Theta Cygni III was a dead world.

Orbiting a binary star system, this had been a thriving society almost a century ago, home to an advanced spacefaring people who built great cities, conducted trade with its neighbors and was known throughout the sector for its musicians. The Zenei, as they had been known in those days, produced artists who created some of the greatest symphonies in the Alpha Quadrant. At the height of the civilization, they were in the process of obtaining Federation membership when a transport from Levinus V brought with it a neural parasite which succeeded in destroying the entire race.

In a brutally short time, the parasites Federation scientists had since called Blastoneurons, had succeeded in turning the entire population against each other in murderous violence, through mass hysteria. Ten thousand years of civilization left behind nothing but a planetary graveyard and for decades after, the world was considered cursed by the races in the immediate area. Eventually, looters moved in and following the looters, opportunists like the Orion Syndicate who settled one of its deserted cities to use as its base of operations. The Ferengi, always attracted to opportunity, whatever the source, took an interest in the colony and within a decade of that, Theta Cygni III became synonymous with lawlessness and ruthless capitalism.

No one even remembered the Zenei anymore.

For Ezra Standish, his arrival at the Soko was like stepping back through time. As soon as they descended into the colony spaceport, Ezra was transported back to his youth, reminded of the days when he and Maude were constantly jumping transports from one dingy backwater to another, usually on the heels of a big game or laying low while the heat from her latest con died down. It was in places like the Soko, Ezra learned his craft, not the one Maude would have him take up, but the one that made him such an astute investigator.

Before their arrival, they had taken a detour to Deep Space Nine which was the closest Federation base to the Theta Cygni system. To maintain their anonymity when they arrived at the Soko, they had to abandon the runabout for another ship. The runabout would immediately identify them as Starfleet officers, which would not only be dangerous but prevent them from tracking down the whereabouts of Jack Averal or Cletus Fowler.

Thanks to their time docked at the former Cardassian station during the last days of the Dominion War, the Maverick had formed a relationship with the command staff of DS9. Buck, in particular, had forged a friendship with Colonel Kira Nerys who was now commander of the station and upon learning their purpose at the Soko, was happy to lend them the use of a Bajoran lightship, a modern version of the Bajoran lightships of old that used solar sails to travel the space ways.

It was also a chance to pick up JD Dunne who was visiting Bajor with Casey Wells. The young woman had wanted to attend the Peldor Festival or Gratitude Festival as it was known to outsiders, with her guardian Admiral Nettie Wells. While JD enjoyed the trip, for the most part, being in the company of the Admiral was a little intimidating and he was glad to take a break in the trip by joining Buck, Ezra and Inez to Theta Cygni.

With Buck at helm and JD taking the co-piloting duties, Ezra stared through the cockpit window as their ship, the Holana, descended into the spaceport facilities of the Soko. While the complex seemed quite modern, no doubt to furnish the dense traffic of vehicles moving through the skies, the settlement itself was an eclectic mishmash of different cultures, overlaying the original Zenei settlement. Ships from every corner of the Alpha Quadrant could be seen in the air, Tellerite cruisers, Ferengi cargo runners, even a Xindi super shuttle. Ezra had no doubt when they landed in the Soko itself, the population would be similarly diverse.

It was the perfect place for Cletus Fowler and Jack Averal to become lost and vanish for good, especially if what he suspected about both men were true. During the journey to the Soko, Ezra had spent a considerable amount of time thinking about the ability of these two men to vanish so completely, no one could find them and the conclusion he reached seemed far-fetched at first, until he considered it deeper and realized it was the only answer there could have been.

However, to prove it, he would have to set a trap.

********

“I have to say,” Buck complimented as he brought the Holana down into the landing bay allocated to them once they cleared Soko spaceport authorities, “this is a nice little ship. Not as fancy as our runabout, but not bad at all.”

While not as roomy as the Carrizo, their runabout, the Holana’s cockpit was large enough for four, with a station to man the weapons and an empty seat for a passenger. While it lacked transporter capability, it did have a replicator, facilities and a double bunk bed for its passengers. While it was called a lightship, it was really the Bajoran version of a runabout and had been in great demand by Resistance fighters during the Occupation. By Ezra’s reckoning, it was the perfect craft for a covert arrival in Theta Cygni.

With expertise he did not normally get to exercise, Buck sat at helm and directed the Holana to the docking bay assigned to them by the spaceport authorities. The sky vanished above them as the ship was soon surrounded by walls and large duranium doors slid to a close with a loud, dull thud. Mastering the unfamiliar console easily, by the time they reached Theta Cygni, Buck was more than comfortable landing the ship smoothly. Meanwhile, JD took up the co-pilot’s seat, communicating with spaceport officials in a similar capacity to his duties on the Maverick, regarding disembarkation procedures for their arrival in Soko.

“You should see the traditional lightships Buck,” JD commented as he transmitted the Holana’s crew manifest and flight logs to the authorities as requested. “Casey and I saw it at the Bajoran Archaeological Institute, they’re really quite pretty. The Bajorans used real wood to build some of them. They look more like pieces of sculpture rather than a ship.”

“I don’t know if I wish to be in a spaceship made of wood,” Inez who was watching their descent through the window, turned to him from her seat, her face wrinkling with obvious skepticism. “With all the spacial weirdness we seem to run into, I would think wood would burn quite easily.”

“Spacial weirdness?” Buck couldn’t help chuckle at her description of the phenomena they occasionally encountered. He supposed from the perspective of a civilian, it wasn’t an unfair statement.

“Hey, I’m just a bartender,” she said with a wink.

“I am with Miss Recillos on this point, I find the whole concept of a solar sail rather disconcerting,” Ezra spoke up wondering why people felt the need to romanticized ancient technology that was abandoned for good reason due to progress. While a ship with solar sails was a fascinating idea, relying on such an unpredictable method of propulsion was asking for trouble when one was surrounded by the dangers of space. “What if one were to be swept out of range of a star capable of generating the solar winds necessary to power the sail? Or for that matter, if the sail itself were damaged? How much power could those ancient batteries store if such a calamity were to take place? It would certainly not be enough to reach another star system.”

Buck, JD and Inez were staring at him.

“What?” Ezra asked bewildered by the expressions on their faces.

“You’re scaring the womenfolk,” Buck remarked and received a sharp jolt to the back of his seat, courtesy of Inez’s boot.

“Pig,” she snorted.

“You know you love me for it,” he grinned at Inez.

“Ha!” She laughed and turned to Ezra. “That’s what I like about you Ezra, you’re such an optimist.”

“If you are alluding to my desire to remain on the side of caution,” Ezra sniffed in mock hurt. “I believe an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

“Well I won’t argue with you there,” Buck conceded the point because the number of times the man had gotten the Maverick and its crew out of trouble with his ‘ounce of prevention’ was too numerous to name and Buck had no desire to question his methods now. Besides, it was Ezra’s ability to see all the angles that brought them to Theta Cygni. “So, JD, are we cleared to disembark?”

“Yep,” JD who had been busily conversing with local authorities, looked up from his console. “They just wanted the usual information, passenger lists, crew manifest, our flight logs and purpose of travel. I did like you said Ezra,” the newly minted lieutenant glanced at the Security Chief. “I used those aliases we decided on and said we were here to visit an old friend, Lydia Boyer.”

“Where did you get these names anyway?” Buck asked JD who had come up with the names after Ezra made the suggestion it was probably not wise, they used their real identities when entering the Soko. No doubt the Syndicate had people on their payroll who monitored visitors to the settlement and three Starfleet officers were going to raise all kinds of red flags.

Still, he didn’t know whether he looked like a Darien Lambert.

“Oh, from some of those 21st-century entertainment programs Nathan likes to watch,” JD said proudly. While Nathan had put him through a whole season of Vampire Diaries which JD thought ought to be used as some form of torture, once he investigated the library of broadcasts, there were some shows that were quite good. He especially liked all the baseball games he was able to watch, especially the Red Sox ones. “I mean I thought I did pretty good. Most of the names are so obscure, there’s no way anyone out here will recognize them.”

“Certainly Paul Stenbeck,” Ezra smiled, still quite proud of the boy’s choice of source material. “Although I do think Gilbert McCauley seems a little ostentatious for me?”

“No more than Elena De Nola,” Inez smiled, thinking the name sounded rather glamorous. Although she was technically not a member of Starfleet, anyone checking up on her would learn immediately she served on the Maverick, and Ezra didn’t want to take the risk of anyone making that connection. It was a few degrees of separation before one reached Chris Larabee and for what they needed to here, the Captain could not be connected to them in any way.

Not if they wanted to find Cletus Fowler before he vanished like Jack Averal.

********

Leaving the space to enter the city, the legacy of the planet’s original occupants was very much present as they entered the Soko proper. The Zenei city was designed with an architectural aesthetic relying heavily on ancient Middle Eastern styles. The wide streets, the large squares and courtyards, not to mention the short stubby buildings no more than three floors high, were constructed of terracotta brick and adorned with colorful mosaic tiles of cerulean. The contrast of ochre and blue provided a visual feast that was rather breathtaking. It appeared the doomed Zenei were not just great musicians but also skilled artisans, making Ezra feel a pang of sadness for their unfortunate demise.

It did not take them long, however, to see why the Soko had earned its name. In Swahili, Soko meant marketplace and the settlement built on the remains of the deserted Zenei city, certainly lived up to its title. Like the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul, the Agora of Venice and the Mercantile Courts of Risa, the Soko was home to a dizzying variety of merchants and entrepreneurs, ready to display their wares in every corner of the city. It was no wonder to Ezra, why the Ferengi had made themselves known to the rest of the Alpha Quadrant in this area first.

It was a buyer’s paradise.

With the bright glare of the twin suns overhead, visitors, locals and merchant were out in force. The air was thick with a mix of fragrant spices, livestock, machine grease and perfume, creating an intoxicating scent any arachnologist would find it a challenge to identify. The sheer variety of merchandise being sold was almost overwhelming. Everything from fine silks, to jewelry, foodstuff, livestock and ship parts were being on display for eager bargain hunters.

The visitors to the Soko was as varied as the ships Ezra spied during their descent into the spaceport. As a group of humans, they were lost amongst the bodies that were moving through the streets, enjoying the sights and sounds, pausing at the variety of stalls framing the streets, or arguing with peddlers over whatever transaction was being carried. Supporting the influx of visitors were hotels, taverns and other entertainment venues, such as pleasure palaces and to Ezra’s utmost interest, gambling dens.

“This place is huge,” JD commented as they followed Inez who navigated the maze of streets as if she had never left, towards the hotel owned by her old friend Lydia. As he made that remark, he saw an Andorian walking past, leading on a leash what appeared to be a rainbow-colored goat whose fur rippled with different colors each time it flexed its muscles. JD knew if Casey was here and got a look at it, and it would end up going home with them. “I should have brought Casey with us. She would love all this.”

“A teenage girl surround by this much shopping?” Buck stared at him with a little smile, wondering if JD knew what level of hell, he was courting by such a suggestion. “You’d never see her again.”

“Charming Buck,” Inez tossed him a glare over her shoulder and then had to admit he wasn’t entirely wrong either. Considering how she and Lydia spent their days in the Soko, it was downright accurate. “But he’s not wrong. Lydia and I used to spend hours just browsing through the stalls, watching the street entertainers and trying all the different foods. There was always something new every day, even livestock. I almost bought a tribble from here until Lydia told me it was almost impossible to tell if they were neutered or not.”

Considering what Julia was like around small, furry animals, Ezra swore silently he was never letting her anywhere near this place.

“Let’s not forget we are here on business,” Ezra reminded them good naturedly. As interesting as this place might seem, the security chief in him could not forget this city was almost entirely controlled by the Orion Syndicate and under no circumstances did he want any of them to come under their notice. If the trap he intended on setting for Mr Fowler was going to work, they could not afford to take a step wrong.

“Yeah right,” Buck agreed, remembering what that business was and immediately thought about what Alex and Vin were going through at this moment, not to mention what Chris had been living with for five years. If Fowler had anything to do with the Magellan’s crash, then Buck wanted to get his hands on the son of a bitch just as badly.

Scanning the crowds crammed into the street with them, he marveled at how many different races and species there were. He could barely name half of them and almost wished Mary Travis was here. Their Protocol Officer would be able to identify each one with ease. Ironic, how an enclave of the Orion Syndicate could be such a wonderful representation of IDIC, infinite diversity in infinite combinations, one of the Federation’s most revered ideologies.

Of course, he abandoned the thought of Mary being involved as soon as it entered his head. This mission was off the books and her relationship with Chris might hit a little close to home. “I had no idea it was this busy though. When you said settlement, I thought it was a little cow town. Not this. This is almost a fully-fledged city.”

“It has definitely grown since I was last here,” Inez admitted, looking around her and seeing the urban sprawl had spread out much more than she remembered. “When Lydia and I first came here, there was nowhere this many people but even then, there were so many different races.”

“What made you come all this way Inez?” JD asked. While he was young enough to remember thinking about taking a year off to go travelling after he graduated from the Academy, his first choice of a destination wouldn’t be this remote place.

