I always welcome comments via e-mail at lcooksey@mindspring.com. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Do not back up. Severe tire damage may result. This story is set during the first season of Deep Space Nine.

Of Two Minds

by

Laura Cooksey

"You don’t look very happy, Commander."

Sisko looked at Major Kira, who stood to his right, and adjusted his dress uniform tunic again.

"I’m not, Major. The newest Ambassador from the Gamma Quadrant could feel slighted by having two of my top officers missing from her official greeting, but there isn’t anything I can do about it. I wasn’t too worried about Dax being off the station when she left yesterday, but having Dr. Bashir tied up as well isn’t going to make a good first impression."

"At least this isn’t a First Contact, sir," said Chief O’Brien. "The Sirangar was at the Adjani space station for over a month, and Ambassador Troi coordinated with the Adjani Ambassador for several days before the Vulcan ship left to return to DS9." He paused, checking the readout on their side of the airlock.

"Solid dock, Commander."

"In a way," Sisko said, "it might be better if we knew nothing about the Adjani, rather than next to nothing. What little the Vulcan science ship was able to transmit via vessels returning to the Alpha Quadrant wasn’t very informative."

Sisko forced himself to relax as the outer door cycled and the airlock filled with humanoids. The outer door closed and the inner door rolled open. Two women stepped forward and stopped in front of the officers of DS9, while the rest of those from the starship flowed out into the station, caught up in their own business.

The captain of the Vulcan ship made the introductions. "Commander Sisko, this is the Ambassador of the Adjani Union, Mazjad Shayin. Ambassador Mazjad, this is Commander Benjamin Sisko, the commanding officer of Deep Space Nine."

The ambassador turned to the Vulcan officer. "Thank you, T’dek. You have been most helpful in transporting me to this station." She turned back to face Sisko.

The Adjani ambassador was about one and three-quarters meters tall, with skin the color of Tupelo honey, and eyes so dark brown they were almost black. A narrow v-shaped ridge ran up her forehead from just above her nose into her hairline. Her hair was dark gray, streaked with white, brushed back from her round face and hanging below her shoulder-blades. She looked to be in her early to mid-forties. Shiny sweeps of copper makeup highlighted her cheekbones and eyebrows. She wore a long, dark green skirt with copper patterns, and a matching long-sleeved blouse. A large oval silver pendant rested just below her throat, hanging from a very wide silver chain.

"Madam Ambassador, I would like to introduce my officers: Major Kira Nerys, my second in command, and the top Bajoran officer; my Chief Engineer, Chief Miles O’Brien; and the head of security, Constable Odo." He indicated each person with a wave of his hand, and the ambassador nodded at each one in turn, her gaze lingering on Odo.

"I’m very sorry that neither of my other two officers was able to be here to greet you."

She turned back toward the Commander. "That is fine, Commander Sisko. My culture is in a time where casual behavior is tolerated, or even prized. Which suits me very well. I will be happy to meet them whenever their schedule permits."

Sisko nodded, smiling. "My Science Officer, Lt. Dax, is onboard a ship that is studying the wormhole, and my Medical Officer, Dr. Bashir...."

"Is right here," called a voice from behind Sisko. He turned to see Dr. Bashir walking quickly down the corridor toward him, in a dress uniform.

"My ‘medical emergency’ turned out to be nothing more than a case of a mild food allergy," he finished, as he came to a stop.

Sisko resisted the temptation to shake his head. "Ambassador Mazjad Shayin, of the Adjani Union, Dr. Julian Bashir."

Julian stepped forward and extended his hand. Shayin did the same, looking at first confused, then surprised as Julian shook her hand. The ridges on her forehead were revealed to be part of a pair of slender antennae, as they slipped up through her hair and curved over her head. Conversation froze for a split-second. Each antenna was long enough to reach from the point of the ‘v’ to the back of her head, and they hovered over her now, waving slowly back and forth.

Julian suddenly remembered, from their briefing, that one of the few things they knew about the Adjani was that they were telepathic, and tried to apologize as he extricated his hand from hers.

"Oh! I meant no offense, Madam Ambassador." She lifted one hand and cut off the flow of words.

"It is quite all right, Dr. Bashir. Your enthusiasm is ... admirable." Shayin smiled hesitantly, unused to the facial expression, and continued. "This pendant is a damper that allows me to diminish my telepathic sensitivity, so I can tolerate crowds of non-telepaths and a sea of chaotic thoughts. I’ve suffered no ill effects from contact with you."

Sisko made a mental note to chew Julian out at the first available opportunity.

About that time, a young Vulcan man was coming through the airlock with a couple of bags and a hard case, and the security field flashed. Odo walked over as he set them down. All heads turned toward the airlock.

"Those are mine," said Shayin. "What happened?"

Odo frowned. "Something set off the security sensors. You wouldn’t happen to be carrying any weapons would you?"

The ambassador’s antennae settled back down against her head, disappearing into her hair. She pointed to the hard case, saying, "There is a small stun-pistol in the locked case."

Odo looked very unhappy. "Open it, please. You are aware of the regulations against the presence of unauthorized energy and projectile weapons on this station?"

The ambassador looked very unhappy, as she knelt to undo the lock. She stepped back after opening the case.

"Yes, Ambassador Troi did give me a copy of all the regulations. I did not think purely defensive weapons were covered. Many cultures are biased against telepaths, and I have traveled with the pistol for a number of years."

Odo looked carefully through the ambassador’s belongings. "The regulations are quite specific, Ambassador Mazjad."

Sisko was taken aback. Things were not going well.

Odo found what he was looking for in the bottom of the suitcase, next to a long knife in an elaborate scabbard. The ambassador stepped sideways around Odo as he reached for it.

"Please do not touch that," she said urgently. "It is a religious item."

He drew back his hand. "Of course. You will see that it remains locked in your quarters."

"Yes, Constable." She paused while Chief O’Brien scanned her luggage with a tricorder. Sisko thought wryly to himself, Only O’Brien would carry a tricorder with his dress uniform.

"Will I be able to get my pistol back when I leave the station?" asked Shayin.

"Contraband is ordinarily destroyed." Odo looked to Sisko. "However, in the case of an honest mistake, I would be willing to make an exception. If Commander Sisko agrees."

"I have no objections."

"It was a gift," the ambassador explained. "It has much sentimental value."

Odo nodded as he closed the case for her, the pistol in one hand. "I will see that it is properly stored."

Ambassador Mazjad nodded as Odo stood up, painfully aware of the tension among the officers of DS9.

Sisko broke the silence, saying, "Dr. Bashir will escort you to your quarters, Madam Ambassador, and show you how to access the computer for the tentative schedule I set up for your meetings with Federation and Bajoran representatives.

"You are in as remote of a location as we could provide from the other quarters on the station. We will be gathering for dinner at 1900 hours. Please let myself or Major Kira know if you need anything before then."

"Thank you, Commander Sisko," she said. Julian picked up the larger of her two soft bags, while she took the other one and her case. She followed the Doctor onto a turbolift.

"Habitat ring, level five, corridor twenty," Julian told the computer. The doors closed.

"That was awkward," said Kira.

O’Brien laughed, but cut it off at a look from Sisko. "Do you think it was an honest mistake, sir?" he asked.

"I don’t know, Chief. But I suggest we give her the benefit of the doubt. For now."

**********

"The dance has started with a stumble."

"Madam Ambassador?" Julian inquired.

She turned toward him. "An old saying, Dr. Bashir. You and your people must think I’m grossly incompetent."

"Not at all, ma'am. I’m sure everything will be fine. And, please, call me Julian."

She relaxed, a little, leaning back against the turbolift wall. "Thank you, Julian. My name is Shayin."

Julian was about to protest that it wouldn’t look right if he called her by name, when she continued, "I don’t worry much about propriety." He blinked, and she realized that she had made him uncomfortable by picking up his thoughts.

"Sorry. Occupational hazard." She made a soft coughing sound, like a sigh. "Perhaps T’dek will take me back through the wormhole if I ask nicely."

Julian became alarmed, then saw that there was a hint of a smile on her face. "You haven’t given up."

She tilted her head to one side and stared at the door of the lift. "No. Not yet, Julian."

"You understand and speak Federation Standard remarkably well, Shayin."

"Do I? Thank you. I could communicate with you without knowing your language, of course, but it wouldn’t be as precise. Most non-telepaths find long-term telepathic communication intrusive, so we in the Adjani Union’s Ambassadorial staff try to use verbal communication. I’ve always enjoyed the challenge of learning a new verbal language and body-language, as well."

"I’m a little surprised a truly telepathic species doesn’t have some trouble with spoken language."

"That’s understandable. But there have always been those with limited telepathic abilities, so there has always been a need for another form of communication. Early in our history, prior to the development of writing, our verbal languages were very simple. Writing and the advent of electronic communication each prompted a jump in complexity. But, it was fortunate that our first contact was with Vulcans, since they are rudimentary telepaths. It made learning Standard much easier. Most of my people find it hard to bear the presence of untrained minds. But Vulcans are very disciplined.

"By comparison," she continued, "Constable Odo is remarkably — I guess ‘focused’ is the best word — for a non-telepath. Strange sensation reading him. What is he?"

Julian shrugged. "No-one knows, not even Odo. He is a shapechanger, but he was found years ago in space near the wormhole and grew up on Bajor. He can be very single-minded."

The ambassador nodded, and Julian asked, "Is being on the station going to be a problem for you, Shayin?"

"It shouldn’t be too difficult. I’m unusual; non-telepaths don’t bother me as much as they do most of my species, yet I am very sensitive." She tapped her pendant. "This helps. It is a telepathic damper. It creates the neural equivalent of — what was the term I heard? — white noise."

"That’s fascinating. It operates via neural induction, then."

"Yes."

The turbolift stopped and Julian led Shayin down the corridor to the left. "I would like to see any biological or medical information about your species you might have brought with you," he said.

Shayin nodded. "I brought a broad sampling of scientific and cultural data with me. I’d also be happy to let you study me personally, if you like."

Julian stopped dead in his tracks. "Really? That’s wonderful, Ambassador Mazjad. Perhaps I could get some readings while you are using your telepathic abilities. Thank you, Shayin; thank you very much. What a marvelous opportunity."

Her antennae arched over her head again, flipping forward this time for a moment so she could read him more clearly. He was obviously thrilled at the chance to examine a new species. Shayin was amused, and all she could think of to say was, "You’re welcome."

"Here we are." They stopped at one of the doors. "The station computer is already keyed to your voiceprint and fingerprints. Just touch the keypad."

She did as he instructed. The door opened and Shayin followed Julian into her rooms. She set her bags on the floor and walked around the living area, studying it. Julian put the case down and studied her.

She was much easier to get along with than some of the Federation ambassadors he had been forced to baby-sit. He observed that she was about his height, and moved gracefully, like a dancer. She also had a nice figure, as far as he could tell given her loose clothing.

"And I’m a telepath," she reminded him while she continued her inspection of the rooms.

Julian turned pink and was, uncharacteristically, speechless.

