There was silence for a moment as Quark read his mother’s disappointment—because of no more grandchildren, or because of Rom in general, he couldn’t say.

“How is Rom, by the way?” he asked guiltily. “And that little baby of his…what was his name? Gob?”

“Nog,”his mother said sharply. “He’s just fine, and he’s hardly a baby, Quark. He’s a lovely little seven-year-old. A brilliant boy.”

“Takes after his mother, does he?” Quark muttered.

Ishka cleared her throat. “I’ll send the money your way,”she said. “I mean, Rom will.”

“Thank you, Moogie,” Quark said again, and signed off the transmission. He stared at the blank screen for a moment, allowing himself a moment of nostalgia for his home, back on beautiful green and wet Ferenginar, the air so moist and temperate, not like the arid heat on this station. At least his room had separate climate controls, though he couldn’t get them to even begin to mimic the humidity he craved. His sinuses were parched. He decided to go to bed. With any luck, his money would be available in the morning. Until then, he had nothing to do but maybe try to make some Bajoran contacts, and he wanted to be rested before he made his way back over to the Bajoran side of the station. Rested, and armed.

Kalisi didn’t know whether to be relieved or terrified when the flyer finally slowed, came to orbit of an unknown world. She had no idea where she was. Her knowledge of star charts was scanty at best. She’d never had any desire to study the geography of space, and had paid only brief attention to that part of her education, learning just enough to satisfy her requirement for graduation. She only knew that below her was a very small, very dark planet, distant from its minor sun.

The sharp-faced pilot did not address her, only tapped his comcuff. “Two to beam down,” he said aloud, and Kalisi felt the cool rush of the transporter beam. When the sensation passed, she found herself in a long, brightly lit hallway, the pilot ushering her toward a door at the end.

“This way, Doctor Reyar.” He did not sound unfriendly, exactly—in fact, there was no detectable emotion in his tone whatever. There was no one around, but she knew they were being watched. She could feel it.

Obsidian Order, then.

The pilot led her down a set of curving steps and into a large vestibule that housed a great many computers, floor-to-ceiling units with dozens of screens on each row, lit up with flickering characters and intermittently changing live feeds. There were shots that Kalisi recognized as public gathering places on Cardassia Prime: the Hall of Records, the upper levels of the Assembly building, the grounds of the Ministry of Science. Other feeds depicted scenes that Kalisi surmised were from other worlds, so alien was their appearance. She had scarcely blinked when she was greeted by a middle-aged Cardassian man whose features were as broad as the pilot’s were pinched. He stepped forward, ushering her into a small room off to one side. He closed the door behind them, leaving the pilot outside.

“Doctor Reyar,” he said. He flashed an unnervingly handsome smile. “Forgive me for bringing you here under such mysterious circumstances. Discretion was of the utmost importance. But no matter. We’ll have you to your required destination in no time at all. But first—if you don’t mind—I have a few questions for you.”

Kalisi’s initial reaction was anger, but she recognized the futility of it, and worked out a kind of smile. “Of course,” she said, choking slightly on the words.

The man gestured for her to sit. “We would have done this on the surface of Bajor, but you see, my duties do not permit me to leave this facility. Not without the sayso of my superiors.” He smiled again, and Kalisi could not suppress a shiver, for although the room was well-appointed, if small, it was cold here—colder even than on Bajor.

Kalisi sat, feeling an odd mix of indignity and fright as she waited for him to explain her kidnapping. Her father had ties to the Order, which should have insulated her from danger, but the isolation of this facility was anything but reassuring. Kalisi knew the sorts of tactics the Order employed to extract information from their interviewees. Her gaze darted nervously about the room. She didn’t see anything that resembled the fearsome interrogation equipment she had always imagined, but then, perhaps her imagination was lacking. Maybe such a device was something so thoroughly innocuous that it had already been administered to her, without her even noticing.

“Doctor Reyar, I’ll not keep you guessing. This matter concerns an old colleague of yours, from the Ministry of Science.”

“The ministry,” Kalisi repeated, trying to think of anyone suspicious she had known at the old facility.

“Yes, a woman named Miras Vara. You were quite close to her at one time, were you not?”

“Miras!” Kalisi exclaimed. Miras was hardly the sort of person that warranted the attention of the Obsidian Order. But then, perhaps Kalisi had been wrong. Perhaps this was not the Obsidian Order at all? Nobody had identified it as such; in fact, this man had not identified himself in any fashion.

“May I ask what this is about?” she said, feeling a little less frightened, a little more confused.

The man hesitated, and then spoke again. “Doctor Reyar, you contacted your father some years ago regarding Doctor Vara, and her strange behavior following an incident with a Bajoran artifact.”

Kalisi immediately remembered. “Yes, I did,” she admitted. “But I have not seen Miras in years. Not since…”

“Not since she disappeared, following that incident.”

“She…disappeared,” Kalisi repeated—a statement, but then she wasn’t sure if she had known it. She had been so busy with her research at the time—so determined to be recognized by the Cardassian Board of Scientists so that she could develop her prototype on Bajor…

“That’s right,” the man said. “No one has heard from Doctor Vara since you notified your father about that object. And no one has been able to find the object, either. In fact, some time ago, I sought to retrieve it from the Ministry of Science, where it had been…misplaced for a good long time. But do you know what I found, when he went to remove it? Remove it legitimately, I might add, with proper permit and credential?”

“What?” Kalisi asked in a small voice, for she had not quite puzzled out what any of this had to do with her.

“The object was gone!” he said, in mock surprise. “Gone, after it had been confirmed that the director at the science ministry had relocated it, at last. Youknew, before any of this occurred, Doctor Reyar, that the object held some significance. You knew enough to tell your father that he would be wise to inform Enabran Tain about it, didn’t you? Now, I would like you to tell me anything you know regarding Doctor Vara’s disappearance, Doctor Reyar.”

His eyes glittered. Kalisi shook her head. “Please,” she insisted. “I don’t know! I haven’t spoken to Miras in ages. I had no idea she was wrapped up in any…missing object. I…my father is Yannik Reyar, can you contact him, please? Does he know I’m here?”

“I know who your father is. I don’t need to call him.”

Kalisi felt ice in her veins. It was so terribly cold in this room—was that part of this man’s interrogation technique? Wasthis an interrogation? She was afraid, and being scared made her angry. Who was this person?

“I’ve told you all I know,” she said, realizing as she said it that she’d told him nothing. “I’m to be sent to Doctor Crell Moset’s hospital. If I don’t arrive there, my father will know that something has happened to me.”

The man laughed then, the threatening tilt of his countenance abruptly vanishing. “My dear, you sound so grim!” he exclaimed. “Of course you’ll be taken to Doctor Moset’s hospital. It’s a pity you couldn’t help us. But if you remember anything at all…”