THE DIN FROM QUARK'S was deafening. Jake heard the shouting before he entered the Promenade. At first the yells were a jumbled mess. Then he could pick out phrases in the half-dozen languages he sort of understood: "Where's my drink?" "You promised a free drink." "I'm thirsty. Give me my drink."
Fights had spilled out into the corridor. Rom sat on the stairs in the Promenade, his shirt torn and a scratch running down the side of his face. Two Caxtonians shoved each other to get into Quark's. A Klingon was shouting orders and being ignored. Three Vulcans were leaving, speaking calmly about the ill-mannered clientele, their voices at odds with their ripped and stained clothing.
"What happened?" Jake asked Rom.
Rom put a finger to his lips. "I barely escaped with my life."
Over the roar of the crowd came Quark's voice. "Sit down! Sit down! If you don't sit down, you don't get anything!" A crash followed his words. "And if you break chairs, you have to pay for them! Now sit down!"
Rom gazed at the bar, twisting his hands together. "He'll know I'm gone. If he catches me out here, he'll make me pay for all the drinks."
"Then we'll have to get you back inside." Jake helped Rom up. Rom was limping and missing one shoe. The back of his pants were shredded from the waist as if someone tried to grab the nonexistent belt and pull Rom. "What happened in there?"
"It was a nightmare. A nightmare. And Quark will think it was all my fault. But I couldn't take those orders. I couldn't—and then all those bodies pressing down on me …" Rom shook his head as if to clear it. The Caxtonians' fight had moved farther away from the bar. Two Bajorans tumbled out the door and then shoved their way back in, but the sound was dying down. Inside, patrons were scrambling for seats. In a moment, Quark would see Rom reenter.
"Hurry," Jake said. "Stay behind me."
He grabbed Rom's arm and pulled him toward the bar. When they got to the door, the line in front of the bar was still three patrons deep.
"I've got your Enutian pint," Quark snarled at a customer. "And yours." He was moving quickly behind the bar, handing out drinks without even tallying the totals. "Where's Odo when you need him? He's always here when I don't need him, but he's never here when I do." He turned his back and continued muttering. The patrons around him were waving their hands and calling orders.
Jake shoved Rom inside. Rom scuttled against the windows. Jake pointed at the bar. Rom winced, then made his way around the group. People at tables clutched for Rom and began shouting orders at him.
"… an absolute madhouse."
Jake recognized Chief O'Brien's voice above the roar. O'Brien and Dr. Bashir were pushing their way through the crowd. Bashir said something to O'Brien, and O'Brien shook his head.
"We'd be better off replicating something ourselves."
Jake got out of the doorway and went into the corridor. The Caxtonians were still fighting, but they were near the door of Garak's boutique now. Jake couldn't hear the sounds of the fight over the cacophony in the bar. They appeared to be punching each other in utter silence.
O'Brien came out of the bar, moved around two more Bajorans who were hurrying in, and wiped the sweat off his face. Dr. Bashir followed, his uniform scuffed. With one hand, he combed his hair into place. With the other, he brushed the dirt off his uniform.
"Even without the riot, that was quite a match, Chief."
"It would have been if you hadn't cheated."
Bashir laughed. "I didn't cheat. It would have been cheating if I had paid the winged Ardwanian to interrupt the game, but I didn't. She descended on her own."
"Her timing was bloody convenient," O'Brien said.
"I'll say." Bashir adjusted his cuffs. "If she hadn't arrived, I would have lost one bull's-eye sooner. You really shouldn't complain when you win, Chief."
"I'm not complaining," O'Brien said. "I would just like a peaceful game of darts. Once is all I ask."
"At Quark's? You'd have better luck wishing for all the wealth in the known galaxy."
They had stopped a few feet away from Jake. Their conversation was nearly over. And even though Jake was leery about Chief O'Brien's sour mood, Dr. Bashir seemed to be leavening it.
"Excuse me, Chief?" Jake approached them. Dr. Bashir smiled at him. Jake nodded back.
Bashir clapped O'Brien on the shoulder. "Can I interest you in a rematch when the crowd is gone?"