"Please don’t be embarrassed, Julian. It’s pleasing to me that you find me attractive," she said, from the bedroom. She walked back into the living room and stared at him for a moment.

"Are you supposed to be that color?"

"It goes with being embarrassed."

She walked over to him, antennae floating lazily over her head. "I have a lot to learn about your cultures, your behaviors. T’dek said he found the Adjani to be straight-forward, but warned me that most Federation species would find us blunt, or even rude. Ambassador Troi acknowledged that this was true, but seemed unconcerned. Perhaps because she is a very blunt person herself."

She paused thoughtfully for a moment. "Vulcans, humans and Bajorans are much closer, anatomically, to the Adjani than any of the other species I’ve known. It’s odd to me that you are not more alien. But it does make you pleasant to look at."

She picked up her bags and headed for the bedroom. Julian grabbed the large case and followed her.

"Major Kira, for example, is quite pretty. But then, I’ve always preferred women who are shorter than myself.

"Most of you are so pale, though. It really doesn’t look healthy. We were surprised when we found out the Vulcans were always that color." She paused.

"I’m sorry. I was rambling. Have I offended you?"

Julian suspected that blunt was a major understatement. "No, of course not."

The Adjani Ambassador tucked her antennae back into her hair and looked away from Julian for a few seconds, then she caught his eyes. "I’ve stumbled again, haven’t I? You’re agitated."

Julian started to deny it, but that seemed stupid. "You are very ... direct. It’s a little overwhelming."

She smiled at him, tentatively. "You are polite, Julian. I’ll try to show a little more restraint in verbalizing my feelings and opinions. I’d appreciate it if you would advise me on what is considered appropriate in your culture."

"I’d be happy to."

"Good. I am trying very hard to fit in. It just seems like everything I’ve done so far today is wrong." She made the same coughing sigh he had heard in the turbolift.

"I like you, Julian," she said suddenly.

He couldn’t help laughing. "I like you, too, Shayin."

She seemed to relax a little. "Come, show me what else I should know about the station."

**********

A couple of hours later, Shayin walked into the small dining hall of the Officer’s Mess. O’Brien had opted to eat with his family, and Odo doesn’t eat, so there were only Sisko, Kira and Julian in the room when she entered. She had removed her makeup and changed into loose pants and a blouse in contrasting shades of solid blue. Her pendant was bright against the fabric.

"Madam Ambassador, please help yourself to the appetizers. Lt. Dax should be here shortly and we can start dinner."

"Thank you, Commander. Is there anything in particular I shouldn’t eat?"

Julian said, "Everything we downloaded from the replicators on the Vulcan ship is on green serving ware, Madam Ambassador. The items on yellow don’t contain anything that isn’t in the food on the green, so it should be safe, but you might not like the taste. Stay away from the items on red plates until we can analyze the data you brought on Adjani metabolism."

"Thank you, Julian." She picked up a small orange fruit from a green tray and took a bite out of it. Turning toward Sisko she said, "Julian showed me how to work the replicator, but I’m still not used to them, so I haven’t had anything to eat since early today."

"I’m afraid nearly all the food on the station comes from replicators," Kira said.

"Oh, I realize that, Major. But it isn’t so bad if I don’t have to watch it appear from nowhere. The Vulcans didn’t find that logical."

"Not surprising," Kira replied.

"My world is not as technologically advanced as your Federation planets. We were barely a spacefaring species when we were contacted by our neighboring system about fifty years ago. The three other systems we trade with, and Adjan itself, do not have matter transmission or ships capable of more than warp two. It has been overwhelming at times, seeing how far ahead of us you are."

"Are your quarters to your liking?"

"Yes, Commander. Except for the mattress. But I understand that is a common complaint among non-Cardassians." She smiled, and Sisko found himself smiling back at her.

The door hissed open and Dax walked in. Sisko waved at her.

"Ambassador Mazjad, this is our long-lost Science Officer, Lieutenant Jadzia Dax. Dax, I’d like to introduce the ambassador from the Adjani Union, Mazjad Shayin."

"Pleased to meet you, Madam Ambassador," Dax said, smiling broadly.

Shayin set her piece of fruit down and walked over to Dax, wiping her hands on a cloth napkin. "It is a pleasure to meet you as well, Lieutenant Dax." Her voice trailed off, and she stared at Dax, taking a few more steps closer to the other woman.

Now what, thought Sisko. "Madam Ambassador?"

Shayin’s antennae rose, cautiously, waving in the air. She closed her eyes, squeezing them shut. Her eyes opened again, and she said in a pained voice, "This is not possible."

"Shayin, are you all right?" asked Julian. Sisko blinked at his use of the ambassador’s given name.

Shayin did not seem to have heard him. She reached tentatively out to Dax.

"Jadzia," cautioned Julian.

"No, I think it’s okay, Julian." She stood very still, guessing the cause of the telepath’s distress.

"Ambassador Mazjad, I am a Trill. I am a combination of a host body and a symbiotic organism. My symbiont, Dax, has had many host bodies, both male and female, and is over three hundred years old. My host body, Jadzia, is only as old as I appear. No doubt I seem very strange to you."

Shayin closed her eyes again, and reached out slowly to touch Jadzia’s abdomen with her fingertips while her antennae strained forward. Then her eyes popped open, her antennae snapped audibly against her head, and she jerked her hand back.

"My head hurts." Shayin turned abruptly, walked straight across the room to a couch, and sat down with her head in her hands, her elbows resting on her legs. Julian followed her, after glancing at Dax to be certain that she was okay.

Sisko sighed and said to Dax, "This has just not been a good day."

Julian sat by Shayin on the couch. "Madam Ambassador?"

"This is a disaster."

"Things will work out. You’re trembling. Are you well?"

Shayin glanced up at him briefly, then put her head back in her hands.

"Julian, I’m ninety thousand light years from home, and I’m alone, truly alone, for the first time in my life. I’ve always been more independent than most of my people, but I didn’t realize how much we need one another until today.

"I didn’t think it would be so bad, at first, with the Vulcans. Their minds are quiet, orderly. I didn’t miss the constant touch of other minds against my own in their silence. But here, I’m lost. The constant background of telepathic communication from other Adjani has been replaced by the noise of many minds, but none of it touches me. How can you stand being so alone within yourselves?"

"Sometimes we can’t. But it is the way we were made. Why didn’t any other Adjani come with you?"

She sat up with a moan, letting her hands dangle between her knees.

"No-one else would volunteer. We’re not xenophobic. The other species we trade with are welcome on Adjan. But most of us don’t do well off-planet, where we’re outnumbered. I always coped so much better than my companions when we visited other systems, that I thought I could do this by myself. I was so eager to go. Maybe I made a mistake."

"So what are you going to do now?" he asked.

"What I’d like to do is go home. What I’m going to do is go apologize to Lt. Dax. After I turn my damper up a few degrees."

"That sounds like a good start. I’m sure she’ll understand. She’s really quite nice."

"You have a gift for understatement, Julian," Shayin said. She got up and walked back over to Dax, with Julian following.

Taking a deep breath, she said, "I’m sorry to have caused a scene, Lt. Dax. I am a very long way from home. You felt to me like something out of Adjani mythology, a person possessed by the spirit of another."

Sisko tried to lighten the mood. "Dax has been called a lot of things, but a mythological creature is a new one on me."

"Oh, Benjamin." Dax laughed and shook her head. "I’m not offended, Madam Ambassador. I can understand how odd a Trill must seem to a telepath."

"There is a duality within you that I have no words to describe. Still, it isn’t unpleasant, now that I’m starting to get used to it. You do have a very orderly mind. And, please, call me Shayin."

"Why, thank you, Shayin," Dax said with a smile.

"Why don’t we all sit down to dinner?" asked Sisko.

"That sounds like a good idea," Shayin said. "Before I get into any more trouble."

**********

The next three days were, mercifully, uneventful for all involved. Most of Shayin’s time had been consumed by meetings with Sisko and Kira, and with other Federation and Bajoran representatives, on such mundane topics as trade agreements and free passage treaties. Julian had given her tours of the station, in his free-time, including a visit to Ops on her second day. She had also worked with Jadzia and Chief O’Brien on putting the data she had brought with her into the station’s computers, and had even had dinner with Sisko and his son Jake.

On Shayin’s fourth day on DS9, Julian was on his lunch break, walking through the Promenade, when he saw her sitting at a table outside of a small Bajoran restaurant. She was reading one computer plaque, and making notes on a second one that lay on the table. Her antennae waved lazily over her head. As Julian approached, she removed her feet from the other chair and pushed it out a bit for him.

A few seconds later she said without looking up, "Hello, Julian. Please have a seat. I’ll be with you in a moment. I’m working on the docking rights for Federation ships at Adjani stations. The terms proposed by Sisko look quite fair for both parties, but I wanted to go over them again." She made a few more entries on her computer and turned off both plaques. Then she looked up at him.

"You are amused. What’s funny?" she asked.

"I was just surprised that you picked me out of the crowd milling through the Promenade."

She smiled. "If you hadn’t been coming over to talk to me, I probably wouldn’t have. When you started thinking about me, I felt your attention. Plus, the damper is turned down low — it isn’t that crowded today."

"I thought you were supposed to be in a meeting with one of the Bajoran negotiators."

Shayin nodded once, practicing human body language. "His child was ill, so he stayed on-planet. I was going to see if you wanted to move our appointment from tomorrow to today."

He thought about it briefly. "That would be fine for me, but I’ll have to check with Jadzia."

"Oh. Is she going to be there?"

"She told me she’d like to be, unless that’s a problem."

Shayin shifted in her chair. "No, of course not. It’s just that, well, she makes me dizzy."

Julian laughed and leaned forward conspiratorially. "You have my sympathy. She has the same effect on me."

Shayin frowned and thought about that for a few seconds. "Oh, I understand. I meant telepathically, but she affects me that way as well."

Julian was a little taken aback by this development, but Shayin continued, "Trust me. I have no intention of vying with you for her affections."

"At this point, I’m lucky to get her attention, much less her affection. But that’s a story for another time. I’ll see if this afternoon is good for her. Let’s say, 1300 hours, unless I tell you otherwise?"

"That will be fine." Shayin looked down at the table and her antennae fluttered nervously.

"Julian, could I talk to you about something personal?"

Uh, oh, he thought.

She smiled. "It isn’t that bad. I just need a little insight from an outside source."

"Is something wrong?"

"I’ve never felt attracted to someone of an alien species before. I have several good friends who are not Adjani, but I’ve never felt sexual desire for any of them. There are many aliens, both on the Sirangar and then here on DS9, that look so much like my people that I find myself relating to them as if they were of my species.

"I don’t know if I’m explaining this clearly. I’m used to dealing with sentient beings of other species as equals, but also as others. I keep finding myself responding to Terrans and Bajorans as if they were clan or kin. Or worse, with Jadzia, there is an element of physical attraction that’s only grown stronger the more I try to figure out why it exists at all. It’s making me uncomfortable. It’s not natural.

"Not to be deliberately offensive, but it wouldn’t be much worse if I woke up one morning and found myself daydreaming about domesticated herd animals." She looked up at him to gauge his reaction.

