In reality, Ro thought, she had lived an almost hermitic existence, at least in terms of relationships. She had not isolated herself from people, but she had completely contained her positive emotions for a very long time. As a result, people had come and gone from her adult life with dizzying rapidity—a pattern that echoed the events of her childhood, she knew, although she never liked to explore such thoughts or memories for too long. She had tried a few times to come to terms with what she had experienced in her youth, even once seeking out a counselor when she had been in Starfleet, but she had found herself not yet ready to deal with such matters.

I’m probably still not ready,she thought, though without bitterness.

Ro passed Hatram’s shop, and up ahead, the security office slipped back into view along the circumference of the Promenade. She supposed she would begin her workday now after all. As much thinking as she had done during the past day and a half, she really did not like to analyze things too closely or for too long. All she needed to know right now was that, given a choice—something she believed unlikely—she would opt not to leave this place or these people just yet. It seemed somehow cruel to her that she would finally find a place where she felt like she fit in, and then be forced from that place; it also seemed perfectly in keeping with her tumultuous life.

During Ro’s trip around the Promenade, the level of light had risen, on its way toward full illumination for the simulated daytime hours on the station. As she neared her office, she tried to blank her mind, and when that failed, she started running down the list of security measures she and her staff would need to address today. Before she reached her office, though, she stopped. To her left sat the entrance to Quark’s.

Feeling a pang of disappointment that the bar was closed—even though all of the establishments on the Promenade were closed at this time of day—she realized that she had come down here so early for the opportunity to see and talk with Quark. Of course, she could not reasonably have expected him to be here at this time of the morning; the bar would not open for a few hours, and he would likely not even be there at that time. Recently, she had noticed that he had assigned Treir to manage the morning and afternoon shifts, and Quark, as far as she knew, was not an early riser. Still, even given all that, she had felt the desire to talk with him—not specifically about what she might face in the coming days, since neither the upcoming summit nor the reason for it were public knowledge yet, but just to share his company. She had certainly enjoyed their many conversations over the past few months. He had hinted at wanting a romance with her, but she suspected that those hints amounted to little more than Quark’s roguishness. And yet he had been kind, even sweet, to her. Yes, he had some strange values—Ro had never really understood the desire to acquire material objects—but he had so far been a good friend to her. And he certainly knew how to listen.

With those ears,she joked to herself, how could he not be a good listener?She laughed aloud, the sound a lonely one on the empty Promenade. She would have to remember to mention her observation to Quark; she thought he would enjoy the humor.

Ro walked up to the doors of the bar and peeked inside, raising her hand to shield her eyes from the lighting overhead. The bar was empty. She shrugged, then stepped back and continued on down the Promenade to her office. Inside, she sat down at her desk and accessed her itinerary for the day. For the most part, her schedule consisted of various tasks related to the increased security for the summit. She also had another meeting with the colonel later this morning so that they could discuss all of the preparations. The day would be full, and by the time Ro finished working, she knew, Quark would be busy running the bar. She could visit him there, of course, but even though business had been slow lately, the bar was hardly conducive to having private conversations; Quark’s were not the only ears on the station.

Maybe I’ll try to see him after he shuts down the bar tonight,she thought. Or maybe not.

33

Sunrise did not exist here. The constant ceiling of clouds blinded the planet to its star. Night fell as black as eternity, and the days existed in a perpetual dusk. Vaughn looked up through the forward windows and saw that the dark had been replaced, not by the reds and oranges and yellows normally associated with dawn, but by the diurnal gray of this shrouded world. Shortly after penetrating the clouds, Chaffeehad passed the terminator and flown into the night, and the shuttle had now emerged once more into the dim daylight of the planet.

“What’s our status?” Vaughn asked in the quiet cabin. Nobody had spoken for a while. Ch’Thane looked up, but Prynn did not, instead keeping her gaze on the flight-control console.

“We estimate that we’re less than an hour from the site,” Prynn said, answering first, even though she had not looked up from her panel.

“‘Estimate’?” Vaughn asked.

“As we get nearer the source of the pulse,” ch’Thane explained, “the energy readings are increasing. It’s inhibiting full sensor contact, making our scans erratic.”

“I see,” Vaughn said. He peered through the windows at the relentlessly monochromatic sky above. Below, a mountainous region spread before the shuttle. Their path around the planet had so far taken them only over land.

“We’re getting pretty good reads within about a hundred kilometers of the shuttle,” Prynn added, “but little beyond that range.”

Vaughn felt his weight shift as Chaffeeveered to port. Ahead, one of the taller mountains in the range slipped away to starboard. Vaughn waited until Prynn had leveled the shuttle, and then he dropped a hand heavily on the back of ch’Thane’s chair. “Ensign, since we’re so close, I’d like you to prepare our equipment.” They had brought scientific equipment with them with which to better examine the source of pulse, some of which would require Shar’s expertise to set up.

“Yes, sir,” ch’Thane said, rising from his chair.

Vaughn stepped aside, allowing the ensign to pass on his way to the rear compartment. Then Vaughn moved forward and settled into the seat at the starboard console. This was, he realized, the first time that he and Prynn had been essentially alone since he had visited her quarters back on the station. He glanced over at Prynn, who remained intent on her own console. Vaughn felt a strong urge to say something to her, to attempt to draw her out. He wanted to engage her in a dialogue that would, even for a short time, pull them out of their positions as commander and ensign, and push them into their roles as father and daughter. With so much at stake right now, Vaughn understood the comparative insignificance of his failed relationship with Prynn, but he also knew that they would have little to do until they reached the source of the pulse.

The shuttle angled again, this time to starboard. Vaughn looked out the windows and saw another large, rocky peak sliding away from their path. Beyond it, another chain of mountains reached upward, some seeming almost to touch the dark sky above. It reminded him of a murky landscape painting he had once seen a long time ago, though he could not immediately recall when or where that had been.

“Sir,” Prynn said, momentarily startling Vaughn out of his thoughts. “Those two mountains ahead of us?”