“Well, I wanted to see a little bit of the galaxy you know,” Inez shrugged. “Raphael was going to be busy at the Academy, so I didn’t want to intrude on his time. Besides, I wanted to be a master chef, so a place like this was perfect. Different races, different types of cuisine.”

“You wanted to be a master chef?” JD asked with surprise, not knowing that about Inez. Then again, bartenders were supposed to be the friendly ear for everyone on the ship, he supposed, no one ever returned the favor and felt quite embarrassed he was guilty of this himself.

“Yes, I did,” Inez answered turning up a side street that took them away from the main flow of foot traffic. The frontages flanking the tree-lined streets appeared more formal and business-like. “We can take a short-cut this way,” she explained. “This is where most of the permits and business licenses are issued. It's the municipal district I suppose.”

Ezra was grateful for this because the only people frequenting this part of the settlement appeared to be locals who had specific businesses in the area.

“Does Ms. Boyer know we are coming?” Ezra asked as they walked along the sidewalk. Other than their friendship and Inez’s belief Miss Boyer could be trusted, Inez had told him little else about the lady. Of course, Ezra being Ezra made sure he investigated her background thoroughly before making this trip.

“Yes, she does,” Inez nodded, remembering how thrilled Lydia had been when Inez revealed her intent to visit when they communicated over subspace. “We can stay with her. She bought the hotel next to her restaurant a few years ago. She said she’ll prepare a suite for our use.”

“Well we can compensate her for that,” Buck offered, not wanting to take advantage of the lady’s hospitality.

“Oh, Lydia would consider that an insult,” Inez waved the notion aside dismissively, knowing Lydia well enough to guess how she would react to that offer. “Do not worry about it. I think she’s just happy we can catch up.”

“Well you can do that while we figure this thing out with Fowler and Averal,” Buck said, able to see by the way Inez was talking, Lydia wasn’t the only one who was going to be happy for the reunion. He suspected Inez would be similarly elated.

“You got any idea where we’re going to start Ezra?” JD inquired.

“I do,” Ezra said pausing a moment to scan the immediate area to ensure they weren’t overheard. “Mr Averal has not been seen since he stepped off the transport bringing him to Theta Cygni. Port authorities and the Culpepper, the ship he arrived on, records his departure into the Soko but nothing since. From what I understand, he owns a clothing business with premises and a staff. They have not seen him since his return and subsequent investigation of his home indicates he never arrived there either. “

“You think after the shooting, he changed his identity and jumped on another ship?” JD speculated.

“That is one possibility,” Ezra said with a thoughtful expression. “I am considering a number of others but before I can do that, I need to speak to his staff and get a sense of the man.”

Buck could tell by Ezra’s expression he might have more than an idea of what was going on but was holding his cards close to his chest for the time being. After playing poker with the man for more than a year now, Buck suspected Ezra had a theory but was holding back until he could prove it. After working with a Science Officer who was similarly guarded about presenting a hypothesis before she had all the data, Buck knew when to pull back.

Snapping out of his reverie, Ezra regarded Buck again. “While Mr Dunne and I are undertaking this bit of business, Buck I require you and Miss Recillos to embark on another course.”

“You want us to go after Fowler?” Buck asked with some surprise, not expecting Ezra to be so overt about the man who apparently had little difficulty vanishing into thin air.

“Not directly,” Ezra replied regarding them both. “I believe with the assistance of Miss Recillos’s friend Ms. Boyer, you may be able to make some discreet inquiries after our elusive Mr Fowler. I am certain he is still here in the Soko, possibly keeping an ear to the ground for anyone who inquires after him.”

“So, you want me and Inez to kick over anthills to draw him out.”

“Exactly,” Ezra nodded. “I believe he is a man who values his anonymity a great deal and if his name is bandied about enough times, he will appear.”

“Or he may disappear,” Inez pointed out.

“He may,” Ezra had to admit to the possibility. “But anyone who pays so close attention to the Magellan five years after the crash, is someone who likes to keep abreast of things. Curiosity as to how we ascertained his identity will draw him out. I’m sure of it.”

The hotel was called the Holiday Inn.

Lydia Boyer had wanted to name it something unmistakably human and selected the name of the famous chain of hotels that was an oasis to travelers throughout the 20th and 21st century. The historical records revealed its reputation as one of the most lavish hotel chains of its time, providing its guests with luxury accommodation such as rooms boasting gold fixtures, expensive furnishings and room service that rivalled the fine dining found in restaurants.

While the Soko version of the hotel could not match such opulence, Lydia did make every effort to provide her guests with an equally pleasing environment. The lobby was bathed with copper lighting to enhance the accented furniture of russet, giving the place a look of warm welcome. Similar aesthetics were applied to the rooms and reminded Ezra a little of the western motif Maude used for her own premises, the One-Eyed Jack on Risa.

Inez, under instructions from Lydia, had led them to the hotel first, where they were able to check into the suite provided for them, to freshen up and unpack. Once settled, the group headed to the lady’s restaurant located next to the hotel. The restaurant, named simply Lydia’s, was an eatery as well as a bar, with the floor appropriately separated by a partition wall to allow diners and drinkers to enjoy themselves without intruding on each other.

Upon entering the establishment and shown to the lady’s office by the helpful concierge running the floor, the reunion between the old friends was exactly what Ezra would have expected of two women who had been girls when they first met. The three Starfleet officers waited patiently while watching with some amusement, a spirited greeting that included the prerequisite amount of squealing and warm embraces before either could get in a word edgewise.

“It’s nice to meet all of you,” Lydia, a fetching beauty with strawberry gold hair, blue eyes and earthy features, smiled warmly at them after the excitement of seeing Inez had given way to introductions. “It’s not often we get you Starfleet types in the Soko.”

They were all seated on the plush, leather lounges away from the lady’s desk, no doubt for the purposes of entertaining business associates, nursing exotic drinks while discussing the purpose of their visit to the Soko. While Inez knew their reason for journeying here was to find Cletus Fowler, Ezra had given her no further details and yet the time for disclosure was now if they were going to get Lydia’s help to find the man. Ezra was convinced he was in Theta Cygni, if not in the Soko itself, somewhere close by.

“As you know, this isn’t a social call Ms. Boyer,” Buck explained, seeing no reason to lie to the woman who was gracious with her hospitality, but omitting a few important details. “We’re just here to check out a few things discreetly, preferably under the notice of the Orion Syndicate.”

JD shifted slightly in his seat at the mention of the Orions, having no wish to be around the Syndicate, especially after his last encounter with them. Considering he foiled their plans for Hadir by driving off their warship, JD had no doubt any meeting he had with the Syndicate would end rather badly for him.

“Good idea,” the woman said lifting her glass of bourbon and toasting the comment. “I rather they not know you’re here either. I’ve managed to conduct my business without getting in bed with them, so to speak, and I really don’t want to get on their bad side. No matter how civilized things might appear out there, make no mistake, the Syndicate runs this town. You just can’t see it’s seedy underbelly behind all the tourists.”

While having no experience with the Syndicate, their reputation was infamous, and Inez worried about involving Lydia in their affairs if it meant putting her old friend in their crosshairs. “We don’t wish to make trouble for you Lee. We can find out what we need to know without your involvement.”

“Don’t worry,” Lydia leaned forward in her chair to squeeze Inez’s arm in gratitude for the consideration. “I’ve figured out how to stay off their radar for this long, I’m sure I can manage it this time as well. So,” she said running her gaze over her new acquaintances, “what are you after? Inez said you were looking for someone.” straighter in

Buck glanced at Ezra, an indication for him to make his case after all this was his investigation. The Security Chief nodded and sat up straighter in his seat. “We are seeking a man called Cletus Fowler. He claims to be a merchant operating out of this locality. Unfortunately, that is the extent of the information we have about him. We came here, hoping we may learn more if we were actually in the vicinity.”

“Good idea,” Lydia nodded in agreement with that plan. “Things run a little differently here than in Federation space, especially when it comes to business. If your man’s a merchant and he’s operating here, he can’t do it without the permission of the Guild.”

“I surmised as much. I take it there is some membership fee involved?” Ezra ventured a guess, familiar with such arrangements enforced by the local criminal element in a dozen planets across the quadrant, particularly in non-Federation worlds. Most of them were little more than protection rackets where the business in question had little choice but to submit or suffer the consequences. He supposed he should not be surprised the Soko was also subject to the practice, especially when the Syndicate was in charge of things.

“There is,” Lydia said giving the security chief a little nod of resignation, admiring his ability to grasp how things worked in the Soko. “It's not that bad. We have to pay a yearly fee and I can live with fifteen per cent of my income.”

“Fifteen per cent,” JD exclaimed aghast at the figure. “Isn’t there anything you can do about it?”

Unlike his older companions, he was too new to the ways of the galaxy to find such things palatable. Buck, Inez and Ezra, knew that outside Federation authority, those subjected to this kind of intimidation had to find their own peace with the situation. As they much as they hated the idea of Lydia being subjected to extortion, her lack of acrimony told them she had accepted this state of affairs and since it was beyond their power to help her, offered no further comment.

“It is the way it is JD,” Buck said gently and then made a move to change the subject, to propel them past the moment. Starfleet had no jurisdiction here and combatting the situation would only bring Lydia trouble. None of them had any wish to bring the lady misfortune with their misplaced attempts to help. “Is there any way we can get the Guild to give up their membership?”

“I doubt it,” Lydia shook her head, certain of this fact. “The Guild is really an arm of the Syndicate and you know how they are about their privacy. Just asking the question alone is enough to get you noticed and I rather not do that if I can avoid it.”

“Nor would we be willing to place you in that situation,” Inez said firmly, giving all three men a look telling them they had better find another way because endangering Lydia and her livelihood was not an option.

“We will find the information another way,” Ezra assured the lady, sharing Inez’s sentiments regarding Lydia’s standing with the Syndicate. Leaning back into his seat, he considered alternative options before facing Lydia again. “Madam, are you personally acquainted with anyone in the Guild who has access to this information?”

“I know a few,” Lydia said staring at him seriously. “Why?”

“What do you have in mind Ezra?” Buck asked, seeing the contemplative look coming over the security chief’s face and realized those sea-green eyes was hatching up a plan.

“What is usually on my mind of course,” Ezra smiled with mischief. “A little sleight of hand.”

********

Leaving Buck and Inez with Lydia to carry out his instructions to acquire the information about Fowler from the Guild, Ezra turned his attention to the question of Jack Averal, recently returned from Utopia Planitia and now suddenly vanished.

Navigating the streets of the Soko, once they left the surroundings of the Holiday Inn, Ezra had to admit to feeling a little nostalgic as he and JD took to the sidewalk to continue his investigation. Growing up, places like this had been his playground, whether it was New Orleans, Las Vegas, New Sydney, Risa, or even Pacifica. They were communities existing far away from the polish of Federation authority, with its seedy underbelly where law and order wasn’t a given but were always visual feasts of sight and colors. As they travelled along the tree-lined avenues, across the terracotta courtyards and cobblestone pathways, becoming lost in the throng of bodies, Ezra felt like a little boy once again, with Maude clutching his small hand tightly in hers, determined he did not get lost.

On this occasion, the cornucopia of smells and sounds reminded him of New Orleans during Mardi Gras, and he made a mental note to suggest that city as the venue for his next vacation with Julia. Although the holodeck could provide them with a simulation of the event, Ezra thought the sterility of programming could never capture the flavor of the real thing.

Averal’s business was located in a mall, one of many in the city and as he and JD approached its frontage, he could tell by the size of the premises, it was doing quite well. A flashing neon sign hung above the doorway at a slight angle, with the words ‘All Alien’ featured prominently. Through the display windows, it seemed the store catered to every persuasion and species imaginable. Mannequins with Andorian, Klingon and Bolian characteristics stood behind the glass, modelling stylish clothes of good quality, Ezra noted.

Upon entering, they were assaulted by contrasting fragrances from the perfumery in the corner of the floor. The establishment was quite busy, with both male and female customers scattered along the aisles, waiting impatiently outside dressing room doors and haggling with shop clerks.

“Can I help you?”

Approaching them with the stealth attributed to her species, they were greeted by an elegant Caitian female, complete with vibrant green eyes, golden pelt and mane that was swept into a stylish coiffure above her head. Behind her, her tail swished around languidly, and she looked a picture of tawny grace.

“Are you gentlemen seeking anything specific?” Her voice, like her movements, was smooth and silky.

JD who had never seen a Caitian before could not help but stare a little, although the expression on his face was clearly one of awe and fascination. Fortunately, the lady didn’t seem to mind and gave Ezra the impression she was accustomed to such reactions, particularly from young males. Ezra shot JD a look that bordered on an order to contain himself.

It was not becoming of an officer to stare like a star-struck teenager.

“I am here representing Guild Security,” Ezra spoke, his tone low enough to feign discretion. He and JD had already discussed this scenario prior to their arrival here so JD was able to maintain his poker face, such as it was, to keep from giving themselves away. “I wonder if you might have time to answer some questions for me.”

At the mention of Guild Security, her tail stopped its languid swaying and increased its pace as her ears perked up in interest. Her feline irises narrowed in suspicion as she studied them both before demanding in an equally low voice. “What do you want? We’re all paid up.”