"I never thought of it like that. I see what you mean, of course, but many of us in the Federation grew up around members of other humanoid species. We think of each other as people, not so much as human or Bajoran or Trill."

"It’s easy to make an abstract statement of tolerance and equality, Julian, but it’s different when it’s me. I can’t help what I’m feeling, but I don’t understand it, and I don’t think I like it."

She paused, then continued more softly, "Julian, Jadzia doesn’t smell right, she doesn’t feel quite right to me telepathically. And, yet.... It isn’t that I want to be sexually intimate with her now, but I do feel attracted." She hesitated.

"You find her sexually attractive, too. That’s never bothered you?"

He shook his head. "Not in the least. I’ve never seen any reason to question whom I was attracted to. It just happens. Your subconscious and your body decide and your mind follows along. It’s just one of those things."

He shrugged. "Jadzia is beautiful, intelligent, charming, brave, exotic: What’s not to like?"

Shayin looked down at the table again, antennae twitching. "Julian, I know your people don’t usually talk about such intimate matters, but have you ever actually had a sexual relationship with a non-human?"

"I thought we might get around to that question." He laughed. "Yes, Shayin, I have, a few times."

Her antennae stopped moving and she looked up into his eyes for a long time. Julian could feel her studying him intensely and wondered how much she could see. Then she turned away, massaging the root of her antennae with a fingertip.

"It doesn’t bother you, not at all. I guess I’ll just have get used to the feelings or hope they go away."

"Don’t give up too easily," he said, without much enthusiasm.

Shayin radiated humor. "You don’t mean that."

He smiled. "I guess I don’t."

"You don’t have anything to worry about, Julian. I’ve no intention of pursuing Jadzia. The last thing I need to do is compete with my one good friend in the Alpha Quadrant for the attention of someone with two brains who’s about eight times older than I am. It makes my antennae ache just to think about it. That’s a colloquialism," she added, not wanting Julian to take that last part seriously. She tucked her antennae neatly into her hair.

"I also want to thank you, Julian, for sharing your thoughts with me. I feel a little better, knowing how you feel about it."

"You’re welcome. I’m glad I could help," he said.

She gathered up her belongings. "’I’ll see you at 1300, then?"

"Yes. See you then, Shayin."

About an hour later, Shayin walked into the infirmary. Nurse Ridel, a Bajoran, greeted her and pointed her toward an examining room. The door opened and she saw Julian and Dax inside.

"Hello, Shayin, we’re almost ready for you," Dax said.

"Hello, Shayin."

"Jadzia, Julian. Where shall we begin?"

"Have a seat on the examining table."

Shayin put her shoulder bag down on the floor near the head of the table. "Doctor’s offices seem to be a universal constant."

"You seem nervous," said Dax, as Shayin stepped up onto the table.

"She does?" asked Julian.

"Of course, Julian. Look how tense her antennae are."

Shayin smiled slightly and took a deep breath, relaxing visibly. She shook her head and her antennae lifted up above the top of her hair.

"I am a little nervous," she admitted.

"Nothing to be nervous about," soothed Julian. "I thought we’d start with a general checkup and then do some specific neurological tests." He flipped open his tricorder, lifted out the remote sensor and began scanning.

Shayin watched, curious, as he passed the sensor over her body. "It isn’t the exam I’m nervous about, Jadzia. It’s you."

"Me?"

"I’ve read a little about the Trill the last few days. You were an adult when you accepted your symbiont, correct?"

"Yes."

"And you still possess all the memories of your life before that point?" Jadzia nodded. "So, you have memories of your individual adult life, and memories from the previous host body of your symbiont, which overlap by more than twenty years. Two sets of memories from two different lives for the same period of time, but both are yours."

"That makes you nervous?" Jadzia said sympathetically.

"Yes, very. It makes you quite strange to me. What also makes me nervous is feeling attracted to you, when you are so alien."

"Shayin, how am I supposed to get good readings when your pulse and respiration are fluctuating?" Julian complained, trying to ignore the rest of the conversation.

"Why are you attracted to me, if I’m so different?"

"So much about you does seem familiar. Your form, your voice. How to put this in your language? The basic shape of your mental patterns — what I would call shebinra, your aura — is familiar. But other aspects of your mind are very alien. Part of the attraction, I’ve decided, is this unknown, the alien aspects, the — what was the word you used, Julian? — the exotic."

"Exotic?" Jadzia was clearly amused. Julian winced.

Shayin nodded once. "Yes, I was discussing this with him earlier, but I think he’d really rather I hadn’t mentioned it. Sorry, Julian." She paused for a moment, thoughtful.

"I’m also beginning to suspect there is something much more mundane to my feelings. Ah, why didn’t I see that before?"

"What is it?" Jadzia asked.

"You remind me of my ex-wife. I just this instant figured that out." She looked distracted, and her antennae twitched. "Your hair color and height, and the tone of your emotions. Strange."

"Is that good or bad?"

Shayin focused on Jadzia. "Pardon?"

"That I remind you of her."

Shayin seemed amused. "Well, it’s no wonder I’ve been so unnerved. I’ll have to think about this."

Jadzia grinned. "That’s okay. We can talk about it later, if you like."

"Yes. Yes, I would like that. It might help me work some of it out. Thank you."

Julian completed his exam without further incident. He brought his medical sensor back to the right side of Shayin’s chest a couple of times, then switched it off.

"Do you have any medical problems? Your pulmonary readings are a little low, compared to the averages in the data you provided."

"You’ll have to explain to me how that thing works. The readings are probably off because of an injury I suffered about eight years ago. I was shot with a projectile weapon and my right lung was punctured. It healed cleanly and I don’t have any problems with it now."

"May I examine it more closely?"

By way of answer, she pulled her shirt off. She paused, the shirt bunched up around her arms. "There aren’t any taboos against nudity, are there?"

"Not in your doctor’s office," Julian said.

Shayin dropped her shirt and undershirt onto her bag. She looked athletic, with small breasts and a well-toned figure. There was a large scar below her right breast, where the skin was darker than elsewhere, the color of wildflower honey, and slightly sunken.

"That’s the exit wound," she explained. She turned away from Julian so he could see her back, where there was a smaller similar scar. "This is the entrance wound. The slug caught me between the ribs." Julian probed each wound gently with his fingers.

"What happened?" asked Dax.

"Anti-telepath fanatics on my second job with the Adjani Ambassador to Rhik, our closest neighboring system. Ordinarily, the Rhik are very reasonable people, but these were afraid we were going to steal their souls, or take their minds over, or something comparable."

The medical sensor purred in Julian’s hand as he worked. "You’re lucky to be alive."

"The rest of the staff got me back to our ship quickly. I’m Anjin, warrior cult. We’re pretty tough. But, I’ll admit you’re right about luck."

"Let’s start the neurological tests. You can get dressed."

While she put her shirt back on, Julian turned and picked up four small sensor disks. He turned back and stepped toward Shayin. Her arm shot out and she grabbed him by the wrist. She held him that way for a split second, her antennae focused on him. Then she let go.

"I’m sorry, Julian. You startled me."

"That was amazing. I’ve never seen anyone react so quickly," Julian exclaimed. He picked up his tricorder. "Do that again."

"Throw a punch at me."

Julian hesitated, but Jadzia obliged, moving in from Shayin’s left. Shayin caught her fist easily, and let it go a moment later.

Julian studied the readings, puzzled. "Your reaction time is very low, but your nervous system isn’t quick enough to account for it." But as he guessed what he was seeing, he nodded. "You’re just anticipating what someone else is about to do. Quite amazing."

Shayin ran her fingers through her long hair. "What were you doing?"

He held up one of the disks. "These are sensors I’d like to attach to your forehead so we can record your brain activity. I’ll be wearing them also."

Dax replied, "If you could send and receive information from Julian for a few minutes while I take the readings, that would be fine."

"Certainly," Shayin said. She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them and removed her necklace, laying it carefully on the end of the table. Her antennae stretched upward, then relaxed, and a sense of Shayin’s presence filled the room.

In answer to their questioning looks she said, "I am aware of the two of you, the nurse and two medical techs and a patient in the infirmary, a couple of people in the next office over," she pointed to the wall, "and vague numbers of others beyond that. I’ll be fine for a few minutes, but this many people would be a problem for longer than, say, a couple of hours."

Dax nodded and walked across the room, watched appreciatively by both Shayin and Bashir. She sat down behind a console.

Shayin turned to Bashir. "Have you ever had telepathic contact before?"

"In a couple of classes at Starfleet Academy, and Starfleet Medical School."

"Good. The results will be clearer if we are touching." She held out her hands and clasped his wrists, and looked up into his eyes. Suddenly, Julian wasn’t alone inside his head. Her antennae waved high in the air, and he smelled flowers.

He saw through her eyes a memory of her childhood, a park filled with fragrant flowers, blue and yellow. She was scarcely taller than the flowers in the field and she ran wildly through them. It was more vivid, more intense, than some of his own memories.

The scene changed, and Shayin was competing in some sort of telepathic test, or contest. It was so far outside anything he knew that Julian couldn’t make much out of it. Shayin tried something more familiar.

Her first trip off Adjan, to one of the space-stations orbiting her home world. Free-fall for the very first time! But, sadness, too. Her marriage of ten years had just ended, and she had sought work at the station to get away from the pain. Not that the distance helped.

Julian felt very sympathetic, remembering the time he lost his first patient. He had been devastated, and furious. It might have been easier if he’d done something wrong. But he hadn’t. The man had just slipped away and there hadn’t been anything he could do about it. His throat constricted and suddenly he was alone inside his head again.

The abrupt shift in reality threw him off balance physically, and his knees gave out. Shayin caught his arm and jumped down off the table, holding him up until he steadied himself. Julian could sense that she was very upset at what had happened.

"Julian?" Dax sounded alarmed.

He waved his hand at her to indicate he was okay. He couldn’t speak yet.

<That should not have happened,> Shayin sent to him, full of concern and compassion. She was surprised and a little angry at herself for invading his privacy.

"Things got a little out of control, Dax. Our species are much closer alike than I had suspected. Our contact was far easier than I anticipated, and more intimate than I intended. Julian has an amazing amount of mental energy."

<I am so sorry, Julian. Are you hurt?>

He shook his head, still a little shaken.

"Here. Let me show you something more pleasant," she said. Her antennae flipped forward and she touched his face with the fingertips of her right hand.

She was awake early. The station was filled with excitement, and she rushed out of her apartment and down the hall toward a large gathering in a common room, wondering what was happening. Dozen of theories flew from mind to mind; the whole station was awash in speculation, but as she hit the door the mood quieted down. On a large viewscreen on one wall was a picture of a ship moving into orbit around Adjan.

An unknown class of ship! A new species! The excitement was almost too much to bear, and when she heard her name called over the intercom, she ran to her supervisor’s office, knowing she would be among the first to make contact with the aliens.

