The courtyard doors parted, admitting the sounds of bleeting avians, trickling water and the brush of soft footfalls. Shar expected to see Nog and started when he recognized his rescuer from this afternoon, the Yrythny delegate. In the lavender light of Luthia’s dusk, Keren stood in shadow, the edges of her face eerily translucent, but her energy—unmistakable. What could she possibly want? Maybe she’s mistaken my quarters for Ezri’s, right above me,he thought.

“I’ve come with answers, Ensign ch’Thane,” she said airily, her draping clothes rustling as she walked. She first opened the sleeproom door and then the closet.

“My roommate isn’t here, Delegate,” Shar told her, wondering what she’d come to tell him that required privacy.

“Excellent. Then you can come with me without being missed.”

After the dinner-hour controversy, Vaughn had ordered all personnel to minimize unsupervised contact with the Yrythny until the “Lieutenant Dax situation,” as it had come to be referred to, was resolved. “I need to check with my commander, he’d—”

“Don’t.” She held up a hand. “Please trust me. All I want is for you to see the other side.”

“The other side of what?”

“Of this. Of Luthia. Of my people.” Keren dropped down on the couch beside him. “Our city is abuzz with talk about the Other sending a Third. There are those who see it as a sign, others as a Houseborn trick. It’s not your commander’s fault that you’ve only dealt, thus far, with the Houseborn leadership. They know little of my people’s truth, our history, our concerns. And that’s why I’ve come.”

Shar could see why she was a politician: she was a persuasive orator. Perhaps this was what his zhaveyhad been like when she was younger. She didn’t seem duplicitous, and she hadsaved his life. Commander Vaughn’s instructions notwithstanding, perhaps this was an opportunity to find other resources in Luthia, outside official channels, that might help his shipmates. Shar decided to trust her.

“Very well,” he said.

She tossed a thin, heather-brown cloak at him; like hers, it featured a large hood and fastened at the neck. She also provided him with Yrythny-style footwear in lieu of his boots. The thin slippers, comprised of fabric tops laced together with roughened, leathery skins for the sole, would be virtually soundless as they walked. The need for such attire was obvious: to avoid drawing attention to himself or to Keren. Once he’d fastened the cloak and pulled the hood up over his head, flattening his antennae among his locks as he did so, Keren brought a finger to her lips and gestured for Shar to follow her. Slipping through the courtyard, the leaf fringes of rangy trees provided additional cover. Vanìmel’s second moon had risen, casting cold pale light over their path.

“You can’t seriously think this idea has merit, Dax,” Vaughn said, extending his legs onto the coffee table. He sipped his brandy and waited for her reply.

Ezri, hands knotted behind her, walked the room.

Was this the third or fourth time through this conversation?For his part, Julian seconded Vaughn’s opinion, but wasn’t about to do so in front of Ezri. She would see it as a personal betrayal, when in reality it was a question of propriety. Starfleet regulations, to say nothing of the Prime Directive, provided narrow criteria for any kind of intervention in a non-Federation world. Because he out ranked her, technically, Julian could voice his objections without subverting her position, but he knew Vaughn would do a far better job than he would at pointing this out.

“Look, I know this is a little out of the ordinary,” Dax said, continuing to pace. “But I’ve been going over this in my head since dinner, and I’m just starting to wonder if maybe we’re being a little too quick to dismiss the idea. After all, they were the ones asking for my help. Given the aid that they’re providing us, is what they’re asking really so out of the question?”

“You’re talking about helping to facilitate a fundamental change to their societal structure,” Vaughn said. “There are protocols in place for such an undertaking, and for good reasons.”

“But according to Jeshoh, that change has already been taking place for centuries. Whatever the underlying reasons for this schism between the Houseborn and the Wanderers, these people know they have a problem. They want help solving it. All I’d be offering is the benefit of an outside perspective.”

Vaughn sighed. “Let’s not kid ourselves, Dax. Your ‘outside perspective’is going to be viewed by these people as guidance.They already see you, you’ll pardon the expression, as a prophet. Someone who’s come to impart otherworldly wisdom. That just seems like the wrong place to begin a relationship with the Yrythny. If there’s to be a solution to their internal dilemma, wouldn’t it be more meaningful for them to find it, rather than as a pronouncement from on high?”

“The Yrythny are facing crises on many fronts,” Ezri persisted. “We’re already working with them to develop a defense against the Cheka. How is what I’m proposing to do any worse? And besides—if Julian’s right, the Yrythny species owes its very existence to outside intervention. Hell, we all do, don’t we? As individuals and as entire species, the people of the Federation are who they are today because of how they’ve influenced each other. That’s not interference, that’s life.”

Vaughn rubbed his temples. “God, I hate arguing about the Prime Directive.” He looked across the room. “Well, Doctor? You’ve been uncharacteristically quiet this evening. Do you have an opinion on this?”

From the look on Vaughn’s face, the commander knew precisely what he was doing in asking for Julian’s opinion. Without meeting Ezri’s eyes, Julian cleared his throat. “I think there are valid points on both sides of the argument,” he said neutrally. “If we go forward with this idea, I believe the best course would be simply to make the Yrythny aware of their options by showing them historical precedents from our own databases, and then leaving the decision up to them as to whether any of those is right for Vanìmel.”

Vaughn looked back at Ezri. “That actually sounds reasonable to me. Dax?”

Ezri was frowning at Julian. “If it comes up tomorrow, sir, I’ll follow the plan we’ve discussed.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant,” Vaughn said, rising from the couch. “I’m going to check in with Nog before I call it a night. Get some rest, both of you. Tomorrow will be a long day.” He let himself out the balcony door.

Julian steeled himself, waiting for Vaughn’s footsteps to fade away, knowing as soon as they did…

“Thanks for your support there, Doctor!”Ezri slouched into an overstuffed armchair designed for the long-legged Yrythny. Her feet dangled above the floor.

“Let’s distinguish between my support for you as my first officer and my support for you personally—”

“Don’t you dare hide behind our relationship! You should have more confidence in me!”

“What are you talking about? Of course I have confidence in you. But what does that have to do with…wait a minute.” Julian stared hard at Ezri; he could almost see her mind spinning a plot. “You think you could mediate this conflict, don’t you?”

Ezri didn’t answer.

“You do!” Julian exclaimed. “I can’t believe this. You really think you can do it, don’t you? No challenge is too great for Ezri Dax.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, I think you do,” Julian said. “This whole thing started when Commander Jast was killed. Ever since then, you’ve been relying more and more on your past lives. This isn’t you, Ezri!”

“And just how the hell would youknow?” Ezri snapped. “Let me clue you in on something: Before I was joined, I was a damn good officer. Maybe not as stellar as the superhuman Doctor Julian Subatoi Bashir, but as Ensign Ezri Tigan I was levelheaded, assertive, even ambitious. Then I become the unplanned ninth host of Dax, and for the first time in my life, I don’t know who I am anymore. That’sthe Ezri you got to know, my love. And now, when I’ve finally figured out how to integrate my past lives and apply them to my own personal evolution, you think I’m not myself. But what you’re not getting is that the Jadzia you were getting to know that first year, the one who hesitated, and got nervous and spacesick all the time— shewasn’t me.”