“Hello! Can anyone hear me?”
The dulcet tones of Quark’s voice rang out through the cave he, Sisko and the alien woman had been taken. While the woman sat deep in thought Sisko watched as Quark continued to shout the roof down. Finally Sisko had had enough.
“Quark! Will you stop that shouting?”
“We can’t just sit here and do nothing!” the Ferengi replied. “We’ve got to do something!”
“Well how about shutting up so I can hear myself think?” Sisko suggested.
This time Quark did as he was told. It was then that Sisko leaned forward in an attempt to examine the force field that held the three of them prisoner.
“This force field is very interesting. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
Sisko reached out and was about to touch the force field when suddenly the woman looked up.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you!”
Sisko seemed surprised that the woman had broken her silence. Sisko pulled his hand away from the force field.
“And why not?”
“Because the force field will kill you. Everything the Jem’Hadar do is lethal!”
“Finally she speaks!” said Quark.
“Firstly.” said Sisko. “How about telling us your name?”
“My name is Eris. I am from Kereal Prime.”
“My name is Ben Sisko. He is Quark.”
Sisko shook Eris by the hand. Quark declined to do this. Sisko then tried to get the information he needed.
“Who, or what, are the Jem’Hadar?”
“The Jem’Hadar are part of the Dominion. Whenever the Dominion have a problem they send in the Jem’Hadar. Kereal Prime was offered membership of the Dominion but refused, so they sent in the Jem’Hadar. We didn’t stand a chance. I only just managed to escape!”
“The Ferengi have been negotiating with the Dominion for nearly a year now!” said Quark. “We’ve never heard of the Jem’Hadar!”
“Then you have been lucky.” said Eris.
“Can you tell us any more?” Sisko asked.
“There isn’t much more to tell.” said Eris. “Except that we’ll be lucky to get out of here alive!”
“Well that was encouraging!” said Quark.
Sisko then looked annoyed as Quark once again started with his shouting.
“Hello! Can anyone hear me?”
The Lohengrin arrived at Starbase Seventeen. Sinclair escorted Travis to the transporter room.
“My opinion of you has changed in the last couple of days Captain.” said Travis. “At first I thought you were one of these wishy-washy officers who always went by the book. I can see that you are not. My report on this mission will be very favourable towards you and your crew.”
They soon entered the transporter room where Travis stepped on the transporter pad.
“Before you go. “ said Sinclair. “There is one last thing I would like to say to you. I can see now why you’ve been a commander for so long, and not been offered your own command. Goodbye Commander Travis!”
Before Travis could reply Sinclair gave the order for the transporter beam to be energised. He then headed towards the Bridge, where he knew he had to make a difficult decision.
Quark continued to shout, but for how long he had been shouting Sisko did not know.
“Is he always like this?” asked Eris.
“Most of the time.” Sisko replied. “But if there is one thing to be said for him it’s that he’s hard to ignore!”
Upon saying this Sisko saw one of the Jem’Hadar warriors approaching them. The warrior seemed annoyed at Quark’s continued noise making, but the Ferengi stopped upon seeing the fearsome-looking warrior.
“I am Commander Sisko of the United Federation of Planets.” he said, getting to his feet. “I demand to know…”
“I know who you are!” the warrior said. “A human and a Ferengi! I had hoped that my first meeting with someone from the other side of the anomaly would be with a Klingon!”
“How do you know about us?” Sisko asked.
“Tell me Commander, are you happy with the treaty between your Federation and the Cardassians? Some would say it was stupid to sign that agreement!”
“How do you know about that treaty?”
“And what about the Narns and the Centauri? I hear tensions are beginning to grow between them again. Perhaps your Federation will be drawn into this conflict!”
“Answer my questions damn it!” snapped Sisko.
The warrior sighed.
“A human and a Ferengi! I had hoped to meet a Klingon! The Emperor should be pleased however!”
“Emperor? What Emperor?”
And with that the warrior left them. As soon as he was out of sight Sisko turned to Eris.
“Tell me, can you use your powers to break out of this force field?”
Eris pointed to the collar around her neck.
“I cannot. This prohibits me from using my powers.”
“Then let’s see if we can do anything to it. Quark, you keep watch!”
The Ferengi did not like it.
“Quark do this! Quark do that! You hew-mans are all the same! Always ordering us around!”
Sisko stared Quark in the eye.
“I haven’t the time for a debate with you Quark! Just do as you are told!”
