Acknowledged,”Julian said, and she could hear his excitement even in the single word. “I’ll keep you posted. Bashir out.”

“Dax to transporter.”

“This is Chao,”came the voice of the transporter chief.

“Chief, we need an emergency site-to-site transport from the planet’s surface directly to the medical bay,” Ezri said, the words spilling from her. “One Andorian, two humans. Ensign Merimark is transferring the coordinates.”

“I see them,”the chief said. “Transporter locks… established.”

“Acknowledged,” Ezri said. “Bring them home.”

69

Ro Laren stepped out of her office and set the lock. It had been quite a day, and she looked forward to crawling into bed, pushing away all thoughts of Bajor and the Federation, and getting some sleep. Of course, she had not been able to do that for the past couple of nights, which certainly contributed to her exhaustion right now.

“What a coincidence,” a voice said from just down the Promenade.

Ro turned and looked in that direction, the figure of Quark difficult to see clearly in the shadows of DS9’s simulated night. He stood at the entrance to the bar, evidently just closing up himself. “I don’t know if I believe in coincidences,” she said, and began walking toward him.

“Oh no?” Quark said. He waited until she reached him before continuing. “Are you suggesting that I planned this?” he asked in obvious mock offense. “Are you suggesting that I stood right here, staring over at the security office and waiting for you to come out, when I could have closed up half an hour ago?”

“Well, didn’t you?” she asked, playing along. Ro realized that one of the things she particularly liked about Quark was simply that he was fun.

“Actually,” he said, reaching down and setting the lock on the bar entrance, “it was more like forty-five minutes.”

Ro laughed, which felt especially good after the stress of this week. That was another thing she liked about Quark: he was funny.

“May I walk you to your quarters, Laren?” he asked.

“Well,” she said, drawing the word out as though having to seriously consider her answer, “I suppose since you’ve been waiting here solong…” She started for the turbolift, and he fell in step beside her.

“Now that’s what I like,” Quark said. “A female who knows her own value.”

“What do you mean?” she asked him.

“I mean, if I’d only been waiting for you for fifteen minutes,” he said, “you probably would’ve left me standing there.”

“Probably,” she agreed with a smile. They reached the turbolift, and Quark pressed the control panel in the bulkhead beside it. The door retracted, and she and Quark entered the car. “So, Quark,” she said after the door had closed and she had specified her destination,

“were you really waiting for me?” The lift began its descent.

“Not really,” Quark said, and Ro felt a twinge of disappointment. “I could have closed up an hour ago, but Morn kept going on and on about the political situation on Beta Antares IV. Turns out one of his sisters is a top boss there.”

“‘Boss’?” Ro said. “Isn’t that sort of an odd title for a politician?” She had heard of government officials being called many things, but bosshad never been one of them.

“With Morn,” Quark said, “I don’t ask questions.”

“Why not?”

“Because he might answer them,” Quark moaned, “and then another hour of my life would be gone.” Ro chuckled, well aware of Morn’s penchant for seemingly endless conversation.

As the lift changed direction, Ro noticed something. She looked over at Quark, and said, “You’re not wearing that cologne anymore.”

Quark offered a little shrug. “You didn’t like it,” he said.

“That’s very considerate.”

“That’s the 305th Rule of Acquisition,” he told her. “‘Always be considerate.’”

“No. Really?” she said, and felt immediately foolish for having asked. She may not have known all the Rules of Acquisition—or any of them, for that matter—but she could have guessed that being considerate was not a business principle widely held by the Ferengi. She really must be tired. Quark apparently saw her embarrassment, because he did not bother to say anything, but only raised the ridge above his eyes. “Don’t laugh,” she warned.

“Who’s laughing?”

“Well, how was business tonight anyway?” she asked, clumsily changing the subject.

“Good,” Quark said. “Except for me buying a round for everybody.”

“At least you got one back,” Ro said, referring to the drink she had bought him earlier, after Shakaar’s announcement. She had enjoyed that, although she had been called away on a security matter soon after.

“Best drink I ever had,” he said, his appreciation clearly genuine.

The turbolift decelerated to a stop, and the door slid open before them. Ro stepped out into the habitat ring, but when she looked around, she saw that Quark had remained in the car. “Aren’t you coming?” she asked. “I thought you were going to walk me to my quarters.”

He did not move, but looked at her with a serious expression on his face. “May I ask you a question, Laren?”

Ro suspected she knew what the question would be, and she made a decision she could not entirely believe she was making. “The answer is yes,”she said.

Quark lips parted in a big smile, his eyes wide with surprise. “You haven’t even heard the question yet,” he said.

Ro reached out to the side of the doorway, then leaned back into the turbolift, holding Quark’s gaze. “I trust you,” she said.

Quark looked into her eyes for a few seconds, but then he said, “You might want to wait for me to ask this question before answering.”

“Okay,” she said. “Go ahead.”

“I, uh, I wanted to, uh, know,” he said, stumbling along. “I wanted to know if you would like to go out with me?”

“You mean on a date?” she asked solemnly. Quark nodded. “Then the answer is yes.”She pushed away from the side of the doorway and swung back into the corridor. “Now, walk me to my quarters,” she said. “I’m exhausted and I need to sleep.”

Quark exited the car, and the two began walking toward her quarters, side by side. They were both quiet for a few moments, a silence Ro found very comfortable, something she had not experienced in quite some time. Even with Bajor joining the Federation, and her future filled with nothing but uncertainty, she felt content right now. And before she realized she was doing it, she reached over and took Quark’s hand in her own.