O'Brien nodded, his attention now on Jake.
"Good. I'm off to see if I can salvage my paper on Trill immune systems. Make sure he gets something to drink, would you, Jake?" And without waiting for an answer, Dr. Bashir headed down the hall toward the infirmary.
"I suppose I should find the nearest replicator," O'Brien said. "I certainly don't want to go back into that fracas. Come with me, Jake, and you can tell me what you need."
The chief was getting to know him well. Jake's dad always asked questions about the questions: What do you need that for? Is it really important? Can't it wait? But Chief O'Brien always made time for Jake and only answered the questions asked, although he sometimes added warnings to his answers. The warnings had always proven valuable.
They headed toward the family quarters. The Cardassians had designed the station wisely, placing no replicators near the restaurants and bars, except those in the replimat. Judging by the crowd in Quark's, the place must have been hot. The chief was clearly thirsty. His pace was about as rapid as a man's got.
Jake had to match the chief's stride to keep up with him. He didn't mind the scramble; it gave him a moment to consider how to ask his question. He wanted to do so in a way that allowed him the greatest opportunity to work on his own.
"Chief, are all the station's areas mapped on the computer schematic?"
The chief shot him a look that said, You came all the way for this? but he didn't speak the thought to Jake's great relief. "If they were, I wouldn't have as much trouble as I do with all the systems. Those Cardassian devils had more secrets in this place than Quark does. And that doesn't count all the areas they neglected to map."
Jake nodded, uncertain whether to leave his questioning at that or to continue.
The chief took the dilemma from him. "If you tell me what you found, I'll be able to say whether it's on my revised schematic."
No harm in telling him, Jake supposed. He'd learned a long time ago that being honest was a lot better than trying to keep things secret. "I found a panel near the far end of the Promenade, where all the closed shops are. It rang hollow, but nothing shows up on the schematic."
"I haven't mapped that area. To be honest, I've been putting it off." The chief stopped outside the door to his quarters. "If you look at the schematic closely, you'll see that the spaces and corridors don't entirely add up."
"What do you mean?" Jake asked.
"Meaning I'd invite an entire week's worth of extra work by officially discovering the true layout of that sector. I've been waiting for something to go wrong in that area. Then at least the work would be justified."
Jake bit his lower lip. "Would you mind if I take that panel off to see what's back there?"
"I don't think you're wanting to do this to exercise your mapping skills. Are you planning some treasure hunting?" O'Brien did not smile. If he had, he would have been patronizing Jake, and that had no part in their relationship. But O'Brien actually meant the question, so Jake decided to give it a serious answer.
A flush warmed Jake's cheeks. He was glad for the darkness in the corridor. "I thought, since the panel was so close to those shops, and Quark once said those shops were a hotbed for smuggling on Deep Space Nine, back when the Cardassians were here—"
"That you'd see if they left a few goodies behind."
Jake nodded.
"Well, you can take the panel off if you measure the space behind it and record it for me. You'll need Nog's help on this one. The Cardassians often had some unpleasant warnings built into their storage areas. I've encountered more than a few electric charges built into the bolts themselves that weren't serious enough to injure me but that left my hands sore for days."
Jake grinned. "Thanks, Chief."
O'Brien opened the door to his quarters. "Just be careful," he said. "If you find any old Cardassian equipment, come and get me before you touch it. Okay?"
"Okay, Chief." Jake could barely repress his excitement. He turned and walked down the corridor until he heard the hiss of O'Brien's door closing. Then Jake jumped, tagged the ceiling, and ran for Quark's. He had to find Nog. They had some work to do.
* * *
Commander Sisko arrived in Odo's office in time to see, through the monitors, Odo checking the force field around the Caxtonian's cell. So the man hadn't cooperated quite as much as Sisko had hoped.
Traces of the Caxtonian's body odor still filled the constable's small office. The ventilation system functioned well but couldn't work with an odor that overpowering. At least the stench would clear soon. Sisko doubted that after this he would ever forget that smell.
A door hissed as Odo emerged into his office.
"Trouble, Constable?" Sisko asked.
Odo shook his head. "Nothing we haven't seen before."
