Message-ID: <004801c43bb0$52737e00$87c5fea9@max>
To: "ASCEM-S" <ASCEM-S@yahoogroups.com>
From: "Keith & Jessica Bratcher" <campbratcher@psci.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Mailing-List: list ASCEM-S@yahoogroups.com; contact ASCEM-S-owner@yahoogroups.com
Precedence: bulk
Date: Sun, 16 May 2004 20:43:14 -0500
Subject: [ASCEM-S] NEW: 3/8 A Slight Case of Blackmail (DS9-G/B-NC17)
Reply-To: "Keith & Jessica Bratcher" <campbratcher@psci.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit



Title:   A Slight Case of Blackmail
Author:  Kathryn Ramage
Series:  DS9
Codes:   G/B  
Rating:  NC17 
Part:    3/8

See Part 1 for summary, disclaimer, etc.

|~2~|

Ships bearing dignitaries began to arrive a week later.  The 
Bajorans, having a shorter journey, reached the station first: 
ministers of the Provisional Government or their representatives, 
a dozen prominent members of the Vedek Assembly, Kai Winn 
accompanied by a full retinue of attendants.  Sisko greeted 
each of them as they disembarked.  The Cardassians came soon 
after, and the commander greeted them as well.  There were a few 
familiar faces: Gul Evek, Legate Parn, Legate Turrel.  Others, 
Sisko knew only by name.  Some, he had never heard of before 
he'd read their names on the lists of attendees.  He had studied 
the files sent on all the Cardassians who would be on DS9 during 
this conference and reviewed them with Garak to pick out the 
prime suspects, Cardassia's most distinguished citizens among 
them.  They would have to proceed cautiously.

"Many of these Cardassians were in power during the Occupation," 
Odo observed as he accompanied Sisko to meet Dukat's ship, which 
had conveyed the last of the expected dignitaries to DS9.

"The Bajorans wanted it that way," the commander answered.  "They 
thought that the same Cardassians who played the biggest part in 
the Occupational Government should be the ones to make amends.  I 
can see their point."

"Maybe," Odo growled.  "But there are still a lot of hard feelings 
in spite of this reconciliation."   

They arrived at the airlock.  Kira was already there in her 
dress uniform, her eyes flashing resentfully; while she had been 
scrupulously courteous to every Cardassian she'd welcomed to DS9 
so far, she was not looking forward to being polite to Dukat.  

She turned at the sound of their voices, catching the end of the 
conversation.  "Odo's right, Commander.  There could be trouble.  
Having Dukat here will be hard enough, but one of the delegates 
he's bringing with him is Renavik.  He's a member of the Detapa 
Council now, but during the Occupation he was Exarch of Rekantha 
Province.  The Provisional Government considers it a significant 
gesture that he's agreed to come back to meet with Bajorans, but 
a lot of our people aren't ready to forget-"

The airlock rolled open, and Dukat stepped out first.  "Ah, Com- 
mander Sisko!" he said with tooth-baring enthusiasm, "how good 
of you to come and receive us personally."

Sisko plastered on a corresponding smile.  "It was the least I 
could do."

"And Major Kira! A pleasure, as always."  Kira braced herself for 
the usual verbal sparring, but Dukat merely gave her a smile and 
perfunctory nod before he continued speaking to Sisko, "Let me 
introduce you to my passengers.  Councilor Renavik."  

Other Cardassians were emerging through the airlock now; one of 
the first, a tall, distinguished-looking man with silver streaks 
in his raven hair and a sharp, ascetic face, bowed slightly as 
his name was spoken.  

"Councilor," Sisko said as he stepped forward.  "On behalf of the 
Federation, welcome to Deep Space Nine."

"It is an honor, Commander.  I've been looking forward to meeting 
you.  I've heard so much about you."

"And this is Legate Auth, Legate Hirkus, Martida Korat of the 
Kardasi Central News Service..." Dukat presented the other members 
of the party, and Sisko greeted each in turn.

"Is there anyone in particular you want me to watch?" Odo asked, 
_sotto voce_, as they escorted the Cardassians to the habitat 
ring.

"As a matter of fact, yes.  Dr. Bashir." 

"Dr. Bashir?" 

