The Mist (18 page)

"Well," Sisko said, feeling slightly overwhelmed by the questions, "you forget. The battle wasn't over yet."

A dozen other Mist ships exploded almost simultaneously, as the Klingon and Federation vessels returned fire. Debris flew everywhere. The scene was as devastating as the destruction of Jackson's ships. Jackson, by the way, pulled himself to his feet and watched, saying nothing. To this day, I do not know what he thought of that destruction.

Even though we were outnumbered two to one, the battle wasn't really a battle. They had no chance at all. Our weapons simply cut them apart while their weapons were useless against our modified shields.

It was an eerie battle as well. Imagine the Mist ships exploding in space, phasers and bright blue beams cutting through the darkness of space, and all around the devastation, other ships, Cardassian ships, hovered, as if nothing else was going on.

"To them nothing was," Sotugh said. "They were concentrating on Deep Space Nine. They could not even see us like we could see them."

"Exactly," Sisko said. "But we needed to pay attention to the coming fight, and with the mercifully short battle, we got our chance."

The fighting was over in a matter of seconds. Jackson looked stunned. The famed Grey Squadron of the Mist had been reduced to rubble in the time it took him to get to his feet.

"Nog," I said. "Open a channel to the starships and the Klingons."

"Aye, sir," he said. "Go ahead."

I stood. "Don't destroy Captain Victor's ship. Surround and hold it."

"I still think you should have let me kill him," Sotugh said.

"It would have made things easier," Sisko said. "But I didn't know that at the time."

"Even if you had known that," Sotugh said, "you would not have killed him."

"You're right," Sisko said. "That's not how Starfleet fights its battles."

And we fought this one by the book. The Madison and three Klingon ships, including the Daqchov, moved toward Victor's ship while the remaining Klingon ships chased the fleeing Mist ships, cutting them apart with ease.

All Captain Victor had to do was surrender. The battle was over. He had lost. It was clear to everyone, even Victor himself, I'm sure.

But the clarity made no difference. Captain Victor was not going to surrender. And even though it seemed at that moment that we could take him easily, Captain Victor had other plans.

He put them into effect immediately.

Eighteen

"WHAT OTHER PLANS could he have had?" Prrghh asked. "He clearly had no options. He had no defense against your weapons; his fleet was being destroyed; Jackson had the sympathy of the Mist worlds didn't he?"

Sisko smiled. "He did," Sisko said.

"Victor's plan was the plan of a fool," Sotugh said.

"A desperate fool," Sisko said.

"But sometimes," the Quilli said, climbing on the back of its chair, "desperate fools make dangerous enemies."

"True," the Trill said, placing one booted foot on the seat of the Quilli's chair. Sisko wondered if the Quilli even knew that the Trill kept saving it from falling over.

"Quite true," Sisko said, "and we were thinking like Captain Prrghh. Any rational man would know he had lost. Unfortunately, Victor was not rational."

He kept firing at us. The shots rocked the ship, but did no damage.

"What's he doing?" Jackson asked, as he held on to one of the consoles.

"I hoped you could tell me," I said. Victor's ship cut past the Defiant, shooting as it went. We rocked again.

"He's heading toward the station," Dax said.

"Screens holding at ninety percent," Worf said.

I stood. Perhaps Captain Victor had not understood what I had been saying to him. "Hail Captain Victor."

"I am hailing," Nog said, "but he's not responding."

"Open a channel anyway, Cadet, and broadcast this message to Victor on all frequencies. Ready?"

"Aye, sir," Nog said.

I nodded. "Captain Victor, cease-fire or be destroyed with the rest of your ships."

In response, Victor shot at the Defiant. The bright blue beam hit our shields directly, and bounced harmlessly off them.

"I don't think he's going to surrender," Dax said.

"He's a fool," I said.

"You said you were going to destroy him," Jackson said, "but there are some good people on those ships who are simply doing their jobs. They don't know what's going on."

I knew that. It was that way in any war. That's why wars were so devastating. I did not answer Jackson, not then.

"The captain does not believe in unnecessary bloodshed," Worf said.

"I think taking out Victor would have been necessary bloodshed," Sotugh said.