“Rest assured,” Ezra said quickly. “I am not here for that purpose.” Glancing across the floor of the store, it was filled with enough customers for all three of them to know this was not a conversation to be had in public. “Do you think we may speak privately.”

The Caitian paused a moment, taking his question into consideration, her feline gaze studying the shop and its customers, before her ears flattened again, indicating she had reached a decision. “This way,.” she gestured them to follow as she started walking, leading them to the rear of the store, away from any prying eyes.

Even though the windowless room was small, with only two hardbacked chairs for visitors facing a workstation, it was functional enough for Ezra to see this was Averal’s private bastion. While she gestured for both of them to take seats, it did not appear if the Caitian was comfortable in taking her employer’s seat.

“What is this about?” She asked, facing them as she leaned against the desk. “Jack made sure we were square with the Guild until next year.”

“We’re not here about your dues ma’am,” JD spoke quickly, trying to calm her down, once again hating the fact they could do nothing to help these people escape the extortion by the Guild. “We’re here about Mr Averal.”

Her golden pelt shimmered as her muscles stiffened in reaction and her ears flattened against her head. While her features did not lend well to being read easily, her eyes became rounder and softened with emotion as she stared at them.

“What about Jack? Do you know where he is?” Her voice became soft and hopeful, telling Ezra how much affection she had for the missing man.

“Miss...?” Ezra asked for her name.

“F’Ness.”

“F’Ness?” Ezra managed a smile. It seemed appropriate to her elegance. “Miss F’Ness, we’re here on behalf of the Guild but it does our reputation no good if one of our clients suddenly goes missing without our knowledge. We would like to know where he is. He was embroiled in a Federation matter at Utopia Planitia and we wish to know the nature of his involvement.”

“Oh,” her ears flinched in disappointment. “I thought you might have found him.”

Like Ezra, JD saw F’Ness affection for Jack Averal was as more than just her employer and immediately felt sorry for the woman. He glanced at Ezra, hoping the Security Chief had some idea about Mr Averal’s fate since it was clear she was worried about him.

“Maybe with your help, we can find out what happened to him,” JD said kindly.

She nodded slightly and asked quietly. “What do you need?”

“Can you tell me why he chose to travel to Utopia?” Ezra asked, giving JD a look of appreciation at his empathy towards the woman.

She let out a low growl of frustration and met Ezra’s gaze with clear bewilderment. “I don’t know why he went there at all! Jack never travels unless he has too and certainly not all the way to Sol. Most of our suppliers are in this quadrant. He does a lot of business with the Ferengi and the Cardies. Since the end of the Dominion War, Cardy fabrics are really cheap. There was no reason for him to go all the way to Sol.”

“Maybe he has family there?” JD suggested, aware people just didn’t travel for business. Averal was human. He could have been going home to visit family.

“No,” she shook her head almost immediately, dispelling the notion. “Jack’s people are from New Sydney. He doesn’t know anyone from Sol.”

This much Ezra had already known but he allowed JD to ask the question nonetheless because the more F’Ness spoke, the more he got a sense of the woman. From what he could tell, her fears for Averal were real. “Did you notice anything odd about his behavior before he left?”

“Odd?” She stared at him a moment before her eyes narrowed in concentration as she considered the question. “He did seem a little distracted and he wouldn’t tell me why he was going to Utopia. He didn’t come out and tell me to mind my own business or anything, but he did seem a little distant. He promised he would tell me what it was all about when he got back.”

“And did he?”

“No,” she shook her head sadly. Her ears flattening again, crestfallen by the memory. “He just told me he was going home and that was the last time I saw him.”

“And there was nothing odd about his behavior then?” Ezra asked.

She opened her mouth to speak, revealing sharp canine teeth before her mouth closed again as if thinking better of it. “Nothing.”

“Please,” the security chief urged, having done this long enough to know it was by the small details that the greatest revelations were often made. “What is it?”

“It wasn’t anything he said,” F’Ness explained after a moment, uncertain if what she was about to say made any sense. “When he first told me, he was going to Sol, I noticed it, but I didn’t pay it any attention. My people have a strong sense of smell and humans exude scents we can identify. Strong emotions in particular. Fear, anger, happiness, even attraction. There is always something.”

“But in this instance?” Ezra prompted, having some idea about her answer but he needed to hear her say it.

“Nothing,” she raised her eyes to him. “I sensed nothing at all.”

********

After finishing their interview with F’Ness who was good enough to provide them with access and directions to Jack Averal’s home in the Xanthi district at the edge of the city, Ezra and JD rented a transport and headed directly there. Once she was convinced, they were genuinely interested in trying to find Jack, she was more forthcoming with her information.

Ezra had questioned her about Averal’s movements prior to his departure from the Soko and learned the night before Jack’s shock announcement he was going to Sol, she had accompanied him to the Planet Gold, a local gambling den run by a slippery Katarian named Quellor. Jack had done well at the tables and came away from the evening a few hundred duckets richer, including possession of an antique Iconian statue used as a stake. They’d left the place in high spirits with no mention of any trip to Sol.

“What do you think you’re going to find Ezra?” JD asked as they entered the hallway, once Ezra had entered the security code on the front door allowing them entry into the home.

When Averal was away, it was F’Ness who maintained his home, ensuring the man’s plants were watered and such. Since his disappearance, she’d adopted them and taken them home, intending to keep them alive until Jack reappeared. Ezra had no heart to tell her the Antarian Moon Blossom and Klingon Devil’s Ivy was going to be hers permanently.

In truth, he had more or less known what they would find when they completed their investigation of Averal’s home, but like all good detectives, Ezra wanted proof to shore up his hunch.

“The truth,” Ezra remarked, walking around the house, scanning everything. The large windows making up most of the walls allowed plenty of light to bounce off the white paint. Beyond the glass and the balcony, was a picturesque view of a lush green valley, and the mountain ranges in the distance. The decor was simple and tasteful, revealing the personality of someone who had money but chose not to spend it extravagantly.

“Nice place,” JD commented looking around, trying to detect Ezra was seeing. Since coming on board the Maverick, the youngest member of the senior staff had learned when it came to ferreting out inconsistencies, there was no one better than the Chief of Security. Perhaps it was the reason why he was such an excellent poker player, he could see beyond the surface, recognizing patterns where none existed.

Right now, JD’s sixth sense was telling him, Ezra’s intuition had led him somewhere no one else had thought to go.

Ezra stopped in the middle of the living room, surrounded by a plush creme sofa and two comfortable armchairs, scanning the shelves and side tables. His sea-green eyes did a 360-degree survey of the room before he rested his eyes on the navigator.

“What is it, Ezra?” JD asked and his voice was almost hushed.

“Do you see an Iconian sculpture anywhere?”

At the question, JD quickly looked around, but even as he did, he knew the answer was no. Iconian sculptures were quite standout, resembling upright pieces of driftwood carved with the blackwood native to the planet before it experienced its extinction level event. He would have noticed a piece like that immediately and now Ezra mentioned it, JD could see no sign of the prize, F’Ness claimed Jack won and brought home with him the night before his departure from Theta Cygni.

“No, I didn’t,” he answered Ezra. “F’Ness said he brought it home with him.”

“She did,” Ezra confirmed and headed out to the balcony. Stepping outside, the breeze ran its windy fingers through his hair as Ezra surveyed the landscape before him. The house sat facing a cliff and beneath the balcony was a drop of almost a hundred feet into a dense covering of woodland. When JD joined him on the balcony, the security chief spoke again.

“Mr Dunne, would you be so kind as to run a tricorder scan for blood.”

JD’s eyes widened at the request but obeyed immediately. Of course, Averal being dead was always a possibility, but JD expected those who had investigated his disappearance after the business on Utopia Planitia would have conducted a such a scan. Then again, the local scanners did not have the sophistication of Starfleet Security tricorders. If there was something to be found here, JD was confident their tricorder would detect it.

While JD began to scan the house, Ezra stared into the mountains beyond the railing. The security chief had almost a complete picture of what happened now, not just to Jack Averal but the sequence of events leading to the deaths of Sarah and Adam Larabee. The idea was far-fetched and there were still some pieces missing but for the most part, he knew the how.

He just didn’t know the why.

He was beginning to suspect, the motive for this might even be beyond Cletus Fowler’s knowledge. However, to prove that he had to find the man first.

He heard the beeping of the tricorder as JD joined him on the balcony. The young lieutenant had scanned the rest of the house and had left the balcony for last. It seemed JD should have started here first. Turning to him, Ezra saw him look up from the display of the tricorder.

“What have you found?”

“Blood,” JD said glancing at a space a little further along the balcony from where Ezra was standing. “Over there, there’s a lot of it.”

“As I suspected,” Ezra said wearily. “Mr Averal is dead. He was killed on this balcony.”

“Ezra this doesn’t make sense,” JD quickly countered because he had another reason for looking as disturbed as he did by the readings he was seeing on the tricorder. “The bio-degradation signature of these blood cells are weeks old. This blood was spilled long before he got back to the Soko from Utopia Planitia.”

“That’s correct Mr Dunne,” Ezra nodded. “Because Jack Averal never went to Utopia. That journey was made by whoever killed him. I suspect if we conduct a search of the ravine below us,” he gestured to the drop beneath the balcony, “we’ll find his body.”

“How can that be?” JD asked. “F’Ness saw him the next day. He was still alive when he boarded the ship the following day. How could she not know it wasn’t him?”

“We will find the answer to that question Mr Dunne,” Ezra said calmly, “when we find that missing statue.”

Chapter Ten:
Games of Chance

If not for the mission, this would have been a damn fine evening.

The club was called Star’s End and it was the biggest gambling den in the whole of the Soko. Crammed wall to wall with every game of chance known to the Alpha Quadrant, the races presently occupying the felt-covered tables, cheering the spin of the Dabo wheel or the roll of the ball across a dom-jot table., were just as eclectic. Orion slave girls clung to the shoulders of men clad in very little, their curvaceous bodies offering plenty of distraction to the men in the room, while Bolians argued with dealers when the cards had not gone their way. He saw an El-Aurien in the corner, listening with weary patience to someone at the bar, who was obviously lamenting a bad day at work. Elsewhere, a group of Tellerites were chattering excitedly after a win.

Ezra Standish ought to be here, Buck Wilmington thought as he sat at the poker table, dressed in his best clothes with Inez. The Maverick’s bartender was wearing a stunning red dress that kept everyone at the table glancing up periodically from their cards to afford her a moment of admiration. Buck couldn’t blame them, he felt pretty proud to have her at his arm, playing the part of arm candy for the evening.

Pitted against him at the table were a Cardassian female and a tall Nausicaan who cast a shadow over all their cards, while two seats away, the Gorn stared at him suspiciously and Buck had a feeling if either side won the pot, there would be a fight. The Acamarian with the grooves across his forehead, who sat between them provided a buffer and the presence of both volatile races on either side distracting him from his cards. The final person at the table was a Lurian who bore a striking resemblance to Morn, the staple at Quark’s bar in DS9.

His name was Rivon and he worked for the Guild.

His game was poker. Unfortunately, according to Lydia, the number of times he was forced to settle his debts by granting favors through his job, indicated he was not very good at it. This occasion was not proving to be the exception. Sweat appeared across his potato-shaped head, winding its way through the few stray strands of coarse grey hair, to disappear into the fold of his skin. His hand was poor and he knew it, but like everyone addicted to the game in the worst way possible, he could not fold. Buck had once heard Ezra claim the litmus test for any gambler to know whether or not they had the game or the game had them, was how easy it was to walk away.

A good gambler knew when to leave the table when the odds were against him. Rivon was not a good gambler.

Buck, who was a good player himself, had managed to get this far on just observing the behavior of his opponents, something he hated to admit, Ezra had helped him improve on as well. During their weekly poker games where Ezra conducted master classes in the art, he took note of the gambler’s actions, especially when the numbers of players dwindled to just two. The only one on board the Maverick who might have a shot of beating Ezra was Alex and that was largely due to her guarded nature. It was difficult to penetrate the walls of Alex’s demeanor if she had no wish to surrender it.

Nevertheless, with Ezra busy tracking down Jack Averal with JD, it was up to him and Inez to get what they needed from this Lurian about to lose his shirt. The latest hand had definitely put him in the red and he was betting with what he didn’t have. The others had protested, thinking he ought to leave the table, but the monkey on Rivon’s back would allow him to do no such thing.

“I’m out,” the Cardassian female sighed, tossing her cards on the table, leaving them faced down. Buck didn’t need to see what she was holding to know he could win.

“It was a pleasure, Miss...”

“Nyall,” she replied with a smile and eased back into her chair. Her eyes glittered in invitation and Buck swore he felt Inez leaning closer into his shoulder as if she were marking her territory. If he did not know it would earn him a fist to the jaw if he voiced it, Buck would have said it was rather flattering.

“Darien Lambert,” he volunteered in turn, using JD’s made up aliases.

“Enough talk!” The Nausicaan snapped.

“Are you so eager to lose?” the Gorn sniped in turn, his voice little more than a hiss. Once again, the Acamarian sitting between the two of them twitched and Buck had to wonder just how long the open hostility these two were displaying would spill over. He knew the Gorn had taken particular exception to the Nausicaans who were well-known pirates that had conducted raids on Gorn territory. Both races were volatile and violent, not a good combination when there was competition involved.