Julian responded to her excitement, and thought of his graduation from Starfleet Medical School. He was near the top of his class and missed much of the commencement address thinking about which posting on the frontiers of Federation space he should ask for. He looked up into the crowd and found his parents. They were so proud of him, he really had done his very best and look where it had gotten him!

Shayin eased out of contact with him more gently this time, her antennae fluttering contentedly. It felt to him like she was laughing, so he laughed, too. He still felt like he needed to sit down, though. Shayin’s presence surrounded him, familiar now, examining him closely. She seemed satisfied that he was okay, and put her damper back on. Julian lost the sensation of her presence, and felt suddenly alone, isolated. He took a deep breath before speaking.

"Did you get all of that?" he asked Dax.

"Yes, from both of you. Julian, you look like you could use some rest."

"I think you’re right." He sat down in a chair near her console.

Shayin removed the neural sensors from her forehead and handed them to Julian. She picked up her bag and took a step toward the door. "Fatigue is a normal reaction. I think I’ll leave the two of you to absorb and analyze the experience. Julian." She rested her hand on his shoulder for a moment. "Good-bye, Jadzia. If either of you have any questions, I’ll be in my quarters."

"Thank you, Shayin," Dax said as Shayin walked out of the room.

"Extraordinary," Julian whispered to himself. He peeled off his neural sensors and turned to Dax. "Let me see those readings."

**********

Julian woke suddenly, feeling disoriented. However, nothing seemed out of place in his bedroom; no unusual noises, nothing. It was odd. Usually he was a sound sleeper.

"Computer, what time is it?"

"The time is oh-four-thirty-five."

"Computer, lights." He felt wide awake, and knew he might as well get up and get dressed, as there was no point trying to go back to sleep now. He was putting his boots on when his communicator chimed. At quarter to five in the morning? Even more odd.

"Dr. Bashir here."

"I’m sorry to wake you, doctor, but there is a medical emergency. The Adjani ambassador has been injured." It was Odo.

Julian was on his feet and headed across the room for his medical kit as he replied, "Where and how badly?"

"Near her quarters. She’s lost a lot of blood."

"On my way. Notify the infirmary and Commander Sisko. Bashir out."

Commander Sisko was already there when Julian arrived on the scene. Shayin was lying on the floor, her cream-colored pants and shirt soaked with bright pink blood from an abdominal wound, her long gray hair matted with it. One of the Bajoran security people knelt on the floor next to her, applying pressure to the wound. While he was in the turbolift, Julian had re-calibrated his tricorder against Shayin’s readings from the previous day. He knelt next to her and did a quick scan.

"Doctor?" Sisko asked.

"It doesn’t look fatal, Commander, but it’s serious," Julian answered. "That’s good, keep the pressure up just like that," he said to the security officer.

Then he noticed. "Where’s her telepathic damper? The ambassador’s silver necklace?"

"I don’t know, sir. She was like this when we found her, except that she was lying face down rather than on her back."

He looked over his shoulder toward Shayin’s quarters, about ten meters down the corridor. "Odo!"

Odo’s head appeared through the open doorway. "Yes, Doctor."

"The ambassador’s necklace is missing, her telepathic damper, and it’s imperative you find it before she regains consciousness." He thought for a second, then continued, "She probably was carrying a spare one in her luggage."

"I’ll check, Doctor."

Julian continued his exam, finding a deep puncture wound, three broken ribs, and a number of more minor injuries. Shayin was beginning to show some signs of regaining consciousness.

Julian explained the situation to Commander Sisko, adding, "We should move her to the most remote location possible, perhaps one of the docking pylons. She’s liable to react very badly mentally to this kind of physical shock."

"Agreed." He tapped his comunicator, contacting the watch officer in Ops. "Lt. Duran, which docking pylons are currently unoccupied?"

"Number two upper pylon and number three lower pylon are available, sir."

"Move number two upper pylon from the available list to the maintenance list and notify any personnel in the pylon that they must leave immediately. Allow access to the pylon only on the authority of personnel with security clearance seven or higher." Sisko tapped his communicator to close the channel. To Julian he added, "I’ll have Odo seal the station."

A medical team had arrived from the infirmary, and Julian sprayed a quick bandage over Shayin’s puncture wound so they could move her onto the gurney they had brought. One of the technicians powered it up, and it levitated it to waist height.

"You two go back to the infirmary and stand-by. The fewer people around when she comes to, the better. I’ll call you if I need help.

"Commander, tell Odo to bring the damper to me as soon as he finds it."

"Yes, doctor. Keep us informed."

"Yes, sir." He pushed the gurney into the nearest turbolift. "Number two upper docking pylon. Authorization, Dr. Julian Bashir." The doors closed.

Julian routed access to the medical computers to the terminal nearest the docking port at the top of the pylon, and continued his tricorder scan. When the turbolift stopped and the doors opened, he pushed the gurney down the corridor toward the public terminal station and angled it to get the best light. He cut away Shayin’s shirt to better expose the wound. She stirred, grimacing. Her antennae were pulled tightly against her head.

"Ambassador Mazjad? Shayin, can you hear me?"

She grunted and turned her head away from him. "How could I not hear you? Your brain is too loud." She put her right hand to her throat, to adjust her damper, then tried to lever herself up to a sitting position.

"Lie still, you’ve been injured. Your damper is missing."

She realized that fact about the time he said it. Her eyes went wide and she put her hand on his arm. There was an overwhelming presence of her inside his head for an instant.

Shock, comprehension, despair! Her hand dropped away, and her head sagged against the gurney.

"No wonder you’re so loud. I was attacked, stunned."

Julian nodded, working on the temporary bandage, which was oozing pink around one edge. "Phaser blast, I’d guess. You were stabbed, too, and you’ve lost a lot of blood."

"This is bad. I can’t concentrate. I can’t block you out of my mind." Her voice was flat, but he sensed her panic.

"Your nervous system hasn’t recovered from the shock yet. We’re as far away from everyone else as I could get, in one of the docking pylons."

She put her hand over her forehead and struggled to concentrate. "Good. Good thinking. I have another damper, in my hard case. And a medical kit, too. There are anesthetics and antibiotics in it. I’ll probably need both. It’s starting to hurt."

Bashir slapped his communicator, leaving a pink streak across the silver and gold metal. "Bashir to Sisko."

"Sisko here."

"Commander, the ambassador is conscious, and confirms she has a spare damper in her hard case, and a medical kit as well."

"Bad news, doctor," came Odo’s voice. "The ambassador’s hard case is missing. Whoever attacked her must have broken into her quarters. The lock’s been phasered through. That set off an alarm, which is why we were down here in the first place and found her."

Shayin shook her head violently and grabbed Julian’s arm with her left hand. She grimaced at the pressure that put on her broken ribs, but held on tightly.

"I have to have something else to concentrate on besides you and my injuries, or I’m not going to make it. I feel like I’m falling into a hole. Everything keeps swimming in and out of focus in my head." Julian could feel her mind spinning and the mere echo of the sensation made him queasy.

"I could use cortical stimulators to make you sleep, to suppress the pain."

She let go of him, horrified. "No. Absolutely not. My mind is scrambled badly enough now."

"I don’t like the idea either. I don’t know enough about your species. But we may not have a choice. You’re still bleeding and I need to get it stopped. How much more pain can you stand if I can’t give you any anesthetic?"

Shayin closed her eyes and took a ragged breath. "Ordinarily I have a very high pain tolerance. But this is much worse than the time I was shot; I still had a damper then, and my companions were with me. I’m not certain I can cope with this if it gets any worse."

"You need something to concentrate on, you said. What about someone? Like Jadzia? You said her mind was very quiet."

"Orderly," she corrected. "I don’t know. I’m projecting a lot right now. I’d hate to deliberately subject anyone else to what I’m going through. But I have little choice."

Julian nodded. "I can get the bleeding stopped, but I can’t repair your internal injuries without taking you to the infirmary."

"I don’t know how long I would last around that many people in this condition."

"That’s what I thought. It wouldn’t be safe."

Shayin made a deep growling noise. "Not for me or for you, if I lose any more control. You do not want to be around a delirious, projecting telepath. If we can’t recover one of my dampers, I might not last long even if you can treat the wound. But we have to try." A wave of pain washed over her and she swallowed hard.

"All right, Julian, I’ll try to work with Lt. Dax. Only if she volunteers, however. She has to understand the risks."

"Commander Sisko?" Julian inquired.

"We’ll take care of it, doctor."

"Computer, display a schematic of the Adjani circulatory system, lower left quadrant of the torso." The image came up on the terminal screen, and he studied it for a few seconds.

"Match Medical database entries for anesthetics and antiseptics against Adjani metabolism data and list the top five entries in each category by safety and efficacy," Julian continued. He wiped some of the blood off of his hands onto his uniform, then took a bottle out of the medical kit. He sprayed disinfectant on Shayin’s exposed skin and on his hands, then put on a pair of gloves. Shayin hissed as some of the chemical seeped into her wound.

The list Julian requested came up on the screen below the previous display. None of the drugs had a safety rating of more than eighty percent. He couldn’t risk using any of them away from the resources in the infirmary, in case she had a reaction to one or both types of medication. "Damn," he muttered under his breath.

He looked at Shayin. Her right hand was knotted in the sheet covering the gurney, and she had closed her eyes tightly. Her breathing was ragged, and her blood pressure was dropping.

"Odo, are you still there?"

"Yes, doctor."

"Good. Shayin, tell Odo what happened."

"Mmmf?"

Odo followed up on Bashir’s lead. "Madam Ambassador, how did this happen? Who attacked you?"

"I’m not sure. I was exercising, running the length of the corridor around the habitat ring."

"At four-thirty in the morning? We do have a gymnasium."

"I’d already been to the gym. But I wanted more room to run and around that time seems to be when the fewest people are awake. I’d done it the last four mornings, same time every day. I was finishing my second lap, slowing down as I came back around to my quarters." She paused for a moment.

"I didn’t notice that I’d passed anyone, but I was concentrating on a meeting I was supposed to have today. I sensed hostile intentions behind me an instant before the first shot. I tried to dodge out of the way, but he still hit me. It didn’t put me out, but it did knock me down. When he nudged me with his foot to see if I was unconscious, I kicked his feet out from under him and ran for my room."

"What did he look like?"

"I didn’t get a good look at the first one. Nor could I tell much about his mind, stunned as I was. My height or taller, dark hair and pale skin. Probably human or a very similar species."

"Go on."

"Somebody else was already at my door. Male, also, but not human. Blue skin, white hair. Good fighter, too. He tried to cut me, but missed...."

She paused for a moment, eyes unfocused. "Dax is in the turbolift." She returned to her story.

"On his back-swing, I caught his hand, and we struggled for the knife. I broke at least two of his fingers before he hit me. I think that’s when I got stabbed. I fell back against the wall and the first one shot me again. Might have been more than those two, at a distance. Hard to say."

The turbolift doors opened. "Julian?"

"Over here, Jadzia."

"Thank you, Ambassador Mazjad. We’ll continue our search for your property. I’ll let the infirmary know to watch out for someone with broken fingers." Odo sounded amused.