Upon hearing Sisko’s raised voice Quark backed down and did as he was told. Sisko then kneeled down in front of Eris, who raised her head so he could gain access to her collar.
“Let’s see if I can prise the casing off this lock!”
After only a few moments Sisko was successful. He closely examined the locking device.
“Quark, you’re better with locks than me, Perhaps you’d better try this!”
“Typical! Now he wants something he’s nice to me!”
Sisko stared coldly at Quark. Kneeling down the Ferengi set about his task.
The events of the past day or so had troubled Podley greatly. He knew that James Watt and his crew could have in no way had anything to do with Roj Blake’s escape, and the news he was about to receive would confirm his thoughts. Lieutenant Brogan stood in front of him, copies of Watt and Sutek’s reports in his hand.
“I can’t see anything wrong here!” he said. “The Valkyrie was hit by a shockwave from what must have been a massive space battle. Almost every major system was affected in some way. This allowed Blake and the others to gain access to Engineering.”
“And the alien vessel?” Podley asked.
“Watt trusted Blake. He knew that if he revived Commander Sutek Sutek would take him back. It’s obvious that Blake saw an opportunity and grasped it with both hands.”
“And the rest, as they say, is history!” said Podley. “Get me Admiral Quinn at the Attorney General’s office.”
“Haven’t you heard? Apparently Admiral Quinn hasn’t been seen for days. No one knows where he is!”
“Who reported this?”
“Commodore Connor McCloud.”
“Then get me him then.”
A few minutes later Podley was in communication with McCloud.
“I can’t tell you what’s going on Captain because I myself don’t know!” McCloud said. “A lot of things have been happening in the Federation lately that I don’t like!”
“I know the feeling Commodore, but I would be grateful for any insight on this case.”
“Officially I can’t give you any because this is out of your hands.”
“Unofficially?”
“Unofficially….it stinks! As far as I can see there is no charge for the Valkyrie crew to answer.”
“Then drop the charges!”
“I can’t! The orders come from the President herself! I’m just her Chief of Staff, but for how much longer I don’t know!”
“Very well then Commodore. Thanks for your help.”
The screen went blank. Podley knew that something was wrong, very wrong, with the whole situation.
The dulcet tones of Quark’s voice rang out through the cave he, Sisko and the alien woman had been taken. While the woman sat deep in thought Sisko watched as Quark continued to shout the roof down. Finally Sisko had had enough.
“Quark! Will you stop that shouting?”
“We can’t just sit here and do nothing!” the Ferengi replied. “We’ve got to do something!”
“Well how about shutting up so I can hear myself think?” Sisko suggested.
This time Quark did as he was told. It was then that Sisko leaned forward in an attempt to examine the force field that held the three of them prisoner.
“This force field is very interesting. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
Sisko reached out and was about to touch the force field when suddenly the woman looked up.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you!”
Sisko seemed surprised that the woman had broken her silence. Sisko pulled his hand away from the force field.
“And why not?”
“Because the force field will kill you. Everything the Jem’Hadar do is lethal!”
“Finally she speaks!” said Quark.
“Firstly.” said Sisko. “How about telling us your name?”
“My name is Eris. I am from Kereal Prime.”
“My name is Ben Sisko. He is Quark.”
Sisko shook Eris by the hand. Quark declined to do this. Sisko then tried to get the information he needed.
“Who, or what, are the Jem’Hadar?”
“The Jem’Hadar are part of the Dominion. Whenever the Dominion have a problem they send in the Jem’Hadar. Kereal Prime was offered membership of the Dominion but refused, so they sent in the Jem’Hadar. We didn’t stand a chance. I only just managed to escape!”
“The Ferengi have been negotiating with the Dominion for nearly a year now!” said Quark. “We’ve never heard of the Jem’Hadar!”
“Then you have been lucky.” said Eris.
“Can you tell us any more?” Sisko asked.
“There isn’t much more to tell.” said Eris. “Except that we’ll be lucky to get out of here alive!”
“Well that was encouraging!” said Quark.
Sisko then looked annoyed as Quark once again started with his shouting.
“Hello! Can anyone hear me?”
The Lohengrin arrived at Starbase Seventeen. Sinclair escorted Travis to the transporter room.
“My opinion of you has changed in the last couple of days Captain.” said Travis. “At first I thought you were one of these wishy-washy officers who always went by the book. I can see that you are not. My report on this mission will be very favourable towards you and your crew.”
