Star Trek: ALL - Seven Deadly Sins (42 page)

“No,” Benjamin said. “Not Jennifer. Don’t bring her here. I can’t bear to have to see her if . . .”

“If you’re going to be making love to me?” Kira said. Benjamin could not tell if she was amused or offended.

“I just don’t want to have to see her,” he mumbled.

“Well, I will have Jennifer, when the time is right. And believe me, Benjamin, she’ll be glad to have the work, whether you’re here or not. With her father gone, her status at Akiem might not be nearly as good as it was.” Kira sat up again. “Anyway, she’s too smart to be puttering
around with those routine computer checks they have her doing.” Kira smiled to herself. “Far too smart.”

Sisko said nothing at all. Yes, Jennifer
was
smart. And beautiful, and loyal—and she loved him. She loved him enough to save him from himself. And how had he repaid her?

“I can’t do this,” he suddenly said, his voice strangled. He started to storm out, but one of Kira’s Klingon assistants lurked menacingly, and stepped in his path when he tried to go beyond the screen that divided the room.

The Intendant clucked her tongue. “Benjamin,” she said. “We had a deal. You have to hold up your end of the bargain, you know. That’s how this sort of thing works, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” he said, and reluctantly sat back down on the edge of the bed. He did not look at her.

Kira crawled up behind him, resting her chin on his shoulder. “Your quarters are ready now, if you’d be more comfortable there. I’ll have someone go down to Zismer and get your things from your old apartment, and they can explain it all to Jennifer, as well.”

The thought of one of Kira’s thugs showing up at the apartment to “explain” it to Jennifer was almost more than Sisko could stand, especially considering it would come in the wake of her father’s disappearance. “Please,” he said. “Let me go to Jennifer, just to explain it to her. I would prefer to be the one to tell her.”

Kira moved away from Sisko, so that he thought he had dismayed her, but she surprised him. “You can go where you want now, Benjamin.” She slid off the bed and strode across the room, smiling at him. “If you want to go see Jennifer, I can’t stop you. You can do whatever you want, in your free time. I won’t ask any questions about where you’ve been.”

Sisko tried to revel in the great implications of her declaration, though he had a feeling that there was more to it than she was telling him.

Kira’s face spread into a smile. “As long as you return to me, of course—and come whenever I call you. And Benjamin”—she leaned forward a little—“when you’re with me—you’re
with
me. You are entirely focused on me, and nothing else. Do you understand?”

“I understand,” he said.

“Good. I will get you outfitted with a ship soon enough, but in the meantime, you may use the shuttle I gave you.”

“The shuttle?”

“That’s right, Benjamin. It’s yours. Enjoy your freedom.”

She left him alone for a moment to survey his surroundings, and consider what his new “freedom” was costing him.

Kira’s men had already been to the apartment when Sisko arrived. Jennifer was sitting on the couch, her posture similar to the one she had assumed on the night that Sisko had come home so drunk, after killing Thadial Bokar.

“Jennifer—” he began, but she cut him off.

“Spare me, Benjamin. I know already. Please, just go.”

“But Jennifer, please listen to me. I didn’t want this to happen, she trapped me. She lied to me, manipulated me—”

“And used you, is that it?”

Sisko closed his eyes, ashamed to even look at his wife. “Yes,” he finally said.

“Was it anything different from what you expected?” Jennifer snapped. “We both knew that if the Intendant wanted you, she’d do whatever it took to get you. But, Benjamin, we both also knew that if you didn’t
want
to work for her, we would have found a way to prevent it from happening.”

“We wouldn’t have,” Sisko said. “Your father—he’s gone now, and he was the only one who could have helped us.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Jennifer said. “You’ve proven to be pretty resourceful over the years, and you’ve done it all without my father even knowing about it.”

Sisko didn’t answer her. He could not bring himself to confess to all the things that Jennifer apparently already knew about.

“The funny part is—you think you’ll be free now, working for Kira Nerys. But just because she doesn’t have the same kinds of homing devices built into her ships that Akiem used for their shuttles, don’t think for a moment that she doesn’t know where every ship in her fleet is at all times. They’ve all got standard transponders, and she’s perfectly capable of tracking their movements. But more importantly, she’s the
Intendant.
She doesn’t just know where her
ships are—she knows where
every ship in the quadrant
is, at all times. She doesn’t even need transponders, or any other sort of tracking device for that.”