Sisko didn't intend to explain all the details of the situation, 
but he did tell Odo, "I have reason to believe that one of the 
Cardassians currently on the station may approach Bashir, possibly 
try to harm him.  You don't have to neglect your other duties--I 
know you and your staff will have more than enough to deal with 
the next few days--but, whenever you can, keep an eye on the 
doctor.  I want to be sure that he's all right." 

~*~

The first official day of the conference ran smoothly, although 
the staff of DS9 was kept busy ensuring that it stayed that way.  
As Kira had indicated, the BPG welcomed the return of Renavik, 
but many individual Bajorans were not pleased with his presence 
on the station.  And while the former Exarch himself was un-
failingly polite in the face of this hostility, not all the 
Cardassian attendees followed his example.  Many of the guls 
and common soldiers didn't trouble to conceal their swaggering 
attitude of superiority in front of the people they had oppressed 
only a few years before.  Feelings ran high on both sides.  The 
few altercations that erupted were swiftly and diplomatically 
quelled--and where diplomacy was unsuccessful, the antagonists 
were separated before they came to violence.  Security remained 
constantly on the alert; Odo prowled the Promenade and, per 
Sisko's orders, passed by the Infirmary at regular intervals.

Near the end of the first day, protesters gathered at the entrance 
to the temple--mostly Bajoran residents of DS9, but also a few 
others who had come to the station specially for the occasion.  
While the Constable and his staff were occupied in seeing that the 
protest did not become violent, Bashir was busy in the Infirmary, 
preparing in case it did.  

The noise of the protest suddenly became louder and more 
vociferous.  Bashir went to the doorway to see what was happen-
ing outside--and nearly ran into Gul Dukat, just coming in. 

"Dr. Bashir, I'm glad to find you here."  One of the nurses 
glared suspiciously at the Gul, but he met her with a steady and 
unperturbed gaze.  "I was hoping that I wouldn't have to submit 
myself to the care of the Bajoran medical staff."  Dukat's left 
hand was curled protectively against his breastplate; he extended 
it toward Bashir now and opened his fingers to display a gash 
that cut diagonally across his palm from the pad of the thumb 
to the base of the little finger.

Bashir came forward to examine the injury.  "How did that happen?"

"An act of carelessness on my part.  I was just having my dinner 
at Quark's and became distracted by all the shouting on the Pro-
menade."  He glanced back at the doorway, in the direction of 
the increasing commotion beyond.  "I'd forgotten how sharp 
Ferengi cutlery can be.  Can you repair it?"

The doctor led his patient to the nearest equipment cart.  "It 
doesn't look too bad," he determined after he had swabbed away 
some of the blood.  "It's not very deep--I doubt it's caused any 
muscular damage."  Picking up a dermal regenerator, he tended to 
the injured hand.  

Dukat did not flinch or try to pull away while Bashir worked but, 
to the doctor's annoyance, he kept moving closer.  Each time Dukat 
took a step forward, Bashir stepped back. Forward, back. Forward, 
back.

"Will you hold still, please?"  

"Of course, Doctor.  My apologies."  He did not move away, but 
stood where he was, smiling as Bashir swiftly finished repairing 
the wound.  When the work was done, Dukat drew his hand free and 
flexed the fingers to test them.  "Thank you, Doctor.  You've done 
an excellent job, comparable to a Cardassian physician."

"It was nothing, really."

"You're being too modest.  I suspect that you have a lot of 
experience with Cardassians, much more than usual for a 
Federation medical officer."

Bashir looked up, but Dukat was still smiling at him benignly.  
"Yes, I suppose I have," he answered in an even tone.

"I thought so.  You know just how to handle us.  Working here on 
Deep Space Nine, so near to Cardassian space, must give you a 
remarkable number of opportunities to gather new experiences."

He was too close.  Bashir tried to retreat--and found himself 
backed against the wall.  "Um- yes."

"And, of course, there is always our old friend Garak."  

"Doctor!" One of the nurses summoned him as the first casualties
were brought into the Infirmary: Bajoran protestors, a Starfleet 
security officer with a smashed and bloody nose, and a pair of 
Cardassian soldiers wearing sashes of purple livery over their 
breastplates.