"Constable, was there any sign that the case was searched in my rooms? Anything scattered about?"

"No, ma’am. Looks like they just grabbed it and left. Nothing else seems disturbed."

"Animals," she cursed without much strength. "My ritual knife was still in there. It’s almost two hundred and fifty years old. If they damage it, they’ll pay in kind."

"We’ll keep an eye out for it, ma’am."

Jadzia frowned when she got close enough see Shayin’s condition. The old blood was turning dark, but fresh pink stained her clothes and the gurney. Julian indicated, with a tilt of his head, for Dax to step around to Shayin’s right side, across from him. He set the medical kit a little closer and picked up a scalpel to remove the bandage.

"I heard you needed a volunteer."

"Jadzia, I’m projecting a lot of pain and confusion. I’ll try not to overload you, but you have to understand that you could suffer what I’m going through. I don’t think I could do you any actual lasting harm, but I can’t be sure."

"I understand. What can I do?"

Shayin struggled to focus. "Meditate. Center yourself. I’ll concentrate on what you are feeling, on your mind, and try to put some of my barriers back together."

Jadzia put her right hand between the bars of the gurney railing, sliding it palm-up under Shayin’s hand. Shayin’s fingers wrapped around the outside of Jadzia’s thumb. They took a long slow breath simultaneously. Jadzia nodded at Julian.

"Shayin, I’m going to remove the bandage and start sealing off the bleeding. If the pain gets too bad, tell me to stop. It’s important that you lie still."

"Yes, Dr. Bashir."

He removed the bandage and picked up a clotting tool and a sponge. The tricorder indicated that a large deep vein had been damaged, and he probed for it.

Jadzia was immersed in a sea of sensations fluttering around the edges of her mind.

"Shayin?"

"It’s okay, Jadzia. I just wanted an excuse to hold your hand."

Jadzia smiled. "I’m flattered." She could feel Shayin’s presence, her fear, feel Shayin blocking the pain away from Jadzia’s awareness. There was a faint echo of pressure in her abdomen, interspersed with small twinges. Then, suddenly, she gasped at a sharp burning sensation.

"Ahh!" Shayin cried.

Julian froze. "Go ahead," she told him, her voice shaking.

"I’m getting closer, Shayin." He mopped up blood, and sealed a few more blood vessels.

Jadzia put her left hand on Shayin’s shoulder and regulated her own breathing; in and out, in and out. Relaxing muscles: scalp, neck, shoulders. She felt Shayin more clearly now, the Adjani pushing her pain down, rebuilding her barriers, sorting her mind back into order. Shayin reached telepathically out to Jadzia, warily.

<I don’t want to intrude.>

<You aren’t intruding on me. Come closer so I can ‘see’ you more clearly.>

Shayin concentrated harder, forcing her antennae to relax. <You are the most curious creature I’ve ever experienced. One, whole, and complete, but full of polarities: male/female, young/old, wise/inexperienced.>

<All beings contain polarities.>

<Not like this. Not like you. Your polarities make you whole. You are as beautiful inside as outside.>

Dax felt a wave of affection sweep through her from Shayin. But she was also aware that Shayin had already sensed her decision to refrain from intimate relationships.

<I feel far worse for Julian than I do for myself, Dax. I never seriously considered a relationship with you, unlike Julian. Much of my desire for you faded when I figured out you remind me of Asten, my ex. Displacement, you would call it. And, unlike Julian, I don’t have to work with you most everyday for the next several years.>

Jadzia was amused. <It isn’t that I don’t care for him, he’s just so young.>

<He has a good soul. You be kind to him.> A wave of pain and nausea hit Shayin, and she pulled away mentally from Jadzia, who caught only the edge of it.

Julian wished he could see what he was doing a little better. He checked the display on the tricorder, and looked up at the circulatory reference chart.

"Computer, magnify the lower right quadrant, and pan right two centimeters. Display top and side views." The vein he was moving toward was clearly visible in the diagram.

"Almost there," he said. He felt Shayin acknowledge him, without moving or speaking, and noticed that she and Jadzia were breathing in sync, slowly and deeply.

"Got it." He removed the probe from the wound, and double-checked his work with the tricorder. There were a couple of small bleeders left, and he sealed them off.

"Shayin, your blood pressure is low, and your pulse is very fast, but you should be stable now. How do you feel?"

"Better," she said softly, without opening her eyes. "Clearer. Still hurts, but I’ll manage."

He pulled off his gloves. "Jadzia?"

"I didn’t feel much of it, Julian. I’m fine, just very tired."

"That’s mostly from me. You’ll feel better in a few minutes," Shayin said, softer still. She turned her head toward Julian.

"You enjoy this, Julian. The ability to help beings who are suffering. Working under pressure. It is good to know what one is good at, to work at what makes one feel whole. I do my job because I’m one of the few who will, who can, not because I’m particularly good at it. Asen knows I have no idea what I’m doing most of the time." She paused with a grimace.

"I feel miserable, Julian. Am I going live?"

Julian was offended. "Of course you’re going to live. You’ll be fine."

She smiled faintly, and her eyes closed. "That’s good to hear."

"Don’t go to sleep, Shayin. I need to calibrate the cortical stimulators to your nervous system, now that you’re stable. You still need abdominal surgery, and this is safer than any of the drugs I could use. Shayin, open your eyes!"

Irritation filled the corridor, but Shayin did as he said. Julian placed one of the small square devices above each of her eyes and turned them on at their lowest setting. Her forehead twitched as they adjusted to the patterns of her brain. Julian fine-tuned them and Shayin closed her eyes and purred.

"That’s a good sign," Dax said.

Julian nodded, checking his tricorder. "How do you feel now?"

"Sleepy, and much more comfortable. That’s gotten rid of the worst of the pain."

"Good. I’m going to go ahead and put you under so we can move you to the infirmary. We’ll move you back to your quarters as soon as we can after the surgery. All right?"

Shayin thought about it for a moment. "Very well," she muttered unsteadily.

Julian felt her fear hang in the air. "Go to sleep," he said gently. "We’ll see you in a few hours."

**********

The surgery went well, and Shayin showed no signs of rejecting the artificial blood Julian had given her. He kept her unconscious using the cortical stimulators until her blood pressure leveled off, then moved her back down to her quarters. The medical techs had put a monitoring unit into her bedroom, and a security guard was stationed outside the door. Julian didn’t have any other seriously ill patients, so he had stayed with her after removing the stimulators. It was late in the evening now and Shayin had been sleeping normally for a few hours. One nurse was on-duty at all times, so he finally laid down on the couch in the living room to rest.

"Dr. Bashir? Dr. Bashir, the Adjani Ambassador is awake," called Nurse Ridel from the other room. Julian sat up and wiped the sleep out of his eyes.

"Computer, what time is it?"

"The time is twenty-five oh-five."

He’d gotten about two hours of sleep. He stretched and walked into the bedroom. The nurse handed him her tricorder saying, "She asked for a glass of water. I’ll be back in a minute."

He nodded and started scanning Shayin. "Good to see you awake. How do you feel?"

"Disoriented; feverish."

"You have a slight infection, but the antibiotics we’ve been giving you have it under control." Her color was better, although she had developed an ugly bruise on the left side of her face either from falling or from being hit during her fight.

"Are you going to be all right without your damper?"

She concentrated for a moment. "Yes. As long as there aren’t more than a couple of people in my quarters at once."

She took a deep breath and raised her head off the pillow. "Is it okay if I sit up? I don’t know what you did to them, but my ribs feel better." Her antennae remained hidden in her hair.

"Of course," he said. He reached under her arms and helped her slide up on the bed.

"I fused the bone slightly in your ribs, and glued the knife wound closed. You won’t be back to normal for about a week, and shouldn’t overexert yourself, but you’ll be fine."

She held onto his shoulders and he could feel that she was emotionally exhausted. He sat down on the edge of the bed and she leaned against him, wrapping her arms around him. He felt a little awkward and unprofessional, but hugged her gently nonetheless.

Anger! Fear, pain, shock. Fatigue. She started shaking. Shame.

Julian held her closer, surprised at the depth of her emotions. "You don’t have anything to be ashamed of."

<I feel so weak. I don’t want you to see me like this.> She was crying, but without sound. Waves of emotion flowed over him as tears ran down her face.

"You’re just reacting to all the stress. I certainly don’t think you’re weak, not after what you’ve been through since you got here. Go ahead and let it out of your system, doctor’s orders. You’re safe now."

She held onto him for a long time, her head resting on his shoulder. He ran his fingers through her long gray hair, and she shook a little less. Her hair felt like silk against his skin, and he tried not to think of anything for a while. Just being there, sitting with her.

Nurse Ridel crept back into the room and put a glass of water and a stack of tissues on the table next to the bed. She made eye contact with Julian to be certain he saw what she’d brought, then left again.

Julian found himself thinking about what he’d do to the people responsible for injuring Shayin if he ever got hold of them.

<I appreciate the sentiment.>

"I’m sure you’d do a much better job of it than I would."

<Not today, I wouldn’t.>

She squeezed him tightly and brushed her cheek against his.

"Oh, you’re all bristly!"

"I didn’t get around to shaving today. Sorry."

She sat back a bit, keeping her left hand on his arm. He handed her a tissue and she blew her nose and wiped her eyes.

She reached up suddenly, put her right hand behind Julian’s head, and pulled him close. She kissed him hard on the forehead, where the root of his antennae would have been, if he were Adjani, rather than human. A spot some human cultures call "the third eye". His heart jumped at the sensation, which touched him to the core.

<Thank you,> echoed inside his head, ringing like a bell.

It took him a moment to recover from the intensity of the feeling as he sat up again. Impulsively, Julian kissed her back the same way, but very gently, at the base of her antennae.

You’re welcome, he thought with all his will.

<Oh!> There was a sense of surprise from her, then peace. <Our species are even more alike than I thought.> She smiled at him, yawning.

"Go back to sleep. I’ll come see you again in the morning."

<All right. Sleep well.>

**********

"Ambassador Mazjad, I’m a little surprised to see you out of bed."

"Please, come and sit down, Commander Sisko, Constable Odo," Shayin replied. "Julian agreed I could walk around as long as I didn’t leave my rooms or try to exercise. I always feel better when I’m keeping busy." The two of them entered her quarters.

"Have you had breakfast?" she said, indicating the food on her table.

"Yes, thank you," Sisko replied.

"I don’t eat," said Odo.

Shayin blinked at Odo’s comment, but said, "Then I hope neither of you will mind if I eat."

"Not at all. Constable Odo would like to talk to us about his investigation into the assault on you."

"Excellent."

Odo handed her a computer. "Based on your description that one of your assailants had blue skin, I guessed he was Andorian. The crew of the Starfleet cruiser Felak is mostly Andorian and she has been in port for the last four days. I’ve narrowed the crew and passenger roster down to forty-two male Andorians. Please go through it and let me know if you either recognize or can eliminate any of them."

Shayin looked at the plaque, and started scrolling through the pictures. She marked some as possible matches, and some as negatives. After going through them a second time and a third, she was clearly frustrated. Her antennae settled tight against her scalp, beneath her hair.