“Do you think I don’t know that?” Sisko snapped, but the truth was, he hadn’t really thought of it until right now.

“And your crew!” Jennifer went on. “Sure, you’ll be able to enjoy the status of having a crew at your beck and call, but you know whose beck and call they will
really
be at? You will never be able to trust that they aren’t just spying on you for their
real
commander. They will do what you ask when you ask them, but there are no guarantees that they won’t immediately go back to report on every single move you make.”

“Well, that’s my problem now, and not yours,” he snarled.

“That’s true,” she said sadly. “Once, I felt as though we shared all our troubles, and I did all I could to help you out of yours. But you’re on your own now. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t help you anymore.”

Sisko turned to go, but he hung back for a moment more. “Why?” he finally said. “Why did you help me all that time, Jennifer?”

She laughed. “How could you not understand? I did it because I loved you. I married you because I loved you—I always loved you.”

“You loved me?”

“Yes,” she said coldly. “I
loved
you. But that’s over now, too.”

Sisko did not leave Zismer right away. He had come back to his favorite tavern on this moon.
For old times’ sake,
he told himself, but really it was just because he needed a drink, and he needed it right away.

He was nursing his fourth synthale, thinking about all the ways that he might be able to get out from under Kira’s thumb, but every solution that came to him was more flawed than the last. He was well and truly trapped.

Sisko finished up the last swallow of his ale, preparing to leave, to go back to Terok Nor, his new home. The tavern door creaked open just as Sisko had been about to stand up, and in walked a petite young woman with a short haircut and a face like a doll’s. For a moment, Benjamin was so charmed by her as to be captivated, her compact form sharply silhouetted in the doorway. At first glance, Sisko took her for a Terran, but a second look revealed the spots along the sides of her face that indicated she was Trill.

For a moment, Sisko forgot that he was leaving. He watched the woman walk toward the bar. This tavern had very few customers, and the ones it did see were always residents of Zismer. Sisko had little doubt that if he’d seen this woman on Zismer before, he would have remembered it.

She was young, but her expression declared that she had seen enough for six lifetimes. It was wise without seeming too hard. Sisko found the line of her mouth and the tilt of her pert nose to be so striking, he could not look away.

Her short dark hair framed a perfectly featured face. Her piercing blue eyes were trained right on him. As she approached the bar, she broke into a bewitching smile that made her look impossibly young. “Bartender,” she said. Her voice was light and easy. “I’ll have whatever this gentleman is drinking right here.” She jabbed a thumb in Sisko’s direction, and took the stool next to him, right where Janel had always used to sit.

Sisko wrestled for a moment with the feeling that he had to leave, he had to go home right away, because someone was waiting for him. But that was not his reality anymore; that was the old Benjamin Sisko experiencing that feeling. He could stay now, if he wanted. He could go wherever he wanted now, as long as he eventually returned to the Intendant of Terok Nor, and she had promised him that she would ask no questions about where he had been. It seemed perfect, and he paused, trying to enjoy the feeling of knowing that he did not have to answer to anyone—but he knew that it wasn’t true. He did have to answer to someone, and that person was more dangerous than anyone he had ever known.

He recalled what the Intendant had said about the woman who had killed Stan Devitt.
A Trill woman . . . quite pretty.
Sisko examined the stranger at the bar. He had a distinct feeling that this particular Trill woman was going to spell trouble for him, but for a moment he found himself so charmed by her that he did not want to get up from his seat. He surreptitiously slipped the wedding band from his finger and put it in his pocket.

The girl—woman—turned to him, still smiling. “You look like a man with a lot on his mind,” she remarked.

“Is that so?” Benjamin looked away from her, toying with his empty glass.

“You certainly do. Maybe you could use a friend?”

Sisko licked his lips. “I have enough friends,” he said coyly. “Maybe too many, actually.”

The woman’s smile broadened, revealing her perfect white teeth. “That’s all right,” she said. “I don’t mind sharing.” She took a swig of the ale that had been set in front of her. “ . . . my friends,” she added.

“Hmmm.”

The bartender asked Sisko. “Are you done, or shall I bring you another?”