“I will make you eat those words!” The Nausicaan pulled out a cruel looking blade.

Before he could act, however, the Achamarian’s nerve finally snapped, unable to bear the pressure any longer.

“I fold!” The Achamarian exclaimed. He slapped his cards against the felt and scurried away from the table, wishing to be away from the crossfire when hostilities between the two finally broke out.

It was only after he left the table did the two combatants look at each other and burst out laughing.

“It works every time,” the Nausicaan grinned at the rest of the players.

“Some humanoids scare so easily,” the Gorn sniggered. “If he could be frightened by that, this is not the game for him.”

“After all their clan wars, you would think Achamarians have more fortitude,” Nyall remarked, shaking her head in disbelief at the man who had wisely headed off towards the Dabo tables which probably suited him better.

“That was evil,” Inez pointed out to both men, but she was laughing as she said it.

“But fun,” Buck winked at her, thrilled inwardly she was here to share this with him. She was draped over his shoulder and the sensation of her warmth reminded him once again why they could be so good together.

Turning to the two faux enemies, Buck raised his glass to them. “Alright gentlemen, shall we play?”

The game continued for another good hour or so when finally, the Gorn, Nausicaan and the Cardassian were played out, leaving only Buck to face off with Rivon who had stayed in the game by betting everything but his shirt. Buck played it cool, being as accommodating as possible while at the same time offering the man caution, that he might be getting in over his head. Around their table a small crowd had begun to form, watching the Lurian and the human face off.

While he did not have Ezra’s expertise, Buck could read his opponent and knew he did not have the hand to win but offered the Lurian no more advice to fold. At this point in the game, it was too late for that anyway. All eyes were fixed on them as the last leg of the final hand was reached with a healthy collection of duckets in the middle of the felt. The Lurian had gotten this far on a number of IOUs which Buck was fairly convinced he could not afford to give.

“I will see your cards now,” Rivon demanded, his big round eyes staring Buck down nervously. He was trying to project a brave front, aware of the untenable situation he would find himself if he did not win back his money. The man had laid down his cards to reveal a full house of queens and deuces.

“Anything you say,” Buck replied, revealing nothing even though his quick glance at Inez showed his blue eyes were dancing. A hiss of surprise rippled through the crowd when Buck laid down his cards and presented four aces.

As the crowd broke out in mild surprise and congratulations were offered, to say nothing of the kiss Inez planted on Buck’s cheek at his victory, in stark contrast to the jubilant mood was the Lurian’s shoulder slumping forward in disappointment.

“Congratulations,” the man said in a voice so full of defeat, it was actually painful to hear, Buck thought. “That was well played.”

“He’s very good,” Inez remarked and on impulse, turned Buck’s cheek to her and planted a kiss against his lips. She had intended the gesture to be for show, but when their lips touched, the electricity generated made her breath catch and suddenly her head swam as Buck kissed her back with equal intensity, until all the noise in the room was driven away and there was only them in the eye of the storm.

But it could not last.

They were here a reason and as much as Buck couldn’t deny she had just knocked his socks off with that kiss, their little play with the Lurian was not done yet. Pulling away from her reluctantly, Buck gave Inez a silent promise they would finish this later as he turned back to Rivon.

By now, the crowd had dissipated leaving them alone at the table. The duckets still remained in the middle of the felt with Rivon staring at the pot with longing, still unable to overcome the disappointment of defeat. Buck almost felt sorry for him but knew he had the means to help Rivon out of his predicament if the man was amenable to some negotiation.

“I guess this is where we start tallying up what is owed Mr Rivon,” Buck spoke once they were alone.

“Yes,” the man nodded heavily, wondering how he had found himself in this situation yet again. “I’m afraid it does.”

Reaching for the small credit pad, indicating the IOUs the man had taken out to stay in the game, Buck studied the display. “You owe the pot 2000 duckets Mr Rivon. Are you going to be able to settle up?”

“Are we going to be done soon?” Inez pouted, playing the part of arm candy bored by all this talk. She ran a palm over Buck’s bicep in suggestion, provoking Buck’s baser instincts with a desperate need to be alone with her.

“Almost honey,” he gave her a little wink and faced Rivon again. “As you can see, the little lady’s eager for us to get a move on so if we could settle up quickly, it will be appreciated.”

The folds around Rivon’s throat quivered nervously. “Well, you see...”

“You can’t pay?” Buck accused, his voice a low hiss. “You know in these parts, they’re liable to take you out somewhere and shoot you. I hear the Orions don’t much like cheaters at the card table. Honor among thieves and all.”

“I can pay!” Rivon declared hotly, looking around Star’s End to see if anyone heard the human’s preposterous claim. “It’s just going to take me a little time...”

I’ll bet, Buck thought.

“I don’t plan on staying here long,” Buck offered. “So, I want my money, tonight.” He stressed the word just to drive the knife in a little deeper.

“But I can’t...!” Rivon exclaimed, starting to blubber when suddenly inspiration struck, or rather the path Buck had been leading him down, finally presented itself to the man as an avenue of escape. “Wait. I work for the Guild, I can get you anything you want! Permits for businesses, zoning restrictions lifted, you name it. I can help you.”

Buck and Inez exchanged knowing looks before the First Officer leaned forward and said coolly. “Tell you what, you can keep the pot if you can get me some information.”

The Lurian’s eyes widened at the possibility of him taking home all these duckets, so much so that he was oblivious to the way he had been played. Instead, he admired the gleam of the ducket once more before shifting his gaze back to Buck.

“Information? Yes, by all means? I can do that! What do you need to know?”

“I’m trying to trace an old associate of mine,” Buck explained. “We’ve been trying to find him the last few days without much luck. I know he’s in the Guild and if you can give me any information about where he might be at, you can take the pot and I’ll cancel the IOUs.”

The offer was too good to resist even if in retrospect the Lurian might consider that something suspicious had taken taking place. At the moment, he risked being thrown out of every big game in town if it was known he had been unable to meet his debts. Reaching for what appeared to be a data pad on his belt, Rivon looked up at Buck and Inez.

“Who is this associate. If he is with the Guild, I can find him.”

“His name is Cletus Fowler,” Buck revealed watching to see any reaction from Rivon. There was none. To him, Cletus Fowler was just another name on a list, which was just as well. If Rivon knew the importance of discovering Fowler’s whereabouts, he might start making demands of his own and Buck had no patience for that. “He settled here five years ago, and I wanted to look him up.”

“Oh well that’s easy enough to find out,” Rivon smiled, his grin almost splitting his face as he began tapping on the screen. Buck showed no sign of reaction to the fact they were within hair’s breadth of Mr Fowler, while Inez noticed Ezra and JD entering the doors of the establishment, their eyes searching the sea of bodies for her and Buck. Her attention returned to the Lurian when the man made an almost ebullient exclamation of success. “Here it is!”

“You found him,” Buck said with a smile. “Got a picture of him? Cletus Fowler is a popular name on Earth, want to make sure we got the right person.”

“Of course,” Rivon nodded in understanding, too elated by the fact not only his debt was about to be erased but he was going to get a stipend to pocket as well. “Here you are.”

“Thank you,” Buck said graciously and took the pad from the man to be presented with a profile picture of Cletus Fowler. He was a thin-faced man with hawkish eyes. Buck had no doubt he used those eyes to intimidate with surprising effectiveness. The information below the picture was not terribly detailed but there was enough to provide Buck with a clear idea of how to find the man. Before handing back the pad, Buck committed to memory every iota of information that would be valuable to them, not that there was very much, to begin with.

“Is that him?” Inez asked innocently when she could bare Buck’s silence no more.

“Yeah that’s Cletus alright,” Buck said with a smile as he handed the pad back to Rivon. “Seems Cletus has a ship, the Mistress of Malarkey, docked at the Soko spaceport right now. With any luck, we’ll catch him since he’s in town. Thank you for that Mr Rivon,” Buck said to the Lurian with a smile. “I guess the pots all yours.”

“My pleasure,” the man grinned and reached for his money as Buck caught sight of Ezra and JD on approach.

“Come on darlin’,” Buck said offering Inez his hand. “We’ve got the whole night ahead of us.” His smile promised nothing but sin, but his eyes told Inez otherwise. Whatever Buck intended on doing tonight, it had everything to do with the elusive Mr Fowler.

********

Leaving the Star’s End, the four Maverick crewmen headed directly for the spaceport where the Mistress of Malarkey was presently docked if Rivon’s information was accurate, which Buck believed it was. The Lurian was so eager to claim the pot, he had tapped directly into the Guild mainframe to acquire the information Buck needed. In any case, it took one quick call to the spaceport to learn a Pakled cargo craft named the Mistress of Malarkey was presently occupying one of its bays.

Knowing how elusive Mr Fowler could be, they set out immediately, walking through the rapidly emptying streets of the Soko, now the sun had gone down. Leaving the entertainment strip where the Stars End had been, they took the route out of the city and found at this time of night, it was quite deserted except for the looming presence of street lamps at appropriate interludes to light their way.

During the journey, the group briefed each other on the progress of their investigations during the day. Somehow, Ezra’s revelation Jack Averal was most likely dead did not surprise Buck the least bit. This entire affair was becoming a maze where solving one riddle only seem to lead to more of them. Once again, he was grateful he heeded Ezra’s advice to keep Chris out of the loop for now. His old friend would have lost his mind with frustration by this point.

“So, you believe this Fowler, killed Jack Averal and pretended to be him on Utopia Planitia, so he could attack anyone investigating the Magellan’s wreck?” Inez asked, trying to wrap her head around the Machiavellian complexity of this plan.

“I cannot say for certain,” Ezra replied, not about to stake his life on speculation especially when there were still a few missing pieces to this puzzle. “The timing is what eludes me. We know for a fact Jack Averal never left the Soko alive. Whoever it was who impersonated him on Utopia, may well be Cletus Fowler, but our decision to visit the Magellan took place after Averal’s imposter was already on the station.”

“So how could they know you’d be there ahead of time?” Inez nodded understanding his dilemma when put so plainly.

“Well that’s obvious,” JD who had been listening quietly, spoke up. The idea was so apparent, he was surprised neither Buck nor Ezra had gotten there already. “Someone was on the station keeping watch.”

“For five years?” She blurted out, unable to imagine what could be so important to keep a vigil for that long.

“No,” Buck shook his head, picking at the thread JD had just presented to unravel more of the mystery. “They would have started keeping watch only in the last six months. Since Fury 361.”

“Exactly,” Ezra nodded. “The Captain began investigating the death of his wife and child after our encounter with Q. Prior to that, he believed their deaths to be the result of an accident. Six months ago, all that changed. He began sifting through the evidence once more, paying attention to details he had previously dismissed because the nature of the crash had already been decided upon. This time, he was viewing it through the lens of foul play.”

“Chris was knocking on doors everywhere,” Buck explained to Inez. “He was talking to everyone, trying to find some evidence of an accident. That would have created noise to alert someone like Fowler who was paying attention.”

“So, Fowler then goes to Utopia Planitia and waits?” She looked to them, finding that hard to believe.

“I'm not sure,” Ezra took up the narrative. “If there was any new investigation taking place, Fowler must have known at some point, the Captain would eventually make his way to Utopia to see the Magellan for himself. He was lying in wait, poised to attack in the remote possibility the Captain found evidence to back up his claim of tampering. Except it was Alexandra and I who appeared and discovered the truth.”

“So, the instant he knew the Maverick was back in Sol,” JD theorized, “he kills Averal, assumes his identity and goes to Utopia to attack you and Alex, before heading back out again.”

“Close. I was already on Utopia, my employer dealt with Averal.”

The man standing in front of them was dressed like one of the characters from the Magnificent Seven holo-program, complete with western bow tie and hat. Buck wondered if the costume was meant to mock but supposed out here, no one would notice the difference and he wore the dark suit well. It made him look all the more intimidating, with his steel grey eyes and hollowed features. He stared at them with amusement almost.

“Mr Fowler, I presume,” Ezra spoke up first, not at all surprised by the man’s attire. If what he suspected about Fowler was true, he was very good at dressing for the part.

“You son of a bitch,” Buck hissed, feeling a surge of outrage at what this man had done to his old friend. “You murdered an innocent woman and child! Why?”

“I would do anything for the cause,” Fowler made no attempt to lie. His confidence in that revelation told Ezra immediately there was cause for alarm. Fowler had no intention of allowing them to leave this street alive. “Their deaths were regrettable, as all deaths sacrificed for the greater good, but it was necessary.”

“Necessary?” Inez exclaimed aghast. “There is no cause that justifies murdering a child and its mother! You didn’t just kill them, you hurt the Captain!”

“Your Captain’s grief was collateral damage,” Fowler shrugged. “Now I hope I’ve satisfied your curiosity in the last minute of your lives, but this investigation has gone as far as it’s going to go.”

“Hey, we outnumber you four to one,” JD snorted, “I wouldn’t be so cocky.”