They soon entered the transporter room where Travis stepped on the transporter pad.
“Before you go. “ said Sinclair. “There is one last thing I would like to say to you. I can see now why you’ve been a commander for so long, and not been offered your own command. Goodbye Commander Travis!”
Before Travis could reply Sinclair gave the order for the transporter beam to be energised. He then headed towards the Bridge, where he knew he had to make a difficult decision.
Quark continued to shout, but for how long he had been shouting Sisko did not know.
“Is he always like this?” asked Eris.
“Most of the time.” Sisko replied. “But if there is one thing to be said for him it’s that he’s hard to ignore!”
Upon saying this Sisko saw one of the Jem’Hadar warriors approaching them. The warrior seemed annoyed at Quark’s continued noise making, but the Ferengi stopped upon seeing the fearsome-looking warrior.
“I am Commander Sisko of the United Federation of Planets.” he said, getting to his feet. “I demand to know…”
“I know who you are!” the warrior said. “A human and a Ferengi! I had hoped that my first meeting with someone from the other side of the anomaly would be with a Klingon!”
“How do you know about us?” Sisko asked.
“Tell me Commander, are you happy with the treaty between your Federation and the Cardassians? Some would say it was stupid to sign that agreement!”
“How do you know about that treaty?”
“And what about the Narns and the Centauri? I hear tensions are beginning to grow between them again. Perhaps your Federation will be drawn into this conflict!”
“Answer my questions damn it!” snapped Sisko.
The warrior sighed.
“A human and a Ferengi! I had hoped to meet a Klingon! The Emperor should be pleased however!”
“Emperor? What Emperor?”
And with that the warrior left them. As soon as he was out of sight Sisko turned to Eris.
“Tell me, can you use your powers to break out of this force field?”
Eris pointed to the collar around her neck.
“I cannot. This prohibits me from using my powers.”
“Then let’s see if we can do anything to it. Quark, you keep watch!”
The Ferengi did not like it.
“Quark do this! Quark do that! You hew-mans are all the same! Always ordering us around!”
Sisko stared Quark in the eye.
“I haven’t the time for a debate with you Quark! Just do as you are told!”
Upon hearing Sisko’s raised voice Quark backed down and did as he was told. Sisko then kneeled down in front of Eris, who raised her head so he could gain access to her collar.
“Let’s see if I can prise the casing off this lock!”
After only a few moments Sisko was successful. He closely examined the locking device.
“Quark, you’re better with locks than me, Perhaps you’d better try this!”
“Typical! Now he wants something he’s nice to me!”
Sisko stared coldly at Quark. Kneeling down the Ferengi set about his task.
The events of the past day or so had troubled Podley greatly. He knew that James Watt and his crew could have in no way had anything to do with Roj Blake’s escape, and the news he was about to receive would confirm his thoughts. Lieutenant Brogan stood in front of him, copies of Watt and Sutek’s reports in his hand.
“I can’t see anything wrong here!” he said. “The Valkyrie was hit by a shockwave from what must have been a massive space battle. Almost every major system was affected in some way. This allowed Blake and the others to gain access to Engineering.”
“And the alien vessel?” Podley asked.
“Watt trusted Blake. He knew that if he revived Commander Sutek Sutek would take him back. It’s obvious that Blake saw an opportunity and grasped it with both hands.”
“And the rest, as they say, is history!” said Podley. “Get me Admiral Quinn at the Attorney General’s office.”
“Haven’t you heard? Apparently Admiral Quinn hasn’t been seen for days. No one knows where he is!”
“Who reported this?”
“Commodore Connor McCloud.”
“Then get me him then.”
A few minutes later Podley was in communication with McCloud.
“I can’t tell you what’s going on Captain because I myself don’t know!” McCloud said. “A lot of things have been happening in the Federation lately that I don’t like!”
“I know the feeling Commodore, but I would be grateful for any insight on this case.”
“Officially I can’t give you any because this is out of your hands.”
“Unofficially?”
“Unofficially….it stinks! As far as I can see there is no charge for the Valkyrie crew to answer.”
“Then drop the charges!”
“I can’t! The orders come from the President herself! I’m just her Chief of Staff, but for how much longer I don’t know!”
“Very well then Commodore. Thanks for your help.”
The screen went blank. Podley knew that something was wrong, very wrong, with the whole situation.
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