"Excuse me," Bashir said curtly.  "You see, I have other patients 
to attend to."  He made an abrupt move forward as if he meant 
to push Dukat out of the way, but Dukat showed no inclination 
to allow him by until another Cardassian was brought in--not a 
common soldier, but a silver-haired, ascetic-looking man in ornate
ceremonial robes, someone of obvious rank, who was bleeding pro-
fusely from a gash on his forehead.

The lesser injuries were already being tended to by his staff;
Bashir turned his attention to the newcomer.  Once a nurse had 
seated the dazed and injured Cardassian on an upright biobed, 
the doctor picked up the medical tricorder to scan for cranial 
trauma.

"You're going to be fine," he told his patient soothingly.  "It's
only a surface wound, not as bad as it looks.  Those ridges tend
to bleed rather freely." 

"Yes," said the Cardassian.  "They're also very sensitive." 

Bashir gave him a mild painkiller before he began to repair 
the wound.  His patient sat quietly, perfectly still under his 
ministrations--a refreshing change after Dukat's intimidating 
performance!

"Almost done..." he reported after a few minutes' work.  "We'll 
have you back on your feet very soon, but you'll have to take it 
easy for a while.  No more getting tangled up with protestors.  
How did you manage to get in the middle of this anyway?" 

"They said they 'wanted' me.  So, of course I came out to speak 
with them," the Cardassian replied with a dry tone of irony, as 
if he were well aware what a foolhardy thing he had done.

"You're Councilor Renavik?" asked Julian.

The slightest of smiles softened the asceticism.  "My fame 
precedes me."

"It would've been hard not to hear about you during this con-
ference, Councilor, the way everyone's been talking.  You seem 
to be the main topic of conversation."

"As well as the main target of derision."  Renavik sighed, and
gingerly reached up to touch the spot where the injury had been. 
"I suppose I deserve it.  I've always been too impetuous for my 
own good.  A more cautious man would have hung back and let his 
guards escort him to safety, instead of blundering in and trying 
to intervene in a volatile situation."  

Perhaps Renavik's injury had made him feel more vulnerable than 
usual, but Bashir couldn't help thinking that this man didn't 
seem as arrogant as most of the other Cardassians he had met.  

"I thought that a few words from me might have a calming effect.  
You see, in my former position, I was accustomed to speak before 
Bajoran audiences. Today, they threw things at me.  I'm sure 
there were some who wished they could have done so during the 
Occupation, but I had hoped that things had improved between my 
people and the Bajorans when I agreed to come here."

"Not everyone feels the way the protestors do," Julian responded.  
"Many of the Bajorans are just as interested in peace as you are.
They wouldn't have convened this conference if they didn't."

"I certainly hope you're right, young man.  Otherwise, my journey
will have been for nothing."  

Bashir reclined the biobed so that his patient could lie down.  
As he left Renavik to rest and looked around to see where he was 
needed most urgently next, he was relieved to note that Dukat 
had gone.


|~to be cont'd...~|


Kathryn Ramage                           kramage@erols.com
/~*~//~*~//~*~//~*~//~*~//~*~//~*~//~*~//~*~//~*~//~*~//~*~/ 
"It's about Garak...I'm afraid this relationship has gotten 
a little out of hand."
                                - Dr. Bashir, Past Prologue



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Yahoo! Domains - Claim yours for only $14.70
http://us.click.yahoo.com/Z1wmxD/DREIAA/yQLSAA/5x3olB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

 
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASCEM-S/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
     ASCEM-S-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
     http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
 

From ???@??? Sun May 16 21:45:30 2004
X-Persona: <Stephen Earth>
Status:  U
Return-Path: <sentto-1978024-8085-1084758201-stephenbratliff=earthlink.net@returns.groups.yahoo.com>
Received: from n40.grp.scd.yahoo.com ([66.218.66.108])
	by tanager (EarthLink SMTP Server) with SMTP id 1bpxa13zr3NZFmQ1
	for <stephenbratliff@earthlink.net>; Sun, 16 May 2004 18:43:21 -0700 (PDT)
X-eGroups-Return: sentto-1978024-8085-1084758201-stephenbratliff=earthlink.net@returns.groups.yahoo.com