“Course laid in,” she responded immediately.

“Ahead one-half impulse,” Vaughn said. “Take us in.”

The thrum of the impulse engines pulsed through the ship. On the viewscreen, the stars slipped from port to starboard as Defiantyawed onto its new heading. Seconds passed, and then the wormhole blossomed before them, a spinning maelstrom of blue light and circular shape, glowing purplish white at its center. The ship dove into the light, and then the light vanished, replaced by a bizarre kaleidoscope of luminous colors and alien contours. Vaughn watched in fascination until they emerged from the wormhole into the Gamma Quadrant, ninety thousand light-years away from where they had entered it.

“Ensign Tenmei,” Vaughn said, “set us on our planned course.” Prynn deftly operated her console. “Course laid in, sir.”

“Ahead warp factor six,” Vaughn said.

Vaughn felt Defiantleap forward beneath him, charging toward the unknown. Their mission to explore the Gamma Quadrant had begun.

Part Three

Gloom The Dark Seas

There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail;

There gloom the dark, broad seas. My mariners,

Souls that have toiled, and wrought, and thought with me—

That ever with a frolic welcome took

The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed

Free hearts, free foreheads—you and I are old;

Old age hath yet his honour and his toil.

Death closes all; but something ere the end,

Some work of noble note, may yet be done,

Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.

—ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON,

“ULYSSES”

18

Kasidy sat in a chair in front of the hearth. The warm breath of the crackling fire washed over her, chasing away the chill from the front room. Outside, the wind whistled through the eaves and lifted snow against the house, the frozen granules striking the window with a sound almost like rain.

“The excavation is advancing faster than any of us expected it to,” Prylar Eivos Calan said, seated in a chair to Kasidy’s left. “We may even be able to begin a new dig in the northwest section of the city by springtime.”

Kasidy listened without much interest as the Bajoran monk spoke about the archeological efforts proceeding at B’hala. She understood the historical and religious significance of the ancient city, especially considering that it had been lost for twenty millennia. She supposed she could have been proud that Ben had been the one to discover the ruins, or maybe she could have even attempted to deal with his loss by involving herself in something that had been so special to him. Jake had done that, working at the site for three months after his father had vanished. But in truth, B’hala scared her.

“There is some fragmentary anecdotal evidence to suggest that we may find the city’s main shrine in the northwest section,” Eivos continued.

When Kasidy thought of B’hala, she remembered how Ben had been hurt while researching its location, in an accident that had come dangerously close to killing him. And she also could not help recalling that, just a couple of months ago, a text had been unearthed there that some Bajorans believed identified the child she would give birth to as an important figure—the Infant Avatar—in their religion. B’hala held fascination and spiritual meaning for many, she knew, but for her it remained a source of anxiety.

“Of course, the timetable and order in which we’ll move into the other sections of the ruins haven’t been completely determined yet,” Eivos went on.

“Of course,” Kasidy said, interjecting in the hope that she might be able to move the conversation to another topic. “Can I get you some more tea, Prylar?” she asked.

“Oh,” he said, looking down at the empty cup he held perched on his thigh. “Uh, no thank you,” he said. He peered over at her cup, which she rested on the arm of her chair. She reminded herself that she needed to get a little table for this area. “But may I get you some more?”

“No, no,” she told the prylar, “I can get it myself.” She started to brace herself to stand, but before she could, Eivos stood up himself and plucked the empty cup from her hand.

“Nonsense,” he said. “If my wife ever found out that I allowed a pregnant woman to wait on me, she would refuse to allow me back in the house.” Kasidy returned his smile. “Herbal tea, were you having?” he asked. As Eivos walked between her and the fire, headed for the kitchen, she felt a momentary drop in temperature, like swimming through cold water in a warm pond.

“Yes, apple-cinnamon,” she said, actually grateful that she would not have to get up. She thought about when Nog had visited her almost two weeks ago, just before he had left for the Gamma Quadrant. She found it difficult to believe that she had so much less energy and mobility now than she had then. She peeked back over her shoulder at the picture windows on the other side of the room, remembering when Nog had called on her. Thinking of him made her a little sad; she missed their daily conversations, and she hoped that, wherever he was right now, he was safe.

Kasidy heard Eivos say something in the kitchen, followed a moment later by the warble of the replicator. Back when Jake had been working at the dig, he had told her stories about Prylar Eivos, about how dry he was, and how his monotone could put an android to sleep. But she actually liked Eivos—and really, so did Jake—and she enjoyed his occasional visits. He had been one of the many who had contacted her when she had first moved to Bajor, but unlike with most of the others, she had perceived his offers of neighborly assistance to be completely unmotivated by her status as the wife of the Emissary.

Eivos emerged from the kitchen and delivered her cup of tea. She took it from him and sipped at the warm, sweet liquid. “While I’m up,” he said, “may I make you something to eat?”

“Oh, no thank you,” she said. “You didn’t come over here to spend the afternoon serving me.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” he said as he stood beside her. “My wife tells me that there are few acts more virtuous than serving an expectant mother.”

“Well, you tell Audj I like the way she thinks,” Kasidy said. “And make sure you bring her with you the next time you come out.”

“I will,” he said. “In the meantime, even if I didn’t come out here to wait on you, I did come out for a reason.” Eivos crossed behind her to the front door, where he had hung his coat on the rack. “Actually, I brought you something,” he said. Kasidy watched as he dug first through one pocket, and then another, eventually pulling out a small package of some sort. He walked back over toward the fire and offered it to her.

Kasidy reached out with her free hand and took it. The package was slender, ten or twelve centimeters in length, she guessed, wrapped in plain, white paper, and tied in the middle with a red ribbon. “Is this a gift?”