“Oh, bring him another,” the woman said, before he could answer. “I’m buying, of course.”

“Thanks,” Sisko said, “but you should save your latinum.”

The woman turned slightly away from him, so that Sisko could see her in profile. “I have a feeling you’re worth it,” she said, and drank again from her own ale.

Sisko could not begin to understand why this woman had taken an interest in him. He searched his mind for a question to ask her, but nothing particularly appropriate came to mind.

“So, where do you live?” she suddenly asked. “Here on Zismer?”

“Not anymore,” Sisko told her. “I live on Terok Nor now.”

“Terok Nor,” she said, but she didn’t sound surprised to hear that a free Terran man lived there. “What’s your name?”

“Benjamin Sisko,” he replied automatically. There was no use in trying to conceal his identity, though he ultimately didn’t trust this woman and still had no idea what her motivation was to suddenly sidle up to him like this. Perhaps she meant to kill him, if she was indeed the person who had killed Stan Devitt. On the other hand, maybe she was one of the Intendant’s so-called eyes and ears. Either way, Sisko had every reason to be suspicious of her.

“Well, hello, Benjamin Sisko,” the woman said. “I’m Ezri.” She extended a hand.

“Ezri,” Benjamin repeated, thinking that he might have heard this name before. Maybe from Janel Tigan?

“Pleased to meet you,” he said, and found himself grinning
foolishly at her. She smiled back coquettishly, and he thought that maybe he would learn to enjoy being single, after all.

But before Sisko could enjoy flirting with the comely young Trill, his new communicator chirped, and he started at the unexpected sound, realizing that the Intendant was summoning him. He pressed the device, and Kira’s voice floated into his ears.
“Benjamin,”
she said.
“I want you. Now.”

Sisko frowned. “Sorry, Ezri,” he said, with deep reluctance. What good was his “freedom” if he couldn’t ever exercise it? “I have to go.”

The woman smiled back at him, and brushed his thigh lightly with one of her slender hands. “That’s all right,” she said. “I have a feeling I’ll see you again.”

“Is that right?” Benjamin stood to go, though he wanted to stay more than just about anything.

“Yes,” the woman said. “I think we’re going to be great friends, Benjamin Sisko.”

He stared at the intensity of her blue eyes for a moment, and then turned to go to his new home, his new life.

As he made to leave the tavern, Sisko reached into his pocket to feel for his wedding band, but discovered that it was not there. Startled, he raised his head to look for the Trill, and saw that she was gone. Ezri had slipped out without even finishing her drink, and his wedding ring had gone with her.

Marc D. Giller

Historian’s Note

This story takes place in early 2380 (ACE) after the fall of the Romulan Star Empire (
Star Trek Nemesis
) and concurrent with the
Enterprise
(NCC-1701-E) encountering the former
Starship Einstein
(
Star Trek: The Next Generation—Greater Than the Sum
).

In memory of Seenu Rao

“And miles to go . . .”

A muffled roar seeped in from the other side of the docking port, the telltale throttling of maneuvering thrusters nudging another vessel alongside
Celtic.
The sound only seemed to amplify the vastness of space around the ship, at least to Jenna Reed’s senses. A mere two light-days past the way station at New Rigel, the ship was already perched at the outer reaches of Federation territory—a sensible precaution given the nature of this mission, but one that left her feeling troubled nonetheless. Reed would rather have picked the rendezvous point herself, instead of leaving that choice to someone she’d never met. That the man in question made his living as a gridstalker didn’t help matters any, but then it wasn’t her job to make those kinds of decisions. It had been the captain’s call, pure and simple—and the captain always knew what he was doing.

“Relax, Jenna,” Evan Walsh chided, sensing her anxiety. “You’ll make our guest nervous.”

Reed kept staring at the airlock door, hands clasped behind her back as she tried to appear at ease. As long as she had been working under Walsh, she had never mastered her commanding officer’s ability to project a dead calm in the face of so many unknowns. With his weathered features and discerning eyes, the role came naturally to him—unlike Reed, who kept her dark hair cropped short and wore a scowl to hide her youth and inexperience. Why he had chosen her for
his first officer was a mystery Walsh had never explained to her—and a question she had never worked up the courage to ask.