Double Helix_ Vectors Part 21

"Brother," Rom said. "Gul Dukat would like a vodtini twisted."

"A what?" Quark asked, turning toward his brother. "A vodtini twisted." "And what is that?" Quark asked.

"A hu-man drink, suggested by the good doctor. Apparently she said that generations of hu-mans drank it after their workday was over to relax." "A vodka martini with a twist?" Quark asked. "That's it!" Rom said.

Quark looked over his brothefts head at Gul Dukat. He was sitting at a center table, looking exhausted, but he was managing to laugh with a few of the guards. "Does he know what vodka does to Carda.s.sians?" Quark asked. "How should I know?" Rom asked.

"Tell him that if he wants to drink it, he has to take it outside. Tell Zhim that the fumes are too much for my other patrons." Quark shook his head. "Who'd have figured the hu-man was a practical jokester"

Rom frowned. "Jokes, brother?"

Quark nodded. "Vodka and Carda.s.sians," he said. "If they've never had it before, it turns them green."

"That doesn't seem very funny to me," Rom said, and went back to Gul Dukat's table.

Quark watched him. What he didn't want to explain to his idiot brother was that sometimes the point of practical jokes wasn't humor. Sometimes the point was to teach someone a lesson.

Apparently the lady doctor believed Gul Dukat had some lessons to learn.

How many times would she have to say good-bye to the Enterprise? Pulaski leaned back in her chair in the captain's ready room. The fish were swimming in their aquarium, and Captain Jean-Luc Picard had a clear gla.s.s on his desk filled with perfectly brewed Earl Grey tea. The faintly flowery smell of the liquid permeated the room.

Picard was standing behind his desk, looking out the portholes to the stars. The s.h.i.+p was heading back to Deep s.p.a.ce Five at full warp. Apparently someone there had a new a.s.signment for Pulaski and wanted her to arrive on the double.

Just what she needed. More work.

Beverly Crusher sat beside her, nursing an old-fas.h.i.+oned cup of coffee. Pulaski was having one as well. It wasn't Carda.s.sian or Bajoran. It was an Earth beverage, with a taste of home.

She couldn't believe she was leaving. Even when she, Ogawa, Governo, and Marvig had boarded a Carda.s.sian transport s.h.i.+p she hadn't believed she was going home. The trip to the Enterprise had been very different from the trip bringing them to Terok Nor. They were being treated like royalty, each with large cabins even though they weren't staying long enough to sleep in them, and the captain was treating them to a lengthy meal filled with things Pulaski had never seen before.

It all made her feel vaguely guilty about her parting recommendation to Gul Dukat. Even Kellec had given her a funny look when she gave it.

And it all sounded so innocent: a vodka martini with a twist. But she had done so because Dukat had annoyed-no, perhaps the correct term was angered-her, with his insistence on quotas and returning the station to normal. She had overheard him ordering double s.h.i.+fts and punishment for any Bajoran who still claimed weakness from the illness. He had also ordered harsh measures for the prisoners who had instigated the fighting.

He was putting Terok Nor back together the old way, ignoring Kellec's contribution and refusing to see that Bajorans were people, just like Carda.s.sians.

It had riled her temper. And so she had sweetly told Dukat of a way he could rest at the end of his day.

At least she could be sure he wouldn't get sleep for one night. Maybe more. And if she ever saw him again, she could claim ignorance of vodka's effects on Carda.s.sians.

"Are you sure you've told us everything?" Crusher was saying, her tone sympathetic. She had been through one of these plagues too and she had said, when Pulaski got off the transporter pad, that she would be there any time Pulaski needed to talk. "You have a strange expression on your face."

Pulaski smiled just a little. She wouldn't admit to the vodka remark, not in front of Captain Picard, but she did say, "I guess I am a bit surprised by the level of hatred between the Carda.s.sians and the Bajorans."

"I think I can understand the Bajorans' reaction," Picard said, returning to his chair. "After all, the Carda.s.sians have been occupying their planet for some time now."

"Yes, but they worked together on Terok Nor for a brief time, and then even that fell apart." Pulaski sighed. Not even the coffee was helping her bone-deep exhaustion. "And now both sides are blaming the other for the plague. The situation has grown worse instead of better."

"I can't help but wonder if that wasn't the designer's intent," Crusher said.

"What do you mean?" Picard asked.

"Well, we can a.s.sume that this plague is related to the one we dealt with on Archaria III," Crusher said. "It almost seems like a second trial of an experiment."

Pulaski looked at her. She had had the same thoughts.

"After all, it didn't respond to the same solution, and the stakes were escalated. There were three species involved. There was a new method of delivery. And-" Crusher paused to look first at Pulaski, then Picard "-this one had the added benefit of destabilizing a precarious region. So if this second trial failed, perhaps the designer saw a benefit in worsening the Carda.s.sian-Bajoran situation."

Picard picked up his gla.s.s cup. "Who would do such a thing?" "A monster," Pulaski said. "But why?"

"I don't know," Crusher said. "And I'm not sure I want to find out."

"Surely you want to catch this person or persons," Picard said. "I do," Crusher said, "but on my terms." "Terms?" Picard asked.

Crusher nodded. But before she could respond, Pulaski spoke. "I understand what Dr. Crusher is saying. We weren't able to track the designer from the scant information we received from our sources on Bajor, and I take it, you had no more success on Archaria III." "That's right," Picard said.

"Which means that the only way we'll be able to track this monster down..." Crusher said.

"Is if there's another plague," Pulaski said tiredly. "Let's hope that his experiment is over and he leaves us in peace." "Unpunished?" Picard asked.

Pulaski nodded. "Unless we can find him before he causes more deaths." She closed her eyes. "I don't want to see any more death."

She felt a hand on her arm. She opened her eyes to see Crusher looking at her with concern. "You really should rest before you go to your next a.s.signment. If you want, I'll contact Starfleet Medical and ask them for a leave-"

"No." Pulaski smiled. "Work is always better for me. But if you both will excuse me, I do think I'll go to my quarters now. I hope you won't be offended if I sleep most of the way back to Deep s.p.a.ce Five."

"Not at all," Picard said.

"We'll wake you so that you'll have enough time to get your notes together before the briefing with Starfleet Command on Deep s.p.a.ce Five," Crusher said.

"No need." Pulaski stood. "They're already together. I like to finish my tasks before going to bed. I sleep better that way. Good night all."

She heard them say good night as she stepped from the ready room to the bridge. Commander Riker sat in the captain's chair, and he smiled at her as she walked past. Data said h.e.l.lo and Geordi, who was at the engineering station on the bridge, asked her if she was doing all right.

"I'm fine," she said, and stepped into the turbolift. What she didn't tell them was how much she'd miss them, just like she would miss Kellec. It seemed as if her life was about moving away from the people she cared about.

She sighed. If there was one thing she had learned in all her years in Starfleet, it was that every time she left one group behind, she found another-different but just as good-ahead. She knew that. But it seemed as if she would never find a group quite like this one again.

Or perhaps she was just tired. Things always seemed better after she got a little sleep. The End