To the cleric, Rashoh said, “Explain further.” But his frown remained focused on Ezri.

“This one has suggested the introduction of a Third. To complete the triad of Wanderer and Houseborn. To balance our people and facilitate peace,” the cleric said. “And I believe this one, this Ezri Dax who stands beside me, has been sent from the Other to help us. She will be the Third!” In benediction, the cleric raised his arms to the ceiling. “Praise the Other!”

The crowd murmured a disjointed chorus of honorifics to the Other before the drone of chatter consumed the room. Trays clattered to the floor and benches toppled as they eagerly discussed this latest development.

“There must be a misunderstanding here,” Vaughn said, attempting to quell the excitement in the room before it spread any further. “Lieutenant Dax will share our knowledge and experiences with you, but any other role would be inappropriate.” He gave Ezri a meaningful look.

“I have to agree,” Ezri chimed in at once. “It wasn’t my intention to involve myself in your internal affairs.”

“You cannot deny the Other’s intervention,” the cleric insisted.

Many Yrythny politicians, including Keren, had left their tables to assure themselves a position where they could better hear and be heard. A few tried to worm their way closer to Ezri, hurling questions at her faster than she could answer them. She rotated toward each voice in succession, trying to match what was being said with the speaker. What I wouldn’t do for Jadzia’s height about now,she lamented. Ezri saw Vaughn’s hand above the crowd, as he jerked his thumb back to indicate he wanted her at his side, posthaste. Squeezing her way past the servants and politicians and clerics, she walked up to her CO, carefully placing her back to the crowd.

Vaughn said, over the cacophony of Yrythny voices, “If you’d excuse me, Assembly Chair, Vice Chair, Honorable Cleric, we must take leave of you and your good people at this time.” The murmuring quieted, the Yrythny waited respectfully for Vaughn to continue. “My officers and I need to check on the status of our ship and those we left behind. Please accept my thanks on behalf of all of my crew for your gracious hospitality.”

Perhaps realizing the uncomfortable position their guests were in, Rashoh and Jeshoh interposed themselves between the away team and the crowd as Vaughn led his people toward the exit. The cleric, who originally fingered Ezri, included himself in the leadership, staring after her with reverential wonder. She groaned inwardly. At least the other Yrythny were clued in that they needed to allow their leaders—and their guests—to proceed without interference.

In the spacious hall beyond the dining room, the Yrythny leaders offered the entire Defiantcrew guest quarters, far removed from the civilian areas; reduced trade and tourism in the wake of the Cheka conflict had left their hosting facilities completely empty. The away team learned that one of Rashoh’s aides would escort them to the docking bay harboring Defiant,where further instructions would be provided.

The discussion proceeded without Ezri commenting. She thought that was best.

On their way back to the Defiant,Ezri related her conversation with Jeshoh and how her neutral comments had been seized on by the cleric and twisted into something unintended. “At least I haven’t been elevated to an Yrythny deity,” she quipped. Though godhood would have appealed to Curzon.

“For all our sakes,” Vaughn replied, “you’d better hope it stays that way.”

*  *  *

In the complex of guest accomodations where the bulk of the Defiantcrew had been housed following the away team’s return to the ship, Shar tried to concentrate on the database terminal his hosts had provided each member of the crew. Unfortunately, he was finding it hard to focus.

Shar gave up counting the number of times he’d heard Vaughn, Dax, and Bashir’s doors open and close over the last hour. He didn’t need to eavesdrop on their conversations to miss the tension in the air; his antennae hadn’t stopped itching since Vaughn and Dax had met with Nog back at the ship.

Working with Yrythny engineers and his own team, Nog had made supply lists for the Defiant’s repairs. The Yrythny had—or could get their hands on—most of what Nog needed to fix the ship. How to defend the Defiantagainst the Cheka nanobots was proving to be the challenge, one that might take longer than the actual repairs. Even their hosts admitted they didn’t know how extensive the web network was in this sector; the Cheka apparently redeployed the webs frequently at random coordinates in order to make space travel as dangerous as possible for the Yrythny. The only reason Avarilhad been able to come to Defiant’s aid at all was that the particular web that had snared Defiantwas one the Yrythny had recently discovered. With the web weapons invisible to sensors, the commander didn’t want to make a move until they developed a workable countermeasure.

Not one engineer had yet shown up at the guest quarters. When it became clear Nog wasn’t planning a dinner break, Vaughn finally sent Lankford and T’rb up with food. Shar expected that Nog would catnap on a cot by the ship: the situation was that critical.

Everyone without a specific assignment had been ordered to comb the Yrythny database for information on the Cheka and their web weapons. So once Shar had retired to his quarters for the evening, he settled in front of his terminal and tried to go to work—except that the continuing discord among his senior officers had proven very distracting.

Of course, he knew that something else was causing his mind to wander this evening, something that had nothing to do with the stir Lieutenant Dax had inadvertently caused. Ever since he’d examined the tricorder readings Dr. Bashir had taken of the Yrythny back aboard Defiant,Shar had been preoccupied with their genetic “Turn Key.” The opportunity to research it in the Yrythny’s own database was proving too great a temptation. In delineating its nature to Commander Vaughn, Dr. Bashir had described it in human parlance as a “skeleton key,” designed to unlock any gene, even reconfigure it, to hasten the evolution of a species. The implications of the Turn Key had a particular allure for any scientist with an interest in cytogenetics. Especially one from Andor.

The climate of Luthia suited Shar well. Healthy Yrythny skin required high levels of humidity, he’d learned, an environmental condition that also suited Andorian physiology. Though the Yrythny didn’t sleep in beds, but rather, cushioned depressions in the floor of their sleeprooms, Shar found the accommodations lavish, almost decadent for a species whose technology was still about two hundred years behind that of the Federation. Overstuffed couches and planter boxes flowing with flowering vines were mounted on every wall except the one that opened into a round courtyard. A burbling, multitiered fountain surrounded by gardens textured with ferns, trees and lacy crimson ground cover provided a pleasant view from every apartment.

The three stories of the Defiantcrew’s rooms extended off the courtyard like spokes of a wheel, providing them easy, private access to each other. Dax and Vaughn’s quarters were on the level above Shar. Several times already, the commander and the lieutenant had ascended and descended the stairs situated off to the right of Shar’s courtyard wall. Many of his crewmates had lounged by the fountain reading or chatting, enjoying the view of the stars through the clear dome overhead. General consensus seemed to be that the housing conditions were making this unplanned mission detour more palatable.

As had tended to happen on this mission, Shar’s thoughts strayed home whenever he had empty time. Every day since last seeing his bondmates on Deep Space 9, he found himself yearning for them, and for the intimacy of the shelthreththat he’d denied the entire bondgroup by accepting this assignment to the Gamma Quadrant. And Thriss…if he allowed his thoughts to linger too long on her, he knew he’d lose his ability to think. Thriss would love it here on Luthia…He stopped that thought before it went any further: staying focused on his research into the Cheka and their weapon was his best recourse against loneliness.