Still smiling, Cletus Fowler’s face began to change. As his features melted before their astonished eyes, revealing the truth Ezra had suspected since this morning, Fowler’s form became something a great deal deadlier than the human standing before them.

“Jesus Christ,” Buck exclaimed staring at him. “He’s a goddamn changeling! “

In retrospect, it made perfect sense.

As Buck watched Cletus Fowler melt into molten amber, discarding his human shape, the First Officer of the Maverick finally understood how Fowler planted the deadly bilitrium device on board the Magellan. All this time, they were chasing their tails searching for a person when it was most likely, Fowler smuggled himself on board disguised as luggage or some equally innocent looking inanimate object, without anyone being the wiser.

All he had to do was conceal the bilitrium device within his morphogenic matrix and it would be undetectable to scans unless anyone was scanning specifically for a Changeling. Once alone, he could leave the device wherever he liked and simply walk off the Magellan. Wearing the features of John Blackfox, it was an easy matter to dupe a rookie security officer into believing his presence was the result of a computer glitch in the security footage.

It was damn near perfect in its execution.

Thanks to Ezra’s eternal vigilance and some might say, paranoia, with the exception of Inez, the party from the Maverick was armed. It was sheer madness not to be in the Soko. Despite its carnival-like atmosphere, the underbelly of the place was nothing more than a den of villainy occupied by the cut-throat criminals who ruled the Orion Syndicate. Instead of carrying Starfleet issue weapons that would be immediately noticed, they were carrying Romulan disruptors easily acquired on the black market. It was less suspicious than carrying phasers considering how ferociously the Federation guarded their technology.

Not that it helped them much when Fowler attacked.

As he melted into his changeling form, Fowler’s arms lashed out, stretching across the distance between Buck and Ezra, like spears being thrown at twin opponents. The two Starfleet officers had just enough time to jump out of the way, avoiding being impaled through the body by a fraction of a second. Inez uttered a terrified cry of fright, prompting JD into action. The new lieutenant reacted swiftly, grabbing her by the arm and steering her towards the first safe place he could find, in this case, the deep doorway along the row of buildings flanking them on either side.

As both men hit the street, it was Ezra, with his tactical training who was upright first. Knowing just how dangerous a changeling could be, even though all three of them were armed, Ezra did not bother with warning shots. He doubted a single shot would do much damage anyway, changelings were extremely hardy, and Ezra wanted to avoid killing the being if he could. They still needed answers.

Shooting to disable at the very least, the bolt of green energy that streaked towards Fowler never reached the changeling. It impacted on the lamp post behind the Founder who avoided it by transforming into an owl and sailing out of reach as the street light was cut in half. With a loud creak, the entire fixture toppled over and crashed against one of the buildings flanking the street, creating a spray of sparks as it landed.

Fowler sailed through the air towards them before changing shape as it passed over Buck Wilmington. This time, the elegant grace of the barn owl was discarded and what dropped in mid-air right above the first officer was no bird of prey, but the large, burly body of a creature that more than matched Buck for height and size. It happened so quickly Ezra barely had time to utter a warning as the thing descended.

“Buck!” Ezra heard Inez cry out from her hiding place, at seeing Buck taken down hard by the creature Fowler had transformed into. The force of its weight, against the first officer, was strong enough to flatten Buck to the ground, forcing the disruptor from his hand. With horror, Ezra saw Buck’s weapon clattering against the paved street.

Buck did not notice the loss of his disruptor, he was too busy trying to keep the Mugato Fowler had transformed into, from tearing out his throat. The Mugato, a native of the planet Neural with its snow-white pelt and rhino-like horn protruding from its skull was a formidable beast, even without its bulk. He supposed he ought to be grateful Fowler only took on the size and shape of the creature, not its deadlier traits like as the venom contained in its fangs. Nevertheless, he still had no intention of allowing the mouthful of formidable teeth to break any part of his skin.

Mustering up every bit of strength he had, Buck twisted his body hard, while struggling to stay out of reach of its mouth. It was enough to dislodge the creature forcefully, sending it tumbling across the street like a rolling dervish. As it rolled away, the Mugato form was once again discarded into the more familiar shape of a changeling. The burst of disruptor fire from Ezra’s weapon next to Fowler gave the changeling pause, allowing Buck the precious few seconds he needed to retrieve his disruptor.

However, neither of them counted on how fast Fowler could react to such an attack. Buck had no sooner grasped the weapon in his hand before the changeling retaliated. Once again, it lashed out with appendages that coiled around his foot like a tentacle before yanking him back hard. As Buck was lifted off the ground, he cursed when the disruptor fell from his hand again, before Fowler flung him towards the glass window of a shop front.

Ezra grimaced with alarm when he saw Buck being thrown through the window of the shop, not to mention the equally loud crash that followed when he landed inside of it. When Buck had been wrestling with the Fowler/Mugato creature, he was unable to fire for fear of striking the first officer. Unlike the changeling, a blast from a Romulan disruptor would kill a human instantly and Ezra could not take the risk with Buck’s life.

Now that Fowler was on his own, Ezra didn’t think twice.

Pulling the trigger on the disruptor, he sent another streak of energy towards the changeling whose rippling form indicated he was about to change shape again. Ezra had hoped the shot would strike him before that metamorphosis could take place. Once again revealing its ability to elude weapon’s fire, the changeling melted once more, its body spreading out as it dropped to the ground, pancaking itself against the paving. The stray bolt of energy struck the curb, creating sparks upon impact.

“Mr Dunne!” Ezra called out, realizing he wasn’t going to be able to defeat this being on his own. He was readying to shoot again but suspected Fowler was more than capable of fending him off. The changeling turned into a large metal ball that rolled towards him like he was the last pin in one of those ancient bowling alleys. As it rumbled towards him, Ezra’s attempts to shoot it failed as it weaved quickly past the shots fissuring the pavers on the street and turning them black with heat.

********

JD, who had been itching to help his older comrades, remained where he was with Inez because she was his first priority. As a Starfleet officer, he had to protect the civilian in their group. Unlike himself, Buck and Ezra, Inez wasn’t Starfleet trained and while JD had never faced a changeling opponent, he did know how to protect himself, something he wasn’t certain Inez could do if he left her to her own devices.

Besides, he just knew if anything were to happen to Inez, Buck would be devastated.

However, Ezra needed help and as much as JD loathed it, he had to leave her alone and hope for the best. As it was, the urge to run into the shop and see if Buck was alright was great, but they had to eliminate the threat of Fowler first before he could do that.

“Inez, you stay here,” he gave her a quick glance as he prepared to step out of the doorway. “Just keep your head down. If anything happens to us, you start running and don’t stop until you get to Lydia’s okay?”

“Okay JD,” Inez nodded, trying to hide how frightened she was because she had no wish to be a hindrance to them during a fight. She already felt useless enough having to cower here while her three companions were fighting for their lives. “Go! I’ll be fine.”

JD gave her a nod of acknowledgement before he stepped out into the street, leaving her behind.

No sooner than he had gone, Inez’s eyes darted to the shop front Buck had been thrown through, conscious of the fact he had not made a reappearance yet. She had gasped in horror when she saw him thrown and was burning to see if he was alright. As JD closed in on Ezra and the changeling, Inez sucked in her breath and stepped gingerly out of the doorway. With as much stealth as she could manage, she skirted along the row of shops to approach the one Buck had gone through.

********

Meanwhile, Ezra was continuing to fire at the rolling form of Fowler, trying to get a shot at the changeling who was obviously accustomed to combat by how formidably it was using its shapeshifting abilities to fight. As the metal ball he was, reached Ezra, the security chief made another attempt to hit the target when Fowler launched himself into the air again. The orb-like form was soon shifted in midair, this time spreading out like a death shroud about to descend on Ezra.

However, before it could envelop Ezra completely, JD entered the fray firing. His shot came at the changeling from the side, taking the enemy by surprise. The beam of energy hit the broadside of the flattened shape Fowler had become. Even though changelings were capable of withstanding the disruptor fire, the reaction was nevertheless immediate. Fowler’s body shifted just enough for Ezra and JD to see a face appear, one that shrieked in pain after being struck.

The blast was enough to drop Fowler to the ground just shy of Ezra. As he landed, his partially shifting body returned to its more humanoid configuration and when he raised his head to glare menacingly at Ezra, he was Fowler again. While the blast had hurt him, it was clear, he was nowhere close to being subdued. The glare he sent in Ezra’s direction was murderous and the security chief had no doubt if hate was a thing that had form and teeth, Ezra would have been torn apart already.

Not about to be converged upon by two Starfleet officers, Fowler’s arms flew forward again like whips and swept both men off their feet before they had a chance to react. Both Ezra and JD hit the ground hard, just as tips of Fowler’s appendages changed shape again, this time becoming sharp blades that gleamed under the harsh light of the remaining street lamps. The blades came down hard like free-floating guillotines, ready to chop them to pieces if they did not get clear.

********

Oblivious to their difficulties, Inez climbed through the broken window of the dress store Buck had been sent through a short time earlier. Lifting her skirt gingerly so the fabric did not snag as she passed over it, she was careful to avoid the jagged fragments of glass still attached to the window frame. The interior of the store was dark but the light from the street outside provided enough illumination for her to seek out the Maverick’s First Officer.

As it was, Inez was trying to overcome the heart-pounding fear she felt the instant she saw him flung through that window, praying he was not hurt badly or worse. After Raphael, she did not think she could stand it if she lost someone else she had taken to her heart. Not for the first time since realizing her feelings for Buck, she wondered if she should risk her affections on another Starfleet officer, especially when he could die just as easily as Raphael had done.

When she heard his groan from across the room, the relief that flooded her soul at knowing he was safe answered the question most decisively. It was too late. She was all in, whether or not she wanted to admit it.

“Buck?” She called out urgently, trying to ignore the sound of disruptor fire behind her as she closed in on the source of that groan.

Crushing glass beneath her sandals as she ventured deeper into the premises, she moved past the upended mannequins and the spray of glass across the carpeted floor. The groan was soon followed by the sound of movement as she heard broken pieces of furniture and glass, tinkling against each other in the darkness, as well as a shape moving among the debris. Hastening her pace, she reached him just in time to see Buck sitting up from beneath the display cabinet he had landed on. The impact had destroyed the thing completely and as he looked up at her, Inez saw the dark smear of blood across his forehead.

“Inez?” He stared at her with surprise, wondering why she was here instead of taking cover somewhere since the battle was nowhere done if the bursts of disruptor fire he could hear were any indication.

“Buck! Are you alright?” She demanded, closing the distance between them. She saw him getting to his feet and noted he was not as steady as he should have been. He seemed to be favoring his left side and the grimace on his face as he moved away from the debris of the destroyed cabinet, revealed he was hurt a lot more than was obvious to her.

“I’m okay Inez,” Buck assured her, ignoring the rubbery feeling in his legs or the brightly colored canaries currently circling his head at the moment. There was no time for him to suffer his wounds, not when he could hear the fight taking place beyond the walls of the store and hear the fear in her voice. “Just a little bruised.”

Dusting himself off, even though he knew he had broken some ribs and there were more than a few cuts across his skin, Buck downplayed his injury for her benefit because he could see her anxiety and knew exactly what was running through her mind. Unfortunately, he had no time to reassure her about any of it right now. They were still in trouble.

“I’m fine darlin’,” He said hastily as he moved past her, his eyes fixed on the window and what was taking place outside. Pausing for a moment, he placed his hand on her cheek and met her frightened eyes. “Inez, I need you to keep out of sight. I’ve gotta go help Ezra and JD. It’s going to take all three of us to take down this son of a bitch.”

“But...” she started to protest, wanting to stop him but the words died in her throat. She couldn’t. He was Starfleet, as Raphael had been Starfleet. Asking him not to do his duty was tantamount to asking him to stop breathing. It was in his DNA and she would not care for him if he were any other way. “Okay,” she nodded quietly.

“Darlin’, I’ll be okay,” he said gently, seeing the gamut of emotions running through her face at that moment and feeling delighted knowing it was all for him. However, as much as it pleased him, it also worried him equally. “Inez, I want you to listen to me carefully. If things go wrong and we can’t stop him. I want you to get the hell out of here, do you understand? Get to Lydia’s and contact Major Kira on DS9. Tell her we’re dealing with a Founder and then sit tight. She’ll send someone to get you.”

What he was telling her was a worst-case scenario but as First Officer of the Maverick, he could do nothing else. She understood this and supposed, preparing to be Raphael’s wife for so many years, made her better able to cope, even when she was terrified out of her mind for him. Without giving him any warning, she grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled it towards her, so he was forced to lean forward. Before he could say anything else, she pressed her lips to his in a quick but tender kiss.

“Be careful,” she said when she parted from him.

Buck’s eyes widened in surprise by the show of affection. Considering the number of women, he had been with over the years, this quick kiss should have little power over him and yet it did. It was the universe. When she pulled back from him, he was grinning.

“I knew you’d come around.” He winked, before leaving her to go help the others.

********

Ezra rolled over as the blade slammed against the stone paving next to him. The force of it created sparks upon impact. Still clutching his disruptor, Ezra marveled at the speed of the changeling and wondered why on Earth the Founders needed the Jem’Hadar to do their dirty work when they were so effective in combat. Throughout the duration of the Dominion War, engagement with the changelings had been rare and never was Ezra more grateful of this fact than right now. If they decided to do the fighting themselves, Ezra wondered if Starfleet would have fared just as well.

