“I can’t stay here,” Kira said.

Montenegro’s brow furrowed. “Would you like an upgrade, Colonel? I’m sure I could arrange—”

“An upgrade?”She remembered all the compliments she’d received during the last couple of months from visiting dignitaries to the station, remarking on Bajoran hospitality. But if thiswas typical of how they’d traveled to Deep Space 9…“Commander, I hope I don’t seem ungrateful, but all I really need is a bed, a workstation, and a head. All this is a bit…much.”

Montenegro looked at her as if she’d just said the last thing he ever expected to hear. “I think we have something like that,” he said hesitantly. “But it has a replicator.”

Kira smiled. “I’m not a savage,Commander. Lead the way.”

13

Dax signaled at Vaughn’s quarters. No answer came. She tried again, and again the chime went unanswered. “Sir, it’s Dax,” she said in a raised voice. “I need to speak with you.”

Silence again, which made Dax’s frustration grow. She was debating whether or not to order Chao to beam her directly inside the cabin when she heard Vaughn’s voice.

“Come.”

The doors parted. She looked inside before entering. Like all the rooms on Defiant,the C.O.’s cabin was smaller in comparison to its counterparts on most other Federation starships, albeit a little larger than the crew’s quarters on board. Vaughn was sitting on the edge of the room’s single bunk, leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees, hands folded. His uniform jacket was tossed over the chair by his desk. He looks,Dax thought, as if he hasn’t slept in days.

“In or out, Lieutenant,” he said when Dax hesitated a second too long.

Dax entered and waited until the doors hissed shut behind her. “Pardon the intrusion, sir. But I need to speak with you about the current situation aboardship.”

“Which situation is that, Dax?” Vaughn asked wearily, lowering his head. He was looking at the combadge he held in his hand.

“I think you know what I’m talking about, sir,” Dax said, unable to keep the edge out of her voice.

“And I think you’ve forgotten that what you’re talking about isn’t open to discussion,” Vaughn said without looking up.

“Be that as it may,” Dax said, “we’re going to talk about it. Now.”

Vaughn looked up. “Excuse me?”

“Sir, you can throw me in the brig after I’m done if you want, but I’m going to have my say, and you’re going to listen.”

Vaughn laughed quietly. “You think getting in touch with your inner Curzon is going to make me put up with this? You’re dismissed, Lieutenant.”

“Dammit, I’m not trying to be Curzon,” Dax snapped. “I’m trying to be your first officer, and your friend. Or are you so wrapped up in yourself that you don’t need either one anymore?”

Vaughn rose to his feet suddenly, staring down at Dax. “I strongly suggest you walk out of here now, Lieutenant, while I’m still willing to pretend this insubordination never happened.”

Dax didn’t budge. “Why aren’t we on our way to the Alpha Quadrant, sir?”

“I’ve already said—”

“The Borg have been here, Commander,” Dax said. “They’ve been to the Gamma Quadrant. We should be learning everything we can about this incursion and taking that intelligence home as quickly as possible. Instead, you’re making the restoration of Commander Tenmei our top priority and putting the crew at unnecessary risk. Why?”

Vaughn said nothing.

“You’re the captain of this ship,” Dax went on. “You have a duty to these people who have done nothing but serve under you faithfully for this entire voyage. And you have a duty to the Federation to put its security before personal considerations.”

Vaughn’s hands, Dax saw at the periphery of her vision, had clenched into fists. He was shaking visibly now, but once again Dax held her ground, and his stare. Finally he turned and flung his combadge with all his might at the mirror across the room. With a sharp impact the badge hit the reflective shatterproof panel point-first, and became imbedded in it.

The action seemed to cause Vaughn to diminish. His shoulders sagged, and slowly he sat back on his bunk, breathing heavily, staring at nothing.

Dax grabbed the chair, placed it opposite him and sat in his field of vision. “That’s what this is about, isn’t it, Elias?” she said quietly, using his familiar name for the first time. Even Curzon had never used it. “You’ve spent eighty years putting the Federation first. Every time. You put it ahead of yourself, ahead of friends, ahead of Ruriko, ahead of Prynn. Over and over. Now you’re trying to make up for an old sacrifice.”

Vaughn met her eyes. “I did this to her, Dax. She became a Borg because that’s the situation I put her in.”

Ezri reached out and took his hands in hers. “Tell me what happened.”

“Everything?”

“If it feels right.”

Vaughn let out a long breath, considering. Then, after a long silence, he started talking.

Kora II, Cardassian Union

2347 Old Calendar

Holding the small forcefield-isolator carefully, Lieutenant Commander Elias Vaughn moved the device in a two-meter-wide arc, like a painter making broad, unbroken brush strokes across a gigantic canvas. Hundreds of bright spots danced briefly along the incision, dying fireflies lining his makeshift bypass of the Cardassian security perimeter. Of course, the device couldn’t actually slice through the installation’s energized boundaries. What it did instead was mark the precise location of the intended ingress-point and relayed the data back to the orbiting scout craft. From there, it was a relatively simple matter for T’Prynn to distract the local security subroutines and manipulate the shape of the forcefield remotely.

Vaughn gazed upward into the chill, moonless night. One of the countless points of light that wheeled slowly overhead would be found on no Cardassian star chart. “Please tell me that Cren Veruda’s brainchild hasn’t detected either of us yet, T’Prynn,” Vaughn said into his combadge.

The Vulcan’s response was somewhat distorted, thanks to the scrambled comm beam. “I’ve detected no alarms thus far,” she said. “However, I suggest you pick up Dr. Veruda quickly. I cannot keep the security systems occupied indefinitely.”

“Acknowledged. Try to give me an hour. I’m willing to bet I’ll only need half that long, but why take chances?”

T’Prynn’s response was characteristically sardonic. “Prudent, Commander. As always.”

Vaughn stood before the coruscating aperture he’d outlined and squinted into the darkness. Beyond lay dense stands of towering vegetation and an impenetrable communications shadow. Five kilometers from Vaughn’s present position lay Kora II’s artificial intelligence lab, the workplace of Cardassia’s answer to Richard Daystrom or Noonien Soong. Other Starfleet operatives had cultivated a relationship with Dr. Veruda during recent months; they had learned of his conscience-driven desire to defect, and had discreetly worked out the logistics involved in making the distinguished cyberneticist an asset to the Federation.

It was Vaughn’s job to cross paths with Veruda during his evening constitutional. And to get him clear of this place. Discreetly.