"I’m sorry, but it isn’t as easy as I thought it would be. I eliminated twenty-five, but I’m not certain about the rest. Eight look close to what I remember, nine less so. Much of my impression must have been telepathic, because I was sure I’d recognize him but I’m not having any luck with the pictures. Having no experience with their species, they all look rather alike."

Odo nodded. "Still, that’s seventeen down from forty-two. Now we can check the ones that are left for alibis."

"Constable, it might be faster if I just walked past a lineup of them."

Odo considered the idea. "I’m sure it would, if you feel up to it. Commander Sisko?"

"Let me talk to Commander Naren, the Felak’s captain. We should take our investigation to her, rather than asking her to send her people to us. You’re certain you’re well enough, Ambassador Mazjad?"

"Commander, I’m not going to spend the rest of my stay on Deep Space Nine in these rooms waiting for a Vulcan ship to take me home. I have to have one of those dampers, and finding my assailant is my best chance to recover one. Besides, it isn’t as if I’m going to have to defend myself again, just identify him for you. But what about his accomplice?"

"We’re hoping one will lead us to the other."

"I hope so, too."

Julian was not at all happy about the plan. He told Shayin so as they, Commander Sisko, and Odo made their way to the Felak.

"If you put too much strain on the adhesive I used to seal the lacerations in your digestive track, you’ll be risking another bout of infection."

"I know, Julian. I don’t feel up to doing anything I shouldn’t do. But I’m not going to be very useful if I don’t get one of my dampers back. I’m functional, for now, but I can’t hold up under the pressure of all of your minds indefinitely. I didn’t sleep well, I’m irritable, and I’m distracted. It’s only going to get worse. If we don’t get this resolved in the next one or two days, I’m going to have to leave the station. And even at that, I’ll have to risk using one of your cortical stimulators to screen out enough for me to make the journey home, unless the entire crew is Vulcan."

"Just be careful."

Shayin stopped abruptly in the corridor with a loud click of her teeth. Julian took another half a step before he realized she had stopped, and he turned back toward her. Sisko and Odo also stopped and turned to see what the problem was.

Shayin clenched both fists, her antennae tight against her head and stared at Julian, radiating frustration. For a moment he actually thought she was going to hit him.

"You can be quite annoying," she said, flatly.

"So I’ve been told. I’m just worried about you."

"I already know that. You’re practically boring a hole in my skull with it." She forced herself to relax. "Try to think about something else for a while. Please."

"I’ll try."

She growled and started to walk down the corridor again. "It’s impossible to stay angry with you. And I wasn’t really angry at you, anyway. I need to break something, work off some excess energy. And I can’t."

They made their was through the airlock into the Felak, where they were joined by Commander Naren and two Starfleet security officers. Sisko introduced Shayin, Odo and Julian.

Commander Naren said, "I’m sorry that we couldn’t meet under better circumstances, Ambassador Mazjad."

"So am I, Commander Naren."

The female Andorian led them to a turbolift, which they all boarded. "Conference room," she told the computer.

"I will be very surprised if a member of my crew is involved in this unfortunate incident."

"I understand, Commander. But I will not judge the Andorians or the Federation by the actions of a few individuals. Xenophobia is an uncommon trait in all of your cultures, according to everything I’ve read and heard. And judging by the people I’ve met."

The doors opened and they walked down the corridor to the conference room. As the group of them walked through the door, everyone inside turned to look at them. An ensign in a blue uniform visibly panicked and backed up against the wall. The two security guards immediately took custody of him.

Shayin growled again, lower this time. Her reaction was so severe that Sisko put his hand on her arm in case she needed to be restrained. He was shocked by a sudden burst of anger that washed over him, but she made no move toward the frightened ensign. She calmed down a bit and put her other hand over his on her arm.

"I’m all right, Commander Sisko. Thank you."

Commander Naren cleared the room of everyone who did not need to remain. She was obviously furious.

"Commander Sisko, this is Ensign Ris. I will be happy to turn him over to your custody for a Starfleet court-martial hearing, so we can get on with our mission."

Julian was examining the young Andorian with his tricorder. "He recently suffered two broken fingers on his right hand. It looks like he tried to repair the damage himself. There are signs of excess bone growth."

The nervous ensign nodded. "Yes, sir. I went down to sickbay and borrowed what I needed from a supply cabinet."

Julian shook his head. "Very dangerous."

Naren motioned everyone toward the conference table in the center of the room, except the security officers. After they were seated, she again addressed Ensign Ris.

"Start from the beginning and tell us everything. That’s the only thing that will make the court-martial easier on you."

As Ris opened his mouth, the Commander’s communicator beeped. She tapped it. "This is Commander Naren, go ahead."

"Commander, there was an unauthorized use of transporter number two about fifteen seconds ago. We’re tracing the destination now ... inside the central core of Deep Space Nine. The Promenade, I believe it’s called."

"A friend of yours?" Odo asked. The ensign looked away.

"Odo, have Ops sound an intruder alert," Sisko ordered. "Seal the station completely. I don’t want whoever that is to have the chance to board another ship."

While Odo carried out Sisko’s orders, Naren sent orders to her crew. "Get a security detail together and lock out the transporters except on your or my command, Number One. Send the security detail to me. I think we’re about to get to the bottom of this mess."

"Yes, sir."

The ensign squirmed under the stare of his commanding officer, and began talking.

"It was the human civilian, Dr. Timish, the geologist. He told me how the telepathic species, especially the Betazoids, are running the Federation, both overtly and covertly. When he heard about the Ambassador from the Gamma Quadrant, we decided to try to take her damper. Dr. Timish thought he could analyze it to produce a device to protect someone from being read by a telepath, or even a weapon to use against telepaths.

"We didn’t intend to hurt her," he finished.

"Hurt her? You damn near killed her." said Sisko.

"Things got a little out of hand."

Odo shook his head. "Paranoid conspiracy theories usually cause matters to get out of hand, Ensign. Where is the damper and the case you stole from Ambassador Mazjad’s quarters?"

"I don’t know where the case is, sir. Dr. Timish handed it to me to bring back to the ship, while he took the damper. I panicked and hid it in one of the maintenance access shafts on DS9."

"Well, which one?" Odo asked.

"I don’t remember," Ris muttered.

"But the damper is in the Doctor’s cabin?" asked Shayin.

Ris looked directly at her for the first time since they sat down, a smug grin on his face.

"He disassembled it. He was pretty unhappy with me, when I refused to help him. Complained he’d really made a mess of it and had to dump what was left in the reclaimators. I told him I didn’t have much sympathy for him. Or for you."

Shayin put both hands on the table and pushed herself out of her chair, leaning across the table toward Ensign Ris. Her antennae rose stiffly over her head and she stared at him as the air hummed with tension.

Ris’ grin faded quickly, replaced with first panic, then terror. "Make her stop!" he cried.

Shayin straightened up to her full height, and her antennae relaxed. "You pathetic mud-sucking invertebrate. How dare you put all of your fears and weaknesses off on me? I wouldn’t touch your mind if my life depended on it. You are afraid of your own imagination, coward."

Ris exploded out of his chair and tried to throw himself across the table. Both security officers grabbed him and brought him down hard on the floor, where he struggled, cursing. Shayin didn’t even flinch, but she was breathing heavily.

"Take him to the brig," Naren ordered. The security detail she had ordered entered the room as Ris was being removed. She turned to Shayin.

"Ambassador Mazjad, you deliberately provoked that man into attacking you, endangering my crewmen."

Shayin met the Andorian Commander’s eyes for several long seconds, then she looked away.

"My apologies," she said softly. "I knew they were watching him, knew they could handle him. I am too weak to exact my own revenge, but it is not right that I use others to assuage my wounded pride. It took everything in me not to attack him." She shook her head, wincing. "My mind is not clear."

"Very well, Ambassador. Apology accepted." She turned to Sisko. "Commander Sisko, Constable Odo, you may have as many of my security officers as you wish to help you track down Dr. Timish." She tapped on a computer plaque for a few seconds, then handed it to Odo.

"Here is his entry on the passenger list. I’d like to turn Ris over to you after you’ve captured Timish, once things have calmed down some."

"Understood," said Sisko. "We’d be happy to hold him and Dr. Timish until Starfleet and Federation authorities can take custody of them.

"Odo," said Sisko, "I’ll accompany you back to the Promenade to start the search. Dr. Bashir, you and the ambassador should stay here until we capture Dr. Timish."

Shayin had sat down again, and didn’t look well. She rubbed the bruise on her cheek.

"I’d rather return to the station, Commander Sisko. There are hundreds of people here, and it’s more crowded than the station."

"Very well. In that case, Dr. Bashir, you and the ambassador should beam directly to Ops. It’s the most secure part of the station. I don’t want her exposed to any more risks. You can stay in my office, Ambassador."

"Yes, sir," Julian said.

"Thank you," added Shayin.

The whole group made their way to the transporter room, where two more security squads joined them. As Naren, Sisko and Odo organized their search plans, Shayin and Julian stood to one side. She hugged her arms across her chest tightly, looking cold despite her long-sleeved blouse and long skirt.

"Julian, are you sure this will be safe for me?"

"The transporter? There are only a couple of species who can’t use a transporter, and they have quite odd metabolisms and nervous systems. You’ll be fine."

"I hope you’re right."

"Of course I’m right." Julian looked a little offended. She explained hastily.

"The whole idea makes me nervous. The theological implications are especially disturbing. How does your soul get from the departure point to your destination, or is this proof that we have no souls? What becomes of you in the moment between de-materialization and re-materialization?"

"I never thought of it that way. I had no idea this would be so upsetting for you. We could remain here."

She shook her head. "No. I’d rather take my chances. But I don’t have to like it."

The last contingent of security people beamed over to the station, then it was their turn.

"What do I do?"

"Just stand still and relax." He nodded and the operator energized the transporter.

They re-materialized in Ops.

SHOCK!

Julian jumped, and everyone in the near half of the room turned toward them, startled by the impact of Shayin’s telepathic signal. She looked around in amazement, her antennae rising slowly out of their hiding place in her hair.

"I feel fine, except for the weight of so many minds. What an interesting way to travel."

"My first transporter trip made a similar impression on me," he admitted. "Look, if you’ll be all right here, I should check in at the infirmary."

"I’ll be fine, Julian."

"Commander Sisko said the Ambassador could use his office," Julian said to Kira.

"He already briefed us, Doctor."

Julian nodded. "Call me if you need anything," he said to Shayin.

"I will."

He stepped into the turbolift. "Promenade."

After the lift disappeared, Shayin commented, "He is a persistent young man."

O’Brien laughed. "Yes, ma’am," he agreed.

"Madame Ambassador, " Major Kira said, "there is a Federation ship passing through the Bajoran system which will enter the wormhole in about fifteen minutes. If you’d like to send a message back to your people, we can record it for you and have them broadcast it when they get to the Gamma Quadrant."