"You could have done so," Sisko said.

Sotugh shrugged. "I figured it was your fight, Sisko."

Sisko looked at him, not entirely believing that. "The Daqchov flanked Victor's ship on the right, and the Madison flanked him on the left...."

They flew in and around the Cardassian ships as if they were flying around posts.

Victor's ship headed directly for the station. For a moment I thought Victor was attempting to use the station as some sort of shield, even though it was in normal space and he was in Mist space.

Then a white line of mistlike clouds appeared near the station and expanded, flowing over the station like a bad storm over the top of a mountain.

"He's bringing the station back over," Dax said.

"You're kidding," the Trill said. "What about the Cardassians?"

"To them," Sisko said, "the station had yet again disappeared."

"I wish I could have seen the expression on their faces," Sotugh said.

Sisko grinned. He hadn't thought of that before. "So do I," he said.

"Imagine planning an attack on an outpost that winked in and out like a strobe light," the wraith said, laughing.

"There have been stranger things in this world," Arthur said cryptically.

"Did he think he could take over the station?" the Quilli asked. "Jackson had failed. What was his plan?"

"The plan of a desperate man," Sotugh said. "He seemed to be inventing it as he went along."

"And our team was matching him move for move," Sisko said, "invention for invention."

As the white mist cleared, and Victor's ship moved under one of the docking pylons, I told the cadet to hail Major Kira.

A moment later Kira's dirt-smudged face appeared on the screen. "Since there is now a Mist vessel on my screen, I assume we've been pulled back into their space."

She did not sound happy.

"That's Captain Victor's ship," I said. "We're trying to catch him alive."

"Someday you will explain this obsession with letting your enemies live," Sotugh said.

"And someday you can explain to me why you think death is preferable to a long life spent contemplating crimes," Sisko said.

"Go on!" several patrons yelled.

Sisko smiled. "I said to Major Kira ..."

"Have you engaged the modification in your shields?"

She glanced down at her panel. "It'll be engaged in fifteen seconds," she said. Then she sighed. "You know, I wondered why you insisted we get those specs. Did you know he'd do that?"

"You once said, Major, that the best commander is the prepared commander."

She grinned. "So I did."

"Stand by," I said. "We'll return you to normal space as quickly as possible."

Her image disappeared from the screen. In front of me now, I could see the station, surrounded by the Cardassians, with Victor's ship near the docking pylons, the Klingons and the Madison also nearby, and all the debris from the destroyed Mist ships.

"The Cardassians are moving again," Cadet Nog said.

He was right. On the screen it seemed as if every Cardassian ship in the fleet had suddenly started to move at once, in all directions. The effect of the station disappearing from the midst of their ships had been like kicking an ant pile. The ants were scattering.

"I don't think Dukat would like to hear you compare him to an ant," Cap said with a grin.

"Fortunately he's not here," Sisko said with an answering grin.

Dax noticed the problem first. "The Daqchov!" she said.

I could see exactly what she was talking about. As the Daqchov had come around to flank Victor's ship, a Cardassian battle cruiser had suddenly, and without warning, turned and accelerated. The Daqchov didn't stand a chance.

Sisko waited for Sotugh to add something. It was, Sisko knew, a slightly dirty trick. This was probably the part that Sotugh did not want to discuss.

Sotugh took a long drink from his blood wine. Then he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. When he looked up, everyone in the bar was watching him.

He scowled at Sisko, then said, "Those filthy Cardassian dogs went right through us. I could see their bridge. Almost smell their stench."

Everyone waited.

Sotugh said nothing else.

"That's not all that happened," Sisko prompted, knowing that the Klingons had felt the extreme dizziness and nausea just as his crew had when the Klingon ship had gone through them earlier.

Sotugh's gaze met Sisko's. In Sotugh's eyes, Sisko could see the memory of that horrible experience, but Sotugh shrugged.

"We felt a little discomfort," Sotugh said. "It was nothing to a Klingon warrior."

"It was enough to remember," Sisko said, grinning.

"The entire battle was strange enough to remember," Sotugh said. "That does not make it important."

"It would have been important if we had lost," Sisko said.