Another shriek snapped Ezra out of his ruminations, giving him the breathing room needed for him to get to his feet when JD managed to squeeze off another shot at Fowler once more. The changeling was registering the pain, but it was not enough to stop him from continuing to fight. Furious, Fowler’s limbs now resembling tentacles, complete with grotesque sucker pads and slimy skin, lashed out at JD for the assault, snagging him by the ankle, just as Ezra flipped upright.

Ezra heard JD’s indignant cry of anger as the tentacle around his ankle lifted him off the ground. Dangling JD about like a meat on a hook, he swung the helpless lieutenant about, preventing Ezra from getting a clear shot as JD flailed about like a rag doll under the merciless care of an angry child. JD was struggling to fire, but he was being shaken so violently Ezra knew he was going to end up breaking bones soon.

“Mr Dunne, hold on!” Ezra shouted at him and then swore because he just reminded Fowler he was here too and waiting to be dealt with.

The changeling reacted swiftly, flinging JD at Ezra as if he was trying to shake loose some bit of offending slime from his fingertips. The lieutenant slammed into Ezra hard and they both went down in a tangle of limbs against the ground Ezra was sure had gotten harder for this particular moment. A burst of white-hot agony tore through him as he landed on his side and the pop, he heard was his shoulder slipping out of place, making him utter an uncharacteristic cry of pain. Nevertheless, despite the agony of the collision, with his good hand, Ezra maintained a death grip on his disruptor, knowing if he let it go, Fowler was going to kill them both.

JD rolled off Ezra at the older man’s cry but had no chance to examine Ezra because the roar of something very big and angry was barreling towards them. Not since his first Away mission dealing with the crew of the Leonov, did JD feel such terror at the sight of the cave bear thundering towards them with its jaw wide, revealing teeth capable of crushing bone with little or no effort.

“LIEUTENANT! SNAP OUT OF IT!”

The voice that boomed in his ear was one he could not disobey and shaking off the temporary fugue, JD saw his weapon a few feet from him and made a dash for it. Ignoring the fact, the thing would reach him before he could get to his disruptor, the creature’s advance was suddenly halted by another blast of disruptor fire. Rearing onto its hind legs in pain, it uttered a roar that JD could feel in his bones. Despite this, the changeling was still managing to maintain his shape.

“JD! Help me!” Buck Wilmington commanded, once again reminding JD that when Buck wasn’t being his friend and mentor, he was his commanding officer. To conditioned to disobey that voice, JD snatched up his disruptor and turned it on the changeling, firing at its current incarnation, dead center.

This time the second shot delivered so closely on the heels of the first, forced Fowler out of his cave bear configuration back to his humanoid shape. There was no doubt he was hurt but he was not ready to concede defeat. As his morphogenic form solidified into the shape of the human once more, Buck saw the calculation in the man’s hawk like eyes and knew he was about to attack again.

“Don’t do it, Fowler,” Buck warned. “We don’t want to kill you. All we want is answers.”

Both Buck and JD had their disruptors aimed at the changeling, poised to fire. Behind JD, Ezra announced himself with a groan of pain as he got to his feet, still clutching his weapon. Despite the security chief’s left shoulder appearing somewhat tilted, with his arm hanging uselessly at his side, Ezra moved into position, trapping Fowler in a kill zone. No matter how much punishment a changeling could take, it could not withstand a triangulated assault at the same time.

“It seems you have me at a disadvantage,” Fowler spoke at last, his voice calm and deliberate despite his situation.

“You said Sarah and Adam’s death was for a greater good,” Buck reminded. “What possible good could that be?”

Fowler’s lips pulled across his face into a sneer. “The future.”

“The future?” Ezra stared at him mystified. “You speak in riddles, Sir. I thought our business with your kind was concluded with the end of the war.”

The smile that crossed Fowler’s face made Ezra’s blood run cold. “Was it?”

Before Ezra could ask another question, Fowler attacked, his body turning into some kind of tentacled monstrosity that attempted to take all three of them down at once. This time, the Starfleet trio was ready for the assault and pulled the triggers on their disruptors almost simultaneously. Fowler was struck on all sides by the deadly energy, his features melting to his natural state for a second before he exploded violently in all directions. The morphogenic material held its amber consistency where it landed all but briefly before turning black.

As Ezra saw the remains of Cletus Fowler turning into ash wherever they landed, he was suddenly struck with the realization whatever they imagined the reason for Sarah and Adam’s death to be, the truth might actually be worse.

Having no desire to fall under the scrutiny of the Soko authorities, Buck and Ezra reached the unanimous decision to leave the area in the wake of their battle with Cletus Fowler.

Since the authorities were most likely the agents of the Orion Syndicate, it was prudent not to be noticed, especially since each one of them had entered the Soko using a false identity. Buck was especially mindful of JD who had humiliated one of its commanders during their recent mission to Hadir. The first officer had no doubt the Syndicate would love to get their hands on the young lieutenant for some payback.

Returning directly to the Holana, their Bajoran runabout came equipped with a functional medical station where they could treat their wounds and pursue the only remaining lead left to them now Cletus Fowler was dead. Despite the necessity of their extreme actions against the changeling, Ezra wished they had not been forced to kill Fowler. His cryptic words disturbed the security chief because the implications went beyond just the deaths of Sarah and Adam. Something else was happening here, something it was becoming increasingly urgent they uncover.

“Did you know Ezra?” Buck asked as he was seated on the pilot seat in the cockpit while Inez stood over him, running a dermal regenerator over the cut on his forehead. “Did you know he was a changeling?”

Ezra who was seated at the tactical station, still feeling the stiffness in his shoulder after his dislocated joint was popped back in by JD with the sufficient painkillers given to make the sharp pain a little less acute, let out a sigh and nodded. “I did suspect a shapeshifter of some sort was involved but not a changeling, not until after we went to Jack Averal’s home and realized he was dead.”

“Why?” Inez asked puzzled, wondering how Ezra could have made the connection. After all, there were many different species of shapeshifters in the Alpha Quadrant, not just changelings. There were chameloids and allasmorphs, who could also change shape, though not to the sophistication of the Founders.

“Because of the missing statue,” JD stated, realizing now, why Ezra had been so interested in the ornament Jack Averal had brought home the night before his estimated death. “You think it was a changeling.”

“I do,” Ezra nodded. “Mr Averal had won an Iconian statue the night before he left for Sol. I believe this was the changeling Fowler claimed to be his employer. Once in Averal’s house, the changeling killed him and used his identity to board a transport, the Tascosa, to Sol. Whether or not it actually made the journey is unclear to me. In any case, it matters little. It was enough he was recorded as boarding the craft. After the attempt on our lives by Fowler who was in Utopia Planitia, lying in wait, he would have simply assumed Averal’s identity and boarded the Tascosa for his return trip home.”

“So, there’s two of them?” JD frowned. “I don’t like the sound of that at all.”

“You and me both,” Buck agreed. “We haven’t heard a peep out of the Founders since the end of the Dominion War. Killing Sarah and Adam, that took place well before we even knew there were Founders, to begin with. Remember what Fowler said, killing them was regrettable, like who they were didn’t matter at all.”

It still rankled Buck how dismissive Fowler had been about their deaths. He hadn’t seen Chris Larabee nearly destroy himself because of his family’s loss, hadn’t been there to pick up the pieces and he certainly wasn’t there when Chris learned his family’s death was murder, not an accident.

No, to Fowler, Sarah and Adam, even Chris, were merely casualties of an unknown cause.

“Buck,” Ezra said to the First officer, understanding the man’s outrage but they had a bigger problem on their hands because he suspected they had underestimated the scope of the crime. “If Chris’s grief, his wife and child’s death were all collateral damage, then this was never about the Captain at all. There is something else at work here.”

“I know,” Buck nodded grimly. “The way Fowler was talking about the future and a cause, not to mention two of them working together? That’s a conspiracy. Founders don’t act independently of the Great Link, at least from what I know of them.”

“Agreed,” Ezra answered, similarly unsettled by their encounter by this thought. “We have pieces but not the complete picture. My hunch tells me, time is against us.”

“But we signed a peace treaty with them,” JD exclaimed, thinking about that final battle over Cardassia Prime where so many died. He remembered seeing the ships destroyed, starships, warbirds and cruisers alike. Some of his friends served on the ships lost, friends who graduated the Academy only a year before like he did. Never had JD been so grateful he served on Chris Larabee’s ship until that moment, because the Captain had gotten them out alive.

The young lieutenant avoided looking at Inez as he made that statement because the battle of Cardassia Prime had also seen the destruction of the Venture, captained by Inez's fiancé, Raphael Castille.

Neither Buck nor Ezra spoke to the fragility of treaties, how easily they were broken throughout the history of civilization, whatever the planet or alliance. What was signed today, might not be worth the paper it was written on tomorrow and if the Founders were moving pieces into position once again, how many steps were they away from checkmate? Especially after lulling the Alpha Quadrant into a false sense of security they were no longer a threat?

Suddenly Fowler’s ominous words about the future haunted Buck more than he cared to admit. “Ezra, I’ve got a really bad feeling about this. I think we need to get on board Fowler’s ship while we still can.”

Ezra was not about to argue that point either. “I concur.”

********

The Mistress of Malarkey was a Pakled freighter that had seen better days.

The wedge-shaped ship, with the hooked beak where the cockpit was situated, was exactly in the bay Rivon had indicated it would be in the Soko spaceport. With a jaundiced yellow hull and amber stripes running along its port and starboard side, it was hardly impressive but then again, Ezra supposed it was probably how Fowler wanted it. This was a craft that would slip by unnoticed, would never be considered threatening and ideal if one’s purpose was infiltration, which would almost certainly be what a changeling would wish.

Waiting until the small hours of the night, when there would be little traffic in the area, Buck and Ezra slipped into the bay where the Mistress was docked. Thanks to Ezra’s superior programming skills, he was able to hack the security cameras in the bay and disable them for a period of fifteen minutes. Long enough for the two officers to sneak on board the Mistress, without raising any alarms. Once again, Ezra was able to disarm the locks on the Mistress’s main hatch to slip on board.

“Guess this is a changeling’s ship,” Buck commented as the hatched sealed them inside the craft. The ship was functional, with almost no personalization through it. There was nothing to imply that it belonged to someone who called it their home, no personal tokens or adornments. Just a cold sterility to it that Buck did not like at all.

“I suppose,” Ezra shrugged, surveying the interior of the craft for anything of interest. While there appeared to be a food replicator built into the machinery, the dust collected on it told Ezra it was never used, which also made sense. Changelings did not eat. Nor did they sleep. They simply regenerated at sixteen-hour intervals before they were ready to resume their normal activities, whatever that might be.

“Let’s not stay here any longer than we have to,” Buck stated, having no desire to be discovered by the authorities for this bit of trespassing, or even worse run into the changeling Fowler was working with. After what they went through earlier, Buck preferred a better venue for another confrontation. Producing the tricorder, he had hidden under his jacket, Buck gestured to the rear of the craft. “I’ll check out the rest of the ship, you tap into the main computer. See if there’s any information we can use.”

“You read my mind Commander,” Ezra replied, already making his way to the cockpit.

“Yeah, yeah,” Buck grumbled. “Wish I could do it when we’re playing poker.”

“One can always live in hope,” Ezra grinned and continued down the walkway before he reached the cockpit.

Unlike the Holana, this craft was not built with comfort in mind. The cockpit was cramped with only room for a pilot and a co-pilot to occupy the space. Studying the cockpit controls, he saw the co-pilot was also responsible for manning the ship's weapons, while helm and navigation seemed to be the responsibility of the pilot. It appeared the co-pilot’s station provided the access to the main computer, prompting Ezra to slide into the rather uncomfortable seat that only a changeling with shapeshifting abilities could tolerate for any length of time.

Once again, it did not take him long to access the data on the ship’s mainframe. Ezra had made it a hobby breaking into classified material for most of his career. On board the Maverick, the only other person with as much skill was their science officer. As his fingers moved deftly against the console, breaking through encryption and firewalls, he wondered how Alex was doing and realized with a sudden start, it was Fowler who was responsible for her lost child. Suddenly, Ezra wished they’d prolonged the bastard’s death a little more.

Ezra had been the first one Alex had met on board the Maverick and he recalled that withdrawn, broken woman who stepped off the transporter pad wearing her wounds like tritanium amour. She and Vin had come so far since then, both of them had healed each other and built a life together. It infuriated Ezra to no end he failed to protect the life the couple had created. As security chief, Ezra felt everyone on board the Maverick was his responsibility to protect, even the unborn. He took the responsibility as seriously as Chris Larabee.

Of course, thinking of Alex and Vin as a married couple inevitably made him consider his own situation with Julia. Without a doubt, the titian-haired beauty who put up with his foibles, his tendency to keep things too close to the chest, not to mention his penchants for games of chance and other extra-curricular activities, was the love of his life. He knew that from the moment he saw her. Perhaps it was time he solidified their relationship with some sort of formal agreement. After all, she had met Maude and not gone running for the Delta Quadrant, to say nothing of the fact her family welcomed him with open arms and he even had a begrudging affection for the feline she made him buy.