Sisko was about to ask more when Dax entered. She glanced at both men, sniffed, then looked at the monitor. The Caxtonian sat on his bunk, arms crossed over his thick chest.
"Nothing is ever easy, is it, Benjamin?" she asked.
"I learned that from you, old man," he said. And he had, over many years and many adventures.
Major Kira Nerys strode in. Her shoulders were back, her face determined. She had been in the middle of something and clearly wasn't pleased about being interrupted.
"This had better be good," she snapped. "And what is that smell?"
"Caxtonian." Quark spoke from behind her. "I would like to make this quick, too, Commander. Your friend started a riot in my bar. I have a mess to clean up and a brother's pay to dock."
"Your bar can wait," Odo said. He pulled back his chair and sat in it, still commanding the room even though he was the only one sitting down. Sisko always admired the way he managed to do that.
"I take it you got nothing from the Caxtonian," Sisko said.
"On the contrary," Odo said, "he proved to be very talkative when I reminded him of your threat and added a few of my own."
"Then what's he doing in the brig?" Dax asked.
"Let's just say I didn't believe he would stay in his assigned quarters without help." Odo folded his hands on his desk. "I'd offer you all chairs, but I'm afraid I don't have enough."
"It doesn't matter, Constable," Sisko said. "Let's have some answers and then we can move on." The sudden appearance of that statue had tied his stomach into a tight ball, and that ball was making him want to hurry.
"Do you think Quark should be here?" Dax asked.
Quark shot her a nasty look. "I'm the one who found the Caxtonian—"
"Actually, he found you," Dax said. "I was there, remember."
"I don't care who was there!" Kira said. "I have fifteen log sheets to process from those arrivals, two dead docking clamps, and five more ships due in the next hour. I would like to know what this is about."
"It's about a statue, Major. A priceless one," Sisko said. "It's from the Nibix."
"We have no proof of that," Quark said. His tone carried worry.
Sisko pinned him with a look. He wasn't going to let Quark have the upper hand here. "I recognized it. Dax verified it. Are you saying that you have more expertise than we do?"
"I'm not saying anything," Quark said. He looked down.
"Good," Sisko said. "We'll keep it that way."
"I don't see any statue," Kira said.
"And you won't," Sisko said. "It's in safekeeping." His safekeeping. He'd placed it under a protective force field in his quarters, with two makeshift alarms around it. Quark knew the access codes to most of the station's safes. Besides, there were a lot of strangers on the station at the moment. Sisko didn't want to take any chances, so he hadn't told anyone where it was at.
"If that's all then," Quark said, "I have a bar to clean up."
"That's not all," Sisko said. "The constable is going to tell us what he learned from the Caxtonian, and so will you."
"He didn't tell me anything," Quark said.
"You were talking a long time," Dax said.
"About value," Quark said.
"Haggling?" Kira asked.
"No!" The force of Quark's denial made Kira raise her eyebrows, and Sisko made sure he didn't even let a hint of a smile on his face. Dax put a hand over her mouth to hide her smile.
"But he did imply," Quark said, "that there was more where this came from."
"He said as much to me," Odo said. "The statue is not an heirloom as he originally claimed. He found it in an old wreck crashed on an asteroid."
"What asteroid?" Quark asked.
Sisko could almost see the drool of greed dripping from Quark's mouth. "I thought you weren't interested in the Nibix," Sisko said softly.
"Don't be silly," Quark said. "Everyone's interested in the Nibix."
"I'm not," Kira said. "I don't even know what it is."
The conversation stopped. Everyone stared at her.
This time Sisko let himself chuckle. The Nibix had been such a passion for him for so many years, he couldn't comprehend anyone not knowing about the most famous lost ship. But since Kira had spent her years fighting the Cardassians, she would never have had the chance to learn or even hear about it.
"What's so funny?" Kira demanded as Sisko's chuckle spread lightly through the others in the room, easing the tension that had started to build.
Sisko took a deep breath, forced himself to get control, and held up his hand for the others to stop laughing. "Major," he said, "the Nibix is one of the most famous lost ships in the history of the galaxy."