"Major, when I arrived on DS9 I was nearly arrested for smuggling contraband. Since then, I’ve made a fool out of myself on several other occasions, I’ve been shot and stabbed, and am currently hiding out while dozens of people track down my assailant. Just what sort of status report do you suggest I send to my superiors?"

Kira was taken aback at the anger radiating from Shayin, but before she could respond to the other woman’s question, Shayin had turned her attention toward O’Brien.

"It was just a joke," he exclaimed, out of context to all but himself and the telepath. Shayin stood looking at him for a moment, then walked over to the stairs leading up to Sisko’s office. She sat down, leaning back against the steps with her eyes closed. Her antennae waved energetically.

"Madame Ambassador?" said Kira.

"Chief?" said Jadzia, turning to O’Brien.

"It was just a joke," he repeated defensively. "I can’t help that she heard what I was thinking."

Kira had walked over to where Shayin was stretched out along the stairs. She studied the Adjani ambassador for a moment, then turned toward Jadzia, saying, "I think she’s laughing."

"Yes, Major, you’re right. Unfortunately, I think you would have to be a telepath to appreciate the joke fully, with all its emotional overtones, but what Chief O’Brien was thinking was ‘Having a wonderful time, wish you were here.’"

Major Kira rolled her eyes at O’Brien, who shrugged helplessly.

"No, really, Major, I liked it. There are a few people I’d wouldn’t mind seeing in my current predicament. But, I’ll pass on the offer of sending a message, much as the suggestion appeals to me. I’m really not up to the effort of concentration needed to put together something other than a sarcastic rant."

She sat up on the steps, then grabbed the banister and stood up. "In fact, I think I’ll avail myself of Commander Sisko’s kind offer to use his office."

"We have search parties out checking all the access conduits for your case. I’ll let you know as soon as it turns up," said O’Brien.

"Thank you, Chief. I appreciate the assumption of success inherent in your statement." Shayin turned and walked up the stairs into Sisko’s office. The doors closed behind her.

Kira breathed a heavy sigh of relief at Shayin’s absence. "I hope for everyone’s sake that her damper turns up soon. I don’t think any of us can stand much more of that."

"Chief," said Jadzia, "do you think we could amplify the internal sensors enough to help with the search?"

"I doubt it. I scanned the Ambassador’s case when she arrived. There weren’t any unusual elements or compounds in either the case or its contents we could use to try to pinpoint its location. The search teams are just going to have to open and scan each conduit with tricorders until it turns up."

Things were pretty routine for about the next half-hour. The ship passing through the Bajoran system entered the wormhole safely. Major Kira finished some administrative work she’d been putting off, then grew restless.

"I’m going to see if the Ambassador is okay. Any word from either the search parties or the security teams?"

"No, Major," O’Brien answered. "The search is moving toward the number one pylons. I expect they’ll find Ambassador Mazjad’s case very soon. They’re running out of conduits to search."

"No word from Odo in the last twenty minutes on the security sweep," added Jadzia.

Kira walked up the stairs and entered Sisko’s office. Shayin was stretched out on his couch, with an arm over her eyes. Kira thought for a moment the Adjani woman was asleep.

"I’m awake, Major. Were you just checking on me?"

"Yes, ma’am. How do you feel?"

Shayin swung her legs over the edge of the couch and sat up, slowly. Her complexion was very blotchy. Kira’s eyes went wide and Shayin smiled a little at her reaction.

"I don’t feel quite as bad as I look, Major. I regurgitated a few minutes ago, which helped some. And, no, please don’t call Julian. There isn’t anything he can do short of making me unconscious, which I’m not ready to risk again, and he’ll get excited, which will only make things worse."

Kira stepped into the bathroom and soaked a washcloth with very cold water. She wrung it out, folded it twice the long way, and handed it to Shayin. Shayin accepted it gratefully and laid it over her forehead and eyes, leaning back on the couch.

"Yes, thank you, that does help."

"It might be nice if I actually got to ask you questions out loud occasionally," Kira said, smiling.

Shayin smiled weakly in return. "Sorry about that. When Adjani don’t want to be heard, they don’t project. All of you non-telepaths tend to project, in an erratic fashion, all the time. It’s getting increasingly hard for me to tell the difference between what you’ve said and what you’re thinking about saying."

"Would you like me to go?"

"No, please don’t. I’d rather talk to you for a while, since I’m not having any luck falling asleep. If you don’t mind."

"Not at all. It reminds me of having to take care of my friends when they got hung-over."

?

"From drinking too much alcohol."

"That, I’m familiar with. I only wish I felt that well right now. Or felt well enough to drink that much. No chance I could go back to my rooms? No, I thought not. I hate this."

Kira nodded. "I understand frustration. You have my sympathy."

Shayin reached out and touched Kira’s arm, briefly. "Yes, the Cardassian occupation. As a Bajoran, you would understand frustration better than the Federation officers.

"I read a little about the occupation during my trip here. There was so much to learn, I feel like I have missed so many things. Perhaps we could talk about Bajoran history and culture over dinner some evening, when I am feeling better. My field of study was history and paleontology, before I joined the ambassadorial staff of the Union."

"Really? That’s quite a change of specialties. I’m very curious about your people as well, Ambassador Mazjad. Only...."

Shayin removed the cloth from her face and looked at Kira. "Only, what? You’re being unreadable."

"Well, I was wondering if this would be just dinner, or more of a date."

"Date?" Shayin pondered that for a moment, sorting the nuances in Kira’s thoughts.

"Ah. I see. Well, I hadn’t been thinking that far ahead. If the idea bothers you, we can rule it out in advance. I take it you’ve been talking to Jadzia?"

Kira smiled and looked embarrassed. "Your reputation precedes you."

"I wish I knew how you Bajorans and humans make that laughing sound. I hate to have people think I don’t appreciate their humor. Would you call me Shayin?"

"Only if you call me Kira."

"Done, Kira. You still haven’t ventured an opinion on prohibiting our dinner from turning into a date."

"Uh...."

"I’m not really serious about getting an answer." She closed her eyes and covered them again. "It’s just my way of being friendly, more than romantic. But without ruling out the possibility of being romantic. I was just...."

"Flirting," Kira said. "You’re almost as bad as Julian. Besides, I’m not certain I even could be interested in a non-Bajoran," Kira said.

"Understandable. I have the same feelings about non-Adjani. Another thing I’d like to talk to you about over dinner."

Kira’s communicator chimed and Shayin sat bolt-upright.

"Major Kira, here."

"This is Lt. Dax. Odo just reported that they have the fugitive in custody out in the docking ring. He was trying to buy passage off the station on an Orion trader. Chief O’Brien says you should come back down into Ops. He has good news, too."

Shayin had already started moving and was halfway down the staircase before Kira hit the door. Shayin crossed the room to O’Brien’s station, where an engineering tech was setting her case down on the floor. She dropped heavily to her knees beside it and fumbled with the latches. After a few tries, she stopped.

"It’s jammed, or broken. I can’t get it open." She looked up at O’Brien.

"Here, let me give it a try." He took a couple of tools out of a kit. "Is it okay if I have to cut the locks off?"

"Do anything you have to. Just don’t damage the damper. Or my knife."

"I’ll be careful, ma’m."

Jadzia had walked up behind Shayin and she put a hand on Shayin’s shoulder. The Adjani didn’t turn around, but she did reach up to touch Jadzia’s fingers briefly. Her eyes never left the case.

"It got magnetized by the power conduit along the access shaft. I think, yes, there you go." He popped the locks open.

Shayin made an inarticulate noise and pried the lid upright. She pulled out a large, shallow, plastic white box, her ritual knife, and a small flat metal box. The metal box spilled a silver necklace over her hands as she hastily opened it. She dropped the box and struggled to fasten the clasp behind her neck.

That done, Shayin put her hand over the pendant and closed her eyes. She sagged back against the side of O’Brien’s console, relaxing. She ran both hands through her thick gray hair and sighed heavily with an explosive puff of air. Her antennae rose slowly over her head, relaxing.

"Alone inside my own head again, almost."

She picked up her ritual knife and held it close against her body. With her other hand, she fished around in the bottom of the case until she found a cloth pouch. She reached in and pulled out something shiny, flipping it in O’Brien’s direction. He caught it, and held it up; it was a gold coin.

"I can’t take this," he protested. "You shouldn’t pay me for doing my job."

She flipped another one to the Bajoran tech who had brought the case in.

"It isn’t money," she countered. "Rather, it is, but that isn’t why I’m giving it to you. It’s a souvenir of an alien culture from its ambassador, who will be very offended if you don’t accept it." She smiled as she said this last bit.

O’Brien exchanged glances with the tech. "Well, I wouldn’t want to offend you or your people, Madame Ambassador."

The tech held his coin up to the light, examining the designs on the front and back. "It’s beautiful. Thank you very much, ma’am."

"You are more than welcome, friend."

Shayin put everything back in the case, opening the white box and checking its contents before putting it away. "Medical kit," she explained to Kira. She locked and opened the case twice, reassuring herself that it would behave properly. Shayin stood up, with some assistance from Chief O’Brien and turned toward the major.

"Now that your people have caught my other attacker, may I go back to my quarters?"

"Of course, Ambassador Mazjad," Kira replied. "I’ll go with you."

"Thank you, Major. Good-bye, Chief, Jadzia. Thank you again for all of your help."

The two of them boarded the turbolift, which took them to the Promenade. From there they had to walk across the open area to a tunnel to the habitat ring. They had just entered one of the airlock doors when all hell broke loose behind them. There was shouting, then screaming, and a phaser shot. Shayin crouched defensively against the wall inside the airlock and Kira hunched down beside her.

"Damn," Kira muttered. "Now what?"

Shayin turned off her damper with a touch and strained to make sense off the chaos beyond the door.

"He’s loose, the fanatic. He’s got a hostage."

Kira swore again, in her native tongue this time. Then, in Standard, "Come on, let’s get you out of here."

"No, wait." Shayin resisted Kira’s tug on her arm. "He wants me. Maybe I can help you recapture him."

Kira peered around the edge of the tunnel. Most of the people in the Promenade had cleared out of the way, but she could see a few in doorways and against the walls. She could not see Timish, but could hear him shouting.

"Give me the telepath, and I’ll let the child go."

"We don’t negotiate with terrorists." Odo’s voice.

"Back away slowly, or I’ll kill her now."

"All right. No need for you to face a charge of murder as well as attempted murder."

Kira activated her communicator. "Kira to Sisko. I’m in one of the tunnels between the Promenade and the habitat ring with the Adjani Ambassador."

"Stay put, Major. We don’t need any complications."

"Commander, Major, I can help. I can distract Dr. Timish, get him to release his hostage, so your people can get a clean shot at him."

"So he can get a clean shot at you? I don’t think so," Kira said.

"You don’t understand," Shayin protested. "I have no intention of sacrificing myself. I can sense his thoughts and be moving out of the line of fire before he even begins to squeeze the trigger." She paused, listening.

"You have ten seconds to decide, Constable," shouted Timish. He began to count.

"Ten, nine...."

"I won’t get myself killed, I promise," Shayin said. "We’re running out of time."