It had been almost a month since Ezra considered flushing Huxley out of an airlock.

“Find anything?” Buck Wilmington’s voice interrupted his thoughts just as he hurdled the last firewall in the computer. Streams of data rolled down the screen like the cascade of a rushing waterfall.

“I have just penetrated the barricades within the system,” Ezra said dutifully. “How did you fare?”

“I didn't find anything,” Buck sighed, lowering himself into the pilot’s seat. Fortunately, the blast shield was lowered over the window so no one could see there were intruders inside the Mistress’s cockpit. “Just a lot of dust. Other than using the ship for transport, I doubt he ever lived in it.”

“Changelings require very little,” Ezra remarked as the light from the green displayed illuminated the dim cockpit. “They do not eat, sleep or require the maintenance of organic life forms. I am hardly surprised by the condition of this craft.”

“I suppose,” Buck shrugged. “Can you pull up the navigation charts? I want to know where this ship’s been?”

After a few seconds, the information appeared before him and Ezra scanned it quickly, condensing what he saw into a quick report for his commanding officer. “It appears the last time the ship left the Soko, it travelled to the Bajoran system. Prior to that, Fowler made several journeys to Breen space and through the wormhole.”

“Make sense, he’s a changeling, he would have to return to the Great Link every so often.” Buck was unsurprised by that information although he wondered how Fowler managed to reach the wormhole without anyone paying attention. Since the end of the Dominion War, travel to the Gamma Quadrant was discouraged. While the treaty ensured neither side sent military ships into each other’s territory, the status of commercial traffic was still unclear. Trade continued in a limited fashion but for the most part, both sides gave each other a wide berth.

“I am more interested in what he was doing in Bajor,” Ezra remarked, his brow furrowing just enough for Buck to realize the security chief had spotted something that bothered him.

“What is it?” Buck sat up straighter in his seat.

“I am puzzled by his destination in the Bajoran system,” Ezra answered after a moment. “He has made several visits to Jerrado, the fifth moon orbiting Bajor.”

“Jerrado, Jerrado,” Buck mused, something tickling the back of his mind at the mention of that name. “Why do I know it?”

“It is Bajor’s primary energy production center,” Ezra explained, “as well as being the only uninhabited moon in orbit around the planet. When the moon was colonized for the purpose, the core had to be tapped and as a result, the sulphur and carbon compounds released into the atmosphere made it incapable of sustaining life. The energy plant on the moon is fully automated and Jerrado itself has no population.”

“Then what the hell was Fowler doing there?” Buck asked, wondering what other riddles this affair was going to produce.

“I do not know,” Ezra shook his head. “But the exact coordinates of where he went on Jerrado, is recorded in the navigation logs.”

“Is it now?” Buck met Ezra’s eyes as they both shared the same thought. “Commander Standish, I think it’s time we took our leave of Theta Cygni.”

“Commander,” Ezra grinned. “You continue to read my mind.”

********

They left the Soko within the hour, with Inez making her apologies to Lydia because the business at hand demanded their immediate departure and after the encounter with Fowler, it was the wisest course of action. While the Syndicate had not taken notice of the altercation in the middle of the street, the damage done was sure to raise the interest of the authorities and Buck wanted to be well away from the Soko when that happened. Furthermore, the first officer had no desire to endanger Lydia’s livelihood by putting her in the Syndicate’s crosshairs because of her association with them.

The journey to Bajor took less than a day, with Buck contacting Colonel Kira Nerys whom he had developed a rapport with during the Maverick’s time at DS9 during the last days of the Dominion War. As two first officers, they had worked well together with Buck respecting the hell out of the lady who reminded him a great deal of Chris Larabee and was pleased to see her given command of the station after Ben Sisko’s mysterious disappearance.

Kira, whose personal connection to the Founders was deeper than most, believed the Founders were still healing from the virus that infected the Great Link and was rather astonished to learn that changelings were involved in the conspiracy revolving Sara and Adam Larabee’s death. There had been no hostilities between the Alpha Quadrant and the Dominion since their retreat through the wormhole and the possibility of a new threat understandably alarmed the woman, considering the implications for Bajor.

With the urgency of the situation in mind, Kira provided them with the authorization they needed to land on Jerrado, once they’d returned to DS9 and retrieved their runabout, which was equipped with the necessary equipment to traverse the inhospitable terrain. With Inez remaining behind on the station, the Corrizo journeyed to the fifth moon of Bajor, using the coordinates they’d lifted from Fowler’s ship, the Mistress of Malarkey.

Crossing over the green-hued fog of sulphur and carbon that now covered the planet, the runabout Corrizo under Buck’s control, followed the route taken by Fowler the last time he was on the moon. The scant vegetation that had been on Jerrado prior to the establishment of the energy center was no more and when they flew over the surface, the Maverick’s crew saw a barren wasteland of craggy hills and dirt plains. The once breathable air was now toxic and Buck had to wonder what provision was made for the indigenous life before the stroke of a pen decided their fates.

Probably none, he thought grimly since ninety years of Cardassian rule had more or less crippled Bajor’s infrastructure and they were still trying to rebuild their society to a semblance of its former self.

“What is that?” Buck asked peering through the window at the structure in front of them. It was little more than a hastily erected emergency shelter one might use in the wake of a natural disaster while waiting for relief to arrive.

“Most likely a remnant of the dwellings left behind when this moon was briefly inhabited,” Ezra remarked after the Corrizo had set down at the coordinates Fowler had made his pilgrimages to. “I believe during the Occupation, a few of the Bajorans chose this world as a refuge from Cardassian rule.”

“This is where Fowler came?” Buck asked, still skeptical that this ramshackle shelter was the reason for the changeling’s repeated visits to Jerrado.

“That’s where the coordinates led us, Buck,” JD replied, trying to keep the hint of annoyance out of his voice at having his navigational skills questioned. “I checked it twice.”

“Can we scan what’s inside it?” The First Officer asked, ignoring the slight to the kid’s pride. Right now, they were not friends but commanding officer and subordinate.

“Unfortunately, no,” Ezra frowned. “There is too much interference from the mining operations being undertaken at the core. It is obscuring our attempts to scan.”

“Naturally,” Buck sighed, realizing there was only one course of action in the light of this. “Looks like we’re doing this the old-fashioned way. “Let’s break out the enviro-suits and go take a look. JD, you stay here and mind the store. I don’t expect trouble, but nothing about this situation is what it appears to be, so I’d rather not take any chances.”

JD was disappointed but understood the prudence in having at least one of them remain behind. If anything did go wrong and the two senior offices got into any difficulty, it would be up to him to get them out of it.

********

The land surrounding the shelter revealed a previous attempt to farm it since Buck and Ezra saw the remains of a ruined crop, long since withered, covered with dust and dirt as they approached. Farming implements lay scattered about haphazardly and the furrows for seed were mostly covered up, leaving only slight grooves in the dirt as evidence of anyone’s attempt to tame the land. The shack itself had been reinforced with any material that might serve to offer additional protection against the elements. Clearly, whoever occupied this place previously had attempted to turn the shelter into a home.

“Commander, I appear to be detecting an energy signature coming from this structure,” Ezra announced as the security chief stepped into the small dwelling, his tricorder leading the way. While the scanners on board the runabout had been unable to help them earlier, the tricorder’s sensitivity and range, was another matter entirely, allowing Ezra to detect a faint energy reading.

“Could it be some leftover appliance, still running on batteries?” Buck asked, not about to assume it was something important when it could be as simple as someone leaving the proverbial iron on.

“Unknown,” Ezra answered from behind his visor as he stepped deeper into the place. The shelter was just one room and as the security chief adjusted the illumination of his torch on the helmet of his suit, revealed a rather spartan existence for its occupant. There was a bed, a table and chair, a small area for cooking and...

“Is that a stasis tube?” Buck exclaimed in shock, closing the distance to the dark, coffin-like cylinder sitting against the far wall of the dwelling.

“Yes,” Ezra nodded, as equally mystified as Buck as he scanned the tube. “It’s fully operational.”

“Is there someone inside that thing?” Buck asked as Ezra kneeled over the instrument panel at the side of the tube to study its readings.

“If there is, they are not alive,” Ezra explained, examining the display. “According to the data, this is a stasis tube only, not a cryogenic pod. I believe its purpose is for preservation only. Whatever is inside was placed there five years ago.”

Five years ago. That number made Buck’s spine stiffen. The pieces Ezra had spoken about in the Soko was suddenly converging to form an unimaginable picture, one that seemed almost incredible, yet Buck knew with every fiber of his being was true. Ever since the Founders had appeared, Buck had been hurtling towards this conclusion and now he was on the cusp of discovering the truth of it all. “Ezra, open it up. I need to see who is there right now.”

Ezra gave him a look of concern, realizing Buck had a theory neither of them was going to like and immediately lowered the external shield surrounding the tube. The dark tint vanished from the smooth surface, revealing clear plexiglass beneath. The capsule’s interior lights flooded the room and revealed the form of a woman lying prone against the cushioned interior.

“Oh my God,” Ezra exclaimed in shock, finally understanding what Buck suspected.

“Is she alive?” Buck asked, his worst fears realized.

“No,” Ezra shook his head. “I detect no life signs at all. As I stated earlier, this is a stasis tube, meant only for preservation. She has been dead for at least five years.”

Five years, she had been dead for five years. As the enormity of what they had discovered settled over them, Buck could do nothing but stare into the perfectly preserved face of Ella Gaines.

Twenty-four hours after their discovery on Jerrado, Buck Wilmington and Ezra Standish found themselves facing Chris Larabee in his Ready Room on board the Maverick.

The Captain said nothing at first, his icy colored eyes staring at them so hard across the table that even Ezra who could maintain a poker face like no man alive, started to feel the pressure. Buck who could read his oldest friend’s moods, found himself tugging at his collar nervously, flinching under that merciless gaze. It took no clairvoyance for Buck to know beneath Chris’s impenetrable facade, volcanic fury was being held back by the flimsiest of restraints.

When Chris finally spoke, he did so uttering only one word giving them both barrels of the infamous Larabee glare.

“Explain.”

Both officers exchanged quick glances, with Buck swallowing visibly while Ezra’s composure remained more in place than ever, as they quickly decided which of them should speak. Beyond the glass window flanking them, the panoramic vista of Deep Space Nine hung above the orb of Bajor, was a stark contrast to the near strangulating atmosphere inside the Captain’s Ready Room. Buck supposed this reaction from Chris was always inevitable. When he contacted Chris on the Maverick after discovering Ella Gaines’s body, he had provided his captain with scant details, knowing only the news of Sarah and Adam would be enough to bring the man here.

True enough, within a day of that communication, Chris arrived at Deep Space Nine with the Maverick and the demand both he and Ezra report to the Ready Room immediately to provide an explanation for the summons.

“Chris,” Buck started to say when he caught the sharp glint in the man’s eyes that killed any sense of familiarity between and reminded Buck, that friendship aside, Chris was his commanding officer and right now, that relationship was all that was keeping him and Ezra from being brigged. “Captain, we discovered something on Jerrado...”

Chris cut him off before he could finish, his voice brittle the glass. “From...the...start.”

Ezra who could see Buck starting to fold under the pressure and had more experience with intimidating opponents decided he better take the lead on this. The Captain was angry, but Ezra had expected him to be the instant he made the decision to hold back on revealing his discoveries regarding the Magellan. Sparing Buck the difficulty of trying to explain, it was the Security Chief who began addressing the Captain’s question.

“Captain, the secrecy regarding this matter was my doing,” Ezra gave Buck a quick glance, conveying silently the leave to speak, which Buck granted with an imperceptible nod. Facing forward again, Ezra met Chris’s piercing gaze and resumed speaking. “When Alexandra and I left the bay where the Magellan was kept, we knew exactly how the ship was sabotaged.

Chris’s jaw tightened. He said nothing still but stiffened in his chair and seemed to sit up straighter. “Go on.”

“I must admit, until I saw the damage for myself, I still harbored some doubt as to whether or not Q was telling the truth. Once I saw it and Alexandra concurred with me, we knew it could be nothing else. The level of damage was far too extreme for what is considered normal, even for an anti-matter explosion. On this basis, we considered what might cause such damage and concluded the culprit was a bilitrium-based device.”

It took but a millisecond for Chris to process the information but when he did, Ezra saw his belief. The Captain would be just as aware of the effect of bilitrium on an anti-matter discharge.

“It would just leave a carbon residue,” Chris spoke in almost a whisper.

“Exactly,” Ezra replied. “Unless the investigative team knew what to look for, there was no reason to assume it was any different to the rest of the carbon scoring on the wreckage. “There wouldn’t even be a need for a device, just the substance smuggled on board to act as a catalyst when the Magellan’s plasma seal failed prompting the warp core breach.”

Chris sat back in his chair and blinked slowly. At last, he knew.

After five years, he had an answer and though it didn’t lessen the anguish or the loss, at least Chris could put to rest the doubt that dogged him since their deaths. He wanted to be furious at Ezra for keeping this from him, for not telling him in the first place but this was not the time, the security chief’s report was not yet concluded.

