“Partial differential equations,” Kira said, echoing Taran’atar. “I guess I’ll have to take your word for it.”

“For the limitations you possess,” Taran’atar said, “your combat skills are truly amazing.”

The comment surprised Kira. “I’m not sure whether that’s a compliment or an insult,” she said.

“It is simply a fact.”

“All right,” Kira said. “So what is it you’re doing here?” she asked, suspecting that she already knew the answer.

“I am training,” Taran’atar said.

“Of course,” she said. “Which is what I expected, except that I thought you’d be in here fighting some powerful, deadly creature.”

“The mind must be trained as well as the body,” he said, “otherwise neither will survive long.”

“That’s true,” Kira agreed, thinking about the mental and emotional discipline it took to struggle against the Cardassians during the Occupation. She also recalled that Taran’atar had told her that he had programs to train his mind; she just had not expected any of them to be a mathematics lesson. “Anyway,” she went on, getting to the purpose of her visit here, “I’d like to talk with you about what happened in Quark’s last night, and in the child-care facility the other day.”

“Very well,” Taran’atar said.

“What were you doing in those places?” Kira asked.

“I was doing as the Founder instructed me to do,” Taran’atar said.

“I’ve noticed that you haven’t been spending as much time in ops recently,” Kira said.

“As the Jem’Hadar have seen in battle, humanoids are given to developing patterns,” Taran’atar said. “When a high percentage of what I saw and heard in the operations center began to repeat my earlier observations, I decided I should go elsewhere.”

“You got bored?” Kira said, feeling herself start to smile. Taran’atar looked at her and said nothing. Kira put her head down and walked forward into the center of the room, thinking about how best to proceed here. When a blue line and several red symbols crawled up her arm, she stopped, turned, and stepped back out of the mathematical display. “So you decided to observe other aspects of life on the station,” she said. “Where did you go?”

“The first place I went was Defiant,”Taran’atar said.

Given the long conflict between the Dominion and the civilizations in the Alpha Quadrant, Kira felt herself grow concerned at this revelation. A moment’s reflection, though, convinced her of the futility of such a concern. Taran’atar already had essentially unlimited access on the station, something even more obvious from a practical standpoint when considering his ability to shroud; he could go just about anywhere on the station without anybody knowing about it. More than that, though, Dominion personnel had already spent time on both DS9 and Defiant,and whatever military secrets Starfleet held had doubtless been fleeting. And besides, Kira actually trusted Taran’atar, at least to a point, both because of his behavior since he had come aboard, and because of his ties to Odo.

“Why the Defiant?”Kira asked.

“As I walked through the ship after my meeting there with Commander Vaughn,” Taran’atar explained, “I decided it would be a good place to continue my observations. So I spent several days there.”

“All right,” Kira said, satisfied with his answer. She could see the blue lines of the display reflected in his eyes. “Where else did you go?”

“The gem merchant’s establishment,” he said, and Kira wondered how the proprietors would greet that news. Of course, even had Taran’atar been an enemy, she doubted he would have posed a threat to their merchandise; she could not picture a Jem’Hadar wearing an earring or a necklace. “The security office,” he continued. “The child-care facility, the flower merchant’s establishment, the bar and gaming establishment.”

“I see,” Kira said, thinking she might have to mention something to Ro, in light of the increased security that would be needed for the upcoming summit. Even though she trusted Taran’atar, she did not believe the delegates—or Admiral Akaar—would enjoy learning that a Jem’Hadar soldier had access to secured areas. “But why did you shroud yourself?”

“At first, I did not,” Taran’atar said. “But on board Defiant,I encountered a Starfleet officer who reacted to me with great fear.” Kira resisted the temptation to ask who it had been, not wanting to change the focus of the conversation. She supposed it might have been Permenter or Richter, or maybe—

Nog,Kira thought, and realized that he had better reason than most to fear the Jem’Hadar.

“Because such a reaction to my presence interfered with my mission,” Taran’atar continued, “it seemed a reasonable course to shroud myself, particularly when I chose to enter areas beyond direct control of Starfleet and the Bajoran Militia.”

“But why did you unshroud last night then?” Kira asked.

“Because the Ferengi heard me,” he said.

Kira was stunned. “Quark heardyou?”

“Yes,” Taran’atar said, and he seemed abashed by the admission. “I underestimated the sensitivity of Ferengi hearing.”

Me too,Kira thought but did not say. She had always known that the ears of the Ferengi were not just for show, but she had never known they were that good. “What about in the child-care center?”

“I was paying attention to many things,” Taran’atar said in a rush, his tone almost defensive. “Somehow, I allowed a…a child…to run into me.”

“I see,” Kira said, having to stifle a laugh. She tried to imagine a little girl or boy unmasking the imposing Jem’Hadar, and could not. “Well, there have been complaints from the child-care center and from Quark. Now, I’m not inclined to agree with just about anything Quark has to say, but Lieutenant Ro told me she witnessed a number of customers fleeing the bar when you appeared.”

“That is correct.”

“I think a lot of people still aren’t used to a Jem’Hadar soldier being on the station,” Kira said, “especially since we were attacked by some not that long ago. On top of that, though, I think maybe when you unshroud in front of them, it makes them feel as though you’re spying on them.”

“I am,” Taran’atar pointed out.

“Yes, but I mean they think that you’re going to hurt them,” Kira explained, “that you shrouded in order to sneak up on them and attack them.”

“I would not do that now,” Taran’atar said. Kira chose not to think about the implications of the word nowin his statement.

“I believe you,” Kira said. “But until the people of the station get used to you, I think maybe it’d be a good idea not to shroud when you’re observing them.”

“But it’s clear my presence can be disruptive,” Taran’atar said.

“At first, sure,” Kira agreed. “But that’s the point. You need to give these people the chance to grow accustomed to you, so your presence won’tbe disruptive.”

Taran’atar seemed to think about Kira’s words for a moment, and then he said, “Very well.”

“Thank you,” Kira said. “I’ll let you get back to your—” She glanced again at the mathematics filling the center of the room. “—training,” she finished. She headed for the door, the mathematical symbols dancing confusingly through her mind. Maybe before she went to her quarters, she thought, she would stop in the bar and get a drink.

31

Ezri watched the pulse leave the planet. The energy radiated outward from a point on the surface in a golden wave, an ephemeral trail fading behind it. As the planet rotated, the pulse swept across surrounding space in all directions. Eventually, it reached the world of the Vahni.