"So you're laughing at my ignorance?" She raised her chin, clearly angered at the thought. "I don't find this at all amusing. What's so important about a wrecked ship?"
"A great deal, I'm afraid," Sisko said. The least of which were the thousand bodies that had to be scattered among the wreckage. Except for one body. One body that might or might not be recognizable. But if something as delicate as the statue survived, then perhaps the wreck wasn't as bad as it sounded. "I'll download some information on the Nibix for you after this meeting. You will need to read it at once."
Kira started to object, but Sisko stopped her with a sharp look. He had to have her up to speed on this. He had to have all his people working on it. It might turn out to be the most important thing they did with their careers.
"We really should know what asteroid it's on," Quark said again.
"That information is privileged," Odo said. "It's against Federation law to touch the Nibix. That statue alone could cause an intergalactic incident. And I won't let you make things worse, Quark."
"I didn't ask him to bring the statue to me!" Quark said.
"Maybe not," Odo said, "but you're not going to make any profit off of anything to do with the Nibix, do you understand?"
Quark opened his mouth, but Sisko interrupted before the situation got out of hand. "You're here, Quark, because I want you to have the information we give you instead of starting rumors by trying to discover what we know. You promised you would say nothing about the Nibix, and I expect you to say nothing, to do nothing, and to pretend everything is normal until I tell you otherwise. Am I clear?"
"You were clear earlier," Quark said sullenly.
"Good." Sisko crossed his arms. "Because I will not hesitate to shut the bar down and to place you in the brig with the Caxtonian."
"Now wait a minute—"
Sisko made sure his gaze never left Quark. He wasn't kidding, and he needed to make sure everyone knew it.
"Quark," Odo said in his most menacing voice.
"He can't shut me down," Quark said. "It will hurt the station. Do you know how many people stop here just for Quark's?"
"Too many," Odo said.
"I can and I will," Sisko said. With one final hard look at Quark, he turned toward Dax. "We have a trip to take, old man."
Dax grinned. That grin didn't belong to Jadzia. It was pure Curzon, and Sisko ached for the friend he used to know. "I've been waiting for this for a long time."
"I know," Sisko said. He hadn't been waiting quite as long, but he felt a rumble of excitement all the way to his toes. "Have Chief O'Brien make sure the Defiant is ready. I want her shipshape and fully armed."
He didn't want to tell them why he wanted the Defiant fully armed. He'd let that worry stay with him for the moment. Dax nodded her understanding. She, of all of them, knew why the weapons might be important.
Sisko turned to Kira. "Major, you and Odo will take charge of the station. I want all communications monitored, all public conversations noted, and all suspicious personnel watched. If anyone mentions the Nibix outside of this room, I want to know about it. Anyone who sends communications about the Nibix will be sent to the brig until I return." He glanced at Quark as he said that. "If this wrecked ship actually is the Nibix, I want to be the one to release the information through Starfleet channels. And I want us all to be ready when I do. Understood?"
"Your orders are clear, sir," Kira said. "But I don't understand how a lost ship can cause so many problems."
"You will after you read the files," Sisko said.
Sisko knew his answer wasn't enough, but he just didn't have time at the moment. Dax put her hand on Kira's arm. "The Nibix is full of priceless art. That would be enough to cause problems. But the main problem comes from the ship's most famous passenger."
"Who's dead, right?" Kira asked.
"I'm not sure if alive or dead matters," Dax said.
"What does matter is that the Nibix carried the religious leader of eighty worlds. Worlds that are now about to enter the Federation."
Kira shook her head. "I don't get it. Won't they be happy that we've found the guy?"
Odo stood. "Major, for the past hundred years there have been thousands of books discussing that question. Starfleet has issued nearly that many communiqués about the ship ever since they outlawed scavenging for it. The issues are these: What will happen to the Jibetian culture if the Nibix is found? Will it bring on a civil war? Will the discovery finally settle the eight-hundred-year-old conflicts? Or simply refuel them? These questions are not idle speculation."
"At least, not any more," Sisko said. He ignored Major Kira's wide eyes and turned to Dax. "We leave in two hours."