“Continue.”

Ezra nodded and resumed speaking, going into detail about how his investigations of the security footage from both Syria Planum and Utopia Planitia had led him to Fowler and then Jack Averal. How five years ago, Cletus Fowler had departed Mars a short time before the Magellan was destroyed, bound for Theta Cygni and how Jack Averal was headed for the same destination, shortly after the attack on Alex and himself at Utopia Planitia. The coincidence was too much for Ezra who was certain now, Fowler had been keeping watch on the Magellan ever since Chris resumed his investigations into the ship’s destruction, following Q’s explosive revelation the cause was foul play not accidental.

“Considering the long game Fowler was willing to play, we decided to proceed carefully. At this time, I believed he was a shapeshifter of some kind. It was the only explanation as to how he could sneak a bilitrium device on board the Magellan and how effectively he was able to vanish once he arrived on Theta Cygni. I suspected he might have killed Averal and taken his place before arriving at the Soko but I needed further proof to be certain. At Averal’s home, we found evidence of blood spilled much earlier than his appearance at Jupiter station. I requested Commander Wilmington to begin making inquiries after Mr Fowler, hoping to draw him out.”

“It did,” Buck confirmed. “He was going to kill all four of us in the Soko, but we managed to take him down, but not before he told us, killing Sarah and Adam was just collateral damage for a cause, one we pretty sure had nothing to do with you.”

“A cause?” Chris blurted. “He killed my wife and son for a goddamn cause? What fucking cause?” The fury that had been restrained was now bursting at its seams.

“We are uncertain Captain,” Ezra took up the narration once again. “But we discovered Fowler was not simply a shapeshifter. He was a changeling.”

“A changeling?” Chris’s eyes widened in shock as he stared at Ezra. “As in a Founder?

“Yeah,” Buck answered before the security chief could do so. “Fowler was a goddamn Founder and he said he was working for someone else, someone we’re pretty sure is a Founder too because Averal was killed while Fowler was still at Utopia Planitia. It was someone who managed to convince port authorities at Theta Cygni, he was Averal when he boarded the ship to Sol.”

Chris’s mind was reeling. The revelation of a Founder being involved was shocking in itself, but it did not take him long to see the ramifications of it. Suddenly, Sarah and Adam’s death had become more than just an act of murder but something with greater consequences for more than just himself. Possibly the entire Alpha Quadrant. Was this why Q had given him no details when the entity made its revelation? Because if the Founders were involved, the Federation was going to need more than just the word of a cosmic entity with a tendency for pranks, to believe it if they were going to challenge a sitting treaty with the Dominion Empire?

They needed proof.

“How did you end up here?” Chris asked, regaining his composure enough to ask. His anger at the duo was waning considerably in the light of this. Slowly, he was shifting his mindset of grieving and vengeful husband, back to that of a starship captain.

“We check the nav computers on Fowler’s ship after we finished up with him,” Buck was glad to see Chris’s anger blunted somewhat in light of a Founder’s involvement in all this. Like Chris, Buck was of the mind they had bigger problems to worry about, now that they knew the truth. “He’d made several trips to Jerrado, which made no sense since the moon’s uninhabited.”

“It’s atmosphere became toxic after they introduced the energy production center,” Chris replied automatically.

“Which is why it captured my attention,” Ezra spoke up again. “I found it odd he should be travelling to such an uninhabited planet and decided it was necessary to see what it was Fowler was visiting on Jerrado. The coordinates in his nav computer ultimately led us to a shelter where we discovered the body of Captain Ella Gaines.”

Just when Chris thought he could not be any more stunned by what Ezra and Buck had to tell him, the mention of Ella Gaines proved otherwise, and more or less dismissed any remaining anger at the duo for their secrecy for now.

“Ella Gaines?”

Chris knew Ella. They had been cadets at the Academy. Hell, he’d dated her once or twice, before Sarah that is, and while they never hit it off, he liked her well enough. She was single-minded, ambitious and they both liked old books. When she became Captain of the Reliant, Chris had been pleased to hear it, even though it had come to Ella in the aftermath of his own tragic loss.

“That’s impossible, she’s been the Captain of the Reliant...”

“It’s her Chris,” Buck said quickly, “we found her body in a stasis tube. She’s been dead for five years.”

“Jesus Christ,” Chris looked at them, shaken to the core by that news. “There’s no question of it?”

“None,” Ezra replied. “As soon as we discovered the body, we notified Colonel Kira. An autopsy carried out by Doctor Bashir confirms it. The body we found, is indeed Ella Gaines. It appeared she was murdered five years ago. The cause of death was strangulation, with enough forensic residue to imply morphogenic properties, consistent with a changeling kill. Her body was preserved in a stasis tube for purposes I cannot fathom, perhaps to avoid detection and maintained the secret.”

No, that wasn’t it, Chris thought immediately. If Ella had been dead for five years than the imposter on board the Reliant was a changeling. The magnitude of the deception was staggering. Five years ago, the existence of the Founders was still unknown. While they knew of Odo, it had yet to impact on them DS9’s security chief was from a race of shapeshifters. After their meetings with the Dominion, Chris knew the Founders had been in the Alpha Quadrant a good deal earlier, studying and infiltrating them in readiness for the eventual hostilities.

“DNA,” Chris stated, his voice hoarse as he stood up from his chair and went to the window, staring into the void outside as thoughts crowded in on his mind like a storm of moths. “They needed her DNA to pass identity checks. A changeling can look like Ella, but DNA is something they can’t replicate. They would need fresh samples from her time to time, to fool the sensors and physicals. Keeping her preserved gave them access to it.”

“God,” Buck exclaimed, appalled.

“It’s why they needed to kill Sarah and Adam,” Chris continued to speak, his voice was a monotone that sounded exhausted and defeated all at once. “They needed a changeling on board the Reliant. I was up for the second seat. It was a good posting, not just because Captain Yokohama was retiring in a year, but because whoever took the job would replace him as Captain. The Reliant was going to be the first ship through the wormhole but I wanted it because the ship had room for families, I could...” he paused as his words faltered for a moment and he struggled to compose himself. “I could bring Sarah and Adam on board.”

“They must have manufactured the accident on the Magellan so you would be forced to step away,” Ezra added, unravelling the tragedy that plagued Chris Larabee’s life for the last five years. “I take it Captain Gaines was their second choice?”

“Yeah,” Buck answered for Chris who had his back facing them, sparing him the pain of admitting it. “She was.”

“Then they most likely killed her before or shortly after the Magellan’s accident. It allowed a changeling to assume command of the Reliant as Captain and provide the Founders with complete access to all of Starfleet’s data regarding the Gamma Quadrant as it was being gathered, perhaps even being in the position to manipulate how some of it was reported to Starfleet Command.”

“But why kill Sarah and Adam for that?” Buck demanded, reeling at the callousness of the decision, just so Chris wouldn’t accept a promotion. “They could have easily killed you and taken your place.”

“No,” Chris shook his head. “No changeling would be able to fool Sarah. Adam might have been young enough for it to get past him but not her.” He blinked thinking about the girl he met at the Teahouse, all the memories they shared together, the secret jokes and intimate moments, all were diamonds in the sun, priceless and utterly irreplaceable. “Sarah would have known it wasn’t me in a second. Impersonating Ella makes sense. She had no family and she wasn’t married. No one would have known her on the Reliant to notice any difference in her behavior. It’s the smarter play.”

“Captain,” Ezra spoke up, aware even though they couldn’t see his face, Chris was trying to overcome the emotions that came with having, at last, the answers he sought and being faced with the reality that it was nothing like what he imagined it to be. “I apologize for not telling you everything. I advised Commander Wilmington that we ought to keep our findings secret until we had further information. At the time, I was concerned that Fowler was several steps ahead of us and I had no wish to compromise our investigation.”

“Chris,” Buck said unwilling to let Ezra fall on his sword. “The truth is, we didn’t want to tell you until we had something concrete. The last thing we wanted to do is give you more questions you couldn’t answer.”

Chris understood all too well. Both men had ringside seats to his deconstruction when he first learned Sarah and Adam had been murdered. His behavior following the discovery had put his command at risk and cost people their lives. The guilt of that still weighed on him, enough for him to understand why neither Buck nor Ezra wished him to descend into that obsession again.

“It’s alright,” Chris turned around and faced them. “I understand, I do.”

There was a well of rage inside of him waiting to erupt but it would be at the proper time, directed at the Founder responsible for his family’s death, not the two men who gave him the truth after all these years. Taking a deep breath, Chris shoved it deep inside of him, choosing instead to focus on the subject at hand. Returning to his seat, he took on the persona of Captain Larabee once more.

“Alright,” Chris said to both men. “Buck, I want a senior staff meeting in fifteen minutes. I’m going to contact Starfleet Command and find out where the Reliant is at this moment. Ezra, please invite Colonel Kira on board the Maverick. I’ve got a feeling this is about to get very messy.”

“If I may say so Captain,” Ezra shrugged. “I believe that might be the understatement of the century.”

********

Discovery had always been inevitable.

When one was a changeling, one could be no other way. Most often it was usually carelessness that allowed a changeling to reveal themselves to the solids. Fueled by foolish notions of being accepted or achieving a sense of belonging, too many of their number had been killed because they were foolish enough to think solid could accept them. Solids accepted the face they could see and when they learned that face was mutable, acceptance changed quickly into suspicion and even more rapidly into hatred.

For the two hundred years she had been roaming the Alpha Quadrant trying to understand her place in it, she had yet to find any solid capable of accepting a changeling on its own terms. Their recreation was always the same. If they did not fear her, they wanted to kill her and the very worst of them wanted to enslave her. She remembered being cornered and terrified, always on the run, always afraid because the solids had labelled her everything from demon to monster. It was beyond understanding she had feelings, let alone sentience.

When she discovered the existence of the Founders, for the first time she knew she was not alone and was more than happy to return to the Great Link, convinced all the agonies suffered over two centuries would, at last, be vindicated. The Founders intended to bring order into a chaotic universe, by controlling the solids so they would never be a threat again. She was more than willing to pledge herself to this cause. When she was asked to infiltrate Starfleet ranks, she had done so without question.

For the last five years, she had worn the face of the solid she murdered.

It had been easy enough to do. For weeks, she observed her target, studying everything she knew about Ella Gaines, while elsewhere, her counterpart was dealing with Ella’s eventual ascendance to the captaincy of the Reliant. She watched the solid female, discovered Ella’s ambition, her desire above all else to be a captain someday. The changeling felt no shame in usurping that dream and after the deed was done, thought no more about the woman she murdered. The only time she expended any effort in that regard was when it was time to mine the woman’s flesh for the tiresome physicals she was forced to undergo when the cold war between the Alpha Quadrant and the Dominion became a shooting one.

With a starship at her command, the changeling had been a loyal spy for the Dominion, feeding information to the Founders, driving the Alpha Quadrant to the brink of surrender. As the Jem’Hadar fleet poured through the wormhole, conquering Betazed and on the verge of occupying Vulcan, cultivating alliances with the Cardassians and the Breen, the captain of the Reliant was confident the war would soon end. All those solids who had caused her pain through intimidation and persecution for centuries of existence would finally gain their comeuppance.

Until Section 31 using the traitor Odo, infected the Great Link with disease.

She had been fortunate enough to escape the malaise because being the Captain of the Reliant made it difficult for her to answer the call to return home through the wormhole, but its effect on the others was significant. As the illness spread and the tide of war turned against them, she watched in growing alarm at the possibility the Alpha Quadrant might win. Against all odds, the solids managed to forge alliances with each other to stand against the Dominion. The Klingon, Federation and Romulans working together were a significant force to be reckoned with. But still, she had faith in her people to prevail.

At the battle of Cardassia Prime, she had been ready to obliterate the ship herself when suddenly the unimaginable happened. The Dominion surrendered. In exchange for a cure to the illness spread by the humans, the Founders were not only willing to cease all hostilities against the Alpha Quadrant, but they had also welcomed back the traitor to the fold. He was their great savior who would teach the Founders how to co-exist with the solids.

She felt betrayed.

After everything she and others like her had suffered, the idea that the Founders would simply capitulate was beyond imagination. What need was there to keep one's word to the same people who were willing to commit genocide to win? She could not believe the weakness in the Great Link to accept such terms of surrender. She refused to. Thus, she concluded if the Great Link and the Founders were incapable of doing what needed to be done, she would do it.

There was still an armada of Jem’Hadar ships on the other side of the wormhole, ready and willing to fight to the death if the Founders had the will to direct them. The Breen who had expected to be conquerors of the Alpha Quadrant had no choice but to accept surrender if the Dominion would not fight. If hostilities were to resume, she had no doubt they would take up arms against their Alpha Quadrant neighbors again. Furthermore, this time, the triad of Alpha Quadrant powers was missing its Romulan complement. Thanks to the destruction of Romulus by the Hobus star, the alliance would be significantly weakened. Taking the Alpha Quadrant was not only possible now but extremely likely.

All it would take was someone brave enough to commit the one act of murder to make it happen, and she certainly was.

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