"Can you really do it?" asked Kira. "With this many people around, and the shape you’re in, mentally and physically?"

"Six, five...."

"I’m not sure, but I think so. It’s my life to risk."

"Major?" asked Sisko.

"Three...."

"She knows what she’s doing, Commander." Kira looked up into Shayin’s eyes. You do know what you’re doing, I hope, she tried to send to the telepath.

"Wait!" called Sisko’s voice from beyond the door. "We’ll get the Ambassador, but it may take a few minutes."

"You have two."

"There’s your chance, Ambassador Mazjad. Keep him distracted. We may be able to do something from this end before the situation gets too risky," said Sisko.

"Good, Commander. We’re on our way," Shayin replied.

Shayin put her hand on Kira’s shoulder and touched her mind gently. <I will stay in contact with you. You must notify the others that he is about to fire when I signal you.>

Kira gasped at the sensation and nodded, unable to speak for a moment.

They both stood and moved toward the door. Kira drew her phaser and peered around the edge of the airlock. Sisko, Odo and the security squad were more than a quarter of the way around the Promenade to her left. They were facing Dr. Timish, who was still not visible from the airlock, around the curve of the central core of the Promenade.

"Let’s get closer, then start moving to the left," Shayin suggested.

Kira nodded, still uneasy at the sense of Shayin’s presence inside her head. She had not been bothered earlier, in Ops, by Shayin’s telepathic aura, but this was different. Much more personal and intimate. Both like and unlike what she had felt from Kai Opaka and other Bajoran clerics who had touched her pagh.

<I’m sorry this disturbs you, Major. It will be over soon, one way or another.>

Kira looked at Shayin, startled again at the contact. "It’s okay. I’m just not used to it," she said softly.

"What was that, Major?" asked Sisko.

"Nothing, sir," Kira answered. The two of them headed toward Sisko and Odo, edging away from the center of the Promenade. Kira tried to put aside the sensation of Shayin’s contact, with little success. The alien was not a believer, not even Bajoran, which made it worse.

A few more steps, and Kira held out her arm, stopping Shayin. She pointed to where she could just see Dr. Timish around the curve of the wall. Shayin nodded and took a deep breath.

"Pray for me, Kira."

Kira reached up and touched Shayin lightly on the earlobe. "The Prophets guide you. Good hunting."

Shayin blinked at the last phrase. <Good hunting to you,> she replied and clicked her teeth. She walked away from Kira, arms at her sides, to stand between Timish and Sisko. Kira moved forward a couple of meters where she could have a better shot.

"I’m here, Dr. Timish. This is over now." Shayin sent to Kira, <He is very nervous. He feels his life is over and will not hesitate to take a few of us with him.> She took another step to her left.

"It’s almost over. Stand still."

"I don’t want anyone else to be hurt; I don’t want anyone behind me to be shot. Let the child go."

"I said, stand still!" He shifted his grip on both the girl and his gun. Shayin watched him carefully, judging his intention. She could feel Kira’s concern for both her and Timish’s hostage; Sisko’s attention likewise riveted on her; and somewhere in the background "noise" of the crowd, Julian was getting a trauma team ready, just in case things went awry. Shayin tried to tune out everything except Kira and Timish.

<Kira, get ready,> Shayin sent. Kira relayed that to Sisko and Odo.

"You’ve lost this fight. You can’t do anything to me." She took another step to her left, deliberately looking away from Timish for a moment. Everything started to happen at once.

<NOW! >

"Now, Commander!" Kira cried, raising her weapon.

Shayin turned to run as Timish brought his arm up and out, aiming at her back.

Odo took shape from a stream of clear liquid, flowing unnoticed across the floor around Timish’s feet. He grabbed the man’s wrist and forced his arm upward as a single shot streaked across the Promenade.

Shayin was already diving out of the way as the blast scored the doorway into Quark’s bar. She landed hard on her side and curled up into a ball.

Timish was absolutely hysterical as Odo disarmed him. "Where did you come from? How did you do that?"

Sisko and the security team came up to take custody of the Federation scientist. "Let’s just say it’s a little talent of mine," Odo replied. Sisko satisfied himself that the situation was under control again, then followed Kira into Quark’s.

The proprietor was kneeling on the floor next to the Adjani Ambassador.

"Are you hurt?"

"Not badly," Shayin answered. She put a hand to her throat and turned on her damper, relaxing.

"You really know how to make an entrance. I’m Quark and this is my bar. It’s always nice when a beautiful woman drops in for a visit."

"Thank you," she replied hesitantly.

Kira knelt by her side, across from the Ferengi. "Do you need some help? I’ll call Dr. Bashir."

"No need, Major, he’s already on his way. He’s going to be very upset; I think I broke my ribs again." Shayin rolled slowly onto her back, hissing in pain. "I’ll just lie here for a while and catch my breath."

Kira looked over her shoulder. Sure enough, Julian was moving this way in a hurry. "I’ll go get your case, then. We don’t want it to disappear again."

"Anj te ushk! May my god protect me. Thank you, Kira."

"She’s all right," Kira said to Julian, on her way out.

He flipped open his tricorder, shaking his head. "You’ve re-broken two of your ribs and there is some internal bleeding from torn scar tissue. If I have to physically restrain you to keep you from injuring yourself again, I’ll do it."

"Julian, this isn’t what I had in mind this morning when I promised that I wouldn’t overexert myself."

"I think I’ll order you confined to your quarters," he snapped.

"Interesting bedside manner, Doctor." Sisko had walked up behind him.

"Uh, yes, sir. Sorry, sir." Julian fumbled with his medical kit and motioned for the techs to bring in the gurney. He helped them lift Shayin onto it, and followed them back to the infirmary, avoiding eye contact with Sisko. Sisko smiled behind Julian’s back and followed him.

"Is she hurt badly, Doctor?"

"No, sir, not at all. I’d prefer it if she doesn’t try to leave her quarters again for a couple of days. I don’t want to treat those ribs again; it might build up too much bone. We’ll just have to wrap them. I don’t think she’ll feel much like running through the halls for a few days, anyway."

"I agree," Shayin said.

"Very good. Please send your final report to my office when you finish treating her. I’ll add it to my report to Starfleet.

"Call on me when you are feeling better, Ambassador Mazjad. We appreciate what you did."

"I will, Commander. You are very welcome. You have a lot of good people here."

"I know," he replied.

Shayin closed her eyes until they got to the infirmary. The techs helped her onto an examining table, where she sat stoically while one of the nurses bandaged her ribs. Julian decided that the internal bleeding was too minor to require any attention, and accompanied her back to her rooms. She was too tired to insist on walking, so he was able to push her along in a wheelchair, guiding it into her quarters.

He helped her out of the chair and walked her into her bedroom. She sat down heavily on the edge of the bed, then looked up and smiled at him. "I’ve been a lot of trouble, haven’t I?"

"Yes, you have," he said, smiling back. "Would you like me to ask Odo to post a guard outside?"

"No. I don’t think that’s necessary." She bent to take her shoes off, but the pain in her ribs made her gasp.

"Here, let me help."

"I can take my own shoes off. I’m not a cripple."

"You also aren’t well. Just sit still."

She sat quietly while he lifted each foot in turn and pulled her shoes off carefully. A strong sense of loneliness radiated from her. Julian stood next to her, at the end of the bed, and at his inquisitive look, she explained.

"I miss my friends. My people are much more physically affectionate than your species seem to be. I don’t have many close friends, but I miss being able to curl up with one of them when I feel bad." She made her coughing sigh, then looked up at Julian, antennae fluttering.

"You started to say something, Julian. What?"

He shrugged. "Nothing."

"No, what was it?"

"Really, it isn’t important."

"Julian," she said, projecting impatience.

"I was just thinking that, since you feel so bad, maybe I should stay."

She blinked and sat there staring at him for several seconds.

"I didn’t know you felt that way. Why didn’t I know you feel that way?"

Julian shrugged again, looking unhappy. "You seemed so uncomfortable about your own feelings that I didn’t want to add anything that would upset you. I wasn’t going to bring it up unless I thought your feelings on the subject had changed.

"I’m curious what it would be like to be with a telepath. I’m curious what it would be like to know you better, Shayin. You’re very attractive."

She looked away. "I don’t know what to say. I’m very curious about what it would be like, to be intimate with one of your people, but...."

"But not with me. You’re not attracted to men."

"What? Oh, no, that isn’t it at all. I certainly prefer women, but I think you’re pretty, too." Julian stifled a laugh, and Shayin continued, "That isn’t quite the right word, is it?"

Julian shook his head, amused. "I really shouldn’t have said anything, Shayin, even though you asked. This is just making things awkward. You aren’t going to be uncomfortable around me, are you?"

She looked up and put her hand on his arm, antennae rising in surprise. "No, of course not, Julian. I am interested. But I’m not ready to deal with this yet. I’m still overwhelmed by the idea." She paused.

"Would we even be anatomically compatible?"

"Oh, certainly. That isn’t a problem," he answered.

Shayin looked away again, radiating embarrassment. "Besides," she continued, "we don’t even know one another that well. I’ve just gotten to the point where I’m almost comfortable flirting with Dax or Kira. It’s too soon for anything else.

"And I absolutely cannot believe that I didn’t even notice you were interested. How humiliating. I hope my Adjani friends never find out. So much for being one of our most sensitive telepaths." Her antennae twitched.

"Major Kira?" Julian stuttered.

"Why not? I think she’s beautiful. Her shebinra, her aura, is pleasing to me. Patterns bright and changing like fire." She tilted her head to one side and smiled. "She is clever, brave, strong. She has great legs. What’s not to like?"

"Well, she’s not my type, but I wish you luck."

She smiled and leaned her head against his chest, wrapping one arm around his waist. He put his arm around her shoulders.

"You take rejection pretty well, Julian."

"Rejection? I prefer to think of it as a challenge."

She leaned back a little and eyed him for a moment. He slowly broke out into a grin. Her eyes flashed and she tickled him under one arm. He jumped away and yelped, startled.

"I’m almost old enough to be your mother, dear," she said.

"That’s never stopped me before."

"Paj! You are absolutely...." She struggled to find the right word.

"Incorrigible?"

"Absolutely incorrigible!"

"It’s just part of my charm," he said.

She sat there silently for a few seconds. "You win. I’m too tired to keep this up. It’s not easy to verbally wrestle in a language you’ve only spoken a few weeks." She radiated fatigue, tinged with amusement and some uneasiness.

Julian brushed his fingers lightly against her unbruised cheek. She closed her eyes and rubbed her face against his hand, like a cat. It was a strange, but pleasant, sensation.

"Get some rest, Shayin," he said, softly.

She yawned and stretched, as best she could with her cracked ribs. "I will. Good night, Julian. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me. It is good to have friends."

As he was walking toward the door, she sent a final message after him. <I’ll let you know when I’m feeling well enough to curl up with a good friend.> There were all sorts of over- and undertones to the thought, and it took him a minute to absorb it.

"But I don’t suppose I’ll be the first to know?"

<Paj! Out, before I throw something at you!>

He ducked out the door, laughing.