"But we didn't," Sotugh said.

"No," Sisko said, "we didn't."

"I would imagine," Dax said, "that the Daqchov is out of commission for a few minutes."

"I think you're right, old man," I said. "Is there any movement from Captain Victor's ship?"

"No, sir," Worf said.

"Let's try this again, Cadet. Hail Victor's ship."

"I'm hailing them, sir," Nog said, "but they are still not responding."

"He won't respond," Jackson said. "Not now."

"What makes you say that, Jackson?" I asked.

"I know Victor. He can be incredibly stubborn."

"Obviously," Dax muttered.

I shook my head. I had no respect for leaders who jeopardized their people in pursuit of a cause already lost. "Cadet, broadcast this on all frequencies. Ready?"

"Aye, sir."

"Captain Victor," I said. "There is nowhere for you to run. Surrender your ship now."

"Sir," Nog said, swiveling his chair. He looked surprised. "We have a response now."

"Uh-oh," Jackson said softly.

I ignored him as Captain Victor appeared on screen. His yachting cap was long gone, his hair stood up in tufts, and his uniform, which had been crisp before, appeared rumpled. He had a wild look in his eyes and beads of sweat dripped from his forehead. Councillor Näna was still beside him, but was no longer facing the screen. All I could see was his left eye rolling slowly in its socket.

"Sisko," Victor said, "I will blow up this ship and take your station with it."

"Oh," Prrghh said. "I hadn't thought of that one."

"It would have been a good option if his weapons worked against Federation defenses," the wraith said.

"Did he modify his equipment?" the Quilli asked, breathlessly.

"He didn't have time," Sisko said.

"So what did you do?" the middle-aged man at the bar asked.

I laughed.

Then I said, "The station's screens are adjusted for your space and are much stronger than any ship's. All you'll manage to do, Victor, is kill yourself and murder your crew. You don't want to do that."

Now the wild look in his eyes became even more intense and he cut off communications without another word.

Prrghh shook her head. "You laughed at an insane man?"

Sisko smiled. "I did," he said.

"Which only drove him crazier, I'll bet," the Trill said.

"The plan to take over an essentially peaceful people was insane from the start," Sisko said. "Being laughed at was the last thing he wanted."

"Sisko," Sotugh said. "You surprise me."

"I know," Sisko said. "I surprised Victor too."

Less than ten seconds after I had laughed at Captain Victor, his ship turned and cut away, firing randomly at the ships blocking him. None of them fired back, but they kept on his tail, flanking him.

"Dax, shift the station back to normal space," I said as Victor cleared the area. "Then follow him close."

"Transferring," she said.

The white line formed in space near the station, then expanded to a cloud that passed over the station.

"Transfer complete," Dax said. "The station has returned to normal space."

"Let's hope it stays there," I said as the Defiant turned. We headed after Victor's ship and caught up to it moments later.

He shot at us again, rocking us slightly as the bright blue beam bounced off our shields. Dax positioned the Defiant directly behind the Mist ship.

"Shields holding," Worf said.

"Madison and Daqchov are pacing Victor's ship on either side," Dax said.

"Where does he think he's going?" Jackson asked. "He has no way of escaping."

"He is insane," Worf said as if he were explaining to a child that space is a vacuum. "Do not ask for logic."

"Cardassians are again taking up attack positions near the station," Dax said.

"Major Kira is again warning them off," Nog reported.

I had had enough of Captain Victor. "Let's end this," I said. "Cadet, open a channel to Captain Victor's ship."

"Open, sir," Nog said.

"Captain, cease-fire and come to a complete stop or be destroyed. This is not a bluff."

I motioned for Nog to cut the communications.

"So all this noble talk of allowing your enemy to live is just a lie," Sotugh said. "You simply wait until you tire of his antics and then you kill him."

"No," Sisko said. "I decided that Victor was a loose cannon. If we couldn't stop him, and quickly, he would cost other lives, especially with what was developing in normal space."

"That's certainly a reason to take someone out," the middle-aged woman at the bar said.

"It's called giving someone enough rope to hang himself," the middle-aged man added. "We humans do that a lot."