ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!in.100proofnews.com!in.100proofnews.com!snoopy.risq.qc.ca!nf3.bellglobal.com!nf1.bellglobal.com!nf2.bellglobal.com!news20.bellglobal.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Anna Peppard" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW DS9 The Lines of the Day 1/35 [pg 13] b/e Lines: 107 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Message-ID: Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:52:33 -0400 NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.209.185.163 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sympatico.ca X-Trace: news20.bellglobal.com 1098740935 216.209.185.163 (Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:48:55 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:48:55 EDT Organization: Bell Sympatico Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161186 X-Received-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:04:12 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) NEW DS9 The Lines of the Day [pg 13] Bashir/Ezri Summary: This one takes place (mostly) after the final DS9 episode, with Author's note: If you've been reading any of the other stuff I've been posting, you'll know that this is all pretty old material that I'm just getting around to posting now. And by old, I mean I'm twenty-one now and I wrote these at about sixteen. I didn't post them then because I didn't understand how to go about it, in addition to the fact that I was probably a bit embarassed... But the passing of years has distanced me from these stories enough that it seems easier now to revist them. Anyway, I hope you enjoy them as much as my past self enjoyed composing them. If you feel up to it, send me some comments. email: twinklewunderkid@hotmail.com Thanks! The Lines of the Day: A Story in Three Parts--Three Parts: Emergence, Resurgence, and Convergence Part One: Emergence "You want to know something? If Worf hadn't come along, it would have been you." -Ezri Dax, Afterimage Prologue "Is this seat taken?" Jadzia Dax waited for a reply from the young, dark-haired man who sat looking down at a pad resting on his lap, scrutinizing it as though he thought the entire fate of the galaxy might depend upon the data recorded there. "Well, actually..." he raised his head to look at her, and whatever response he'd been about to give died in his throat. "...no... No, it's all yours." Jadzia gave him an accommodating smile before sitting down in the empty seat next to him. She felt his eyes upon her, and turned her head to look at him. The young man dropped his gaze immediately, suddenly looking very embarrassed. "I'm sorry..." he stammered. "I didn't mean to..." "It's okay," she told him. Truthfully, she was a little flattered; it had been a long time since the Dax symbiot had been inside a woman, and Jadzia found herself enjoying the attention. "My name's Julian, by the way," he said quickly, extending his hand to her. "Julian Bashir. I'm the new chief medical officer for Deep Space Nine." Jadzia placed her hand into Julian Bashir's larger one. He had soft hands, she noticed, soft and warm. He shook her hand gently. "Jadzia Dax," she introduced herself. "I'm the science officer." Julian nodded. Now, it was Jadzia who found herself looking at him. He had dark skin; it was a brownish, almost bronze hue that she instantly found herself admiring. His face was thin, and clean-shaven, his expression eager. It was his eyes, though, that seemed to drag her in, to capture her complete attention. They were large, and about the same light brown as his skin, and seemed to shine with a brightness that intrigued her. For a very long moment, she found herself unable, or perhaps unwilling, to look away. She wasn't sure how long she had been shaking his hand, but she suddenly realized that it had been a bit longer than necessary. She blinked, and released his hand. As she opened her eyes, she noticed that Julian, too, was looking as though he'd just woken up; apparently, she wasn't the only one who'd been allowing her mind to wander. "So," he began lightly, and not without a bit of awkwardness. "It looks as though we're going to be working together." "Yes," she agreed. "although no one knows for sure how long this mission will last. Bajor's been an occupied world for a long time. Some people think their provisional government will fail." Julian expelled a breath. "Well, I certainly hope that doesn't happen. I was rather looking forward to this assignment." He had a strange accent, Jadzia noticed. Although Federation standard was clearly his first language, his voice was different from anything she'd ever heard before. "If you don't mind me asking..." Julian began hesitantly after a moment. "Are you a joined Trill?" "Yes, actually," she smiled. The young doctor's expression seemed to brighten even more at the news. His face broke into a full smile that displayed his very white teeth, and caused his face to wrinkle at the sides. "Fascinating," he said, and it was clear that he truly thought so. "I mean... I've never met a joined species before. That's really incredible... medically, that is. How old are you, exactly?" "Well, each new host is technically a different individual," she explained calmly; she'd had to explain the concept of being joined to many people before. "Although I have the memories of all of the Dax symbiot's six previous hosts, I'm considered a separate person." "Fascinating," he said again. "That must give you incredible insight. I mean, you've been a man and a woman." Jadzia smiled. The six lifetimes of experience she'd gained since she'd been joined had provided her with incredible insight. It brought to her a calmness, a quiet confidence in herself, and a gentle patience with those around her. Julian Bashir, on the other hand, seemed so young, so eager; he reminded her of a child, seeing the stars from orbit for the first time. She found his exuberance refreshing, somehow, if obviously naive. She had no idea how far her interest would take her over the course of the next six years. ___________________________________________________________ End of Prologue NewMessage: Path: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.pas.earthlink.net!elnk-pas-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!pd7cy1no!shaw.ca!sjc1.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!nf3.bellglobal.com!nf1.bellglobal.com!nf2.bellglobal.com!news20.bellglobal.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Anna Peppard" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW DS9 The Lines of the Day 2/35 [pg 13] b/e Lines: 105 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Message-ID: Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:53:22 -0400 NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.209.185.163 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sympatico.ca X-Trace: news20.bellglobal.com 1098740985 216.209.185.163 (Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:49:45 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:49:45 EDT Organization: Bell Sympatico Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161187 X-Received-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:05:03 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) The Lines of the Day Part One: Emergence Part 2/35 She watched him as he slept. She followed every rise of his chest, and cherished every exhale. From his rumpled, dark curls, down his hollowed back, across the bronze skin that covered his whole body, Julian Bashir was perfect. And Ezri Dax loved him. She ran her hand up his arm, over his slight muscles, which were loose and relaxed in sleep. Because of his small frame, his muscles clung tightly to his body; it was only when he was sleeping that there was any appreciable malleability of his skin at all. In fact, Ezri often marveled at the fact that he scarcely seemed to have an ounce of fat on his whole body. Then again, she reminded herself, he was genetically engineered. After everything they'd been through, the war, and all the hundreds of struggles in between, Ezri couldn't have been happier to see Julian so relaxed. Over the past seven years she'd seen him as many things. She'd seen him change from an eager greenhorn into an experienced and highly skilled battlefield surgeon. She'd seen him as a bright-eyed enthusiast, and had witnessed his struggle to maintain his optimism through the corruption that he began to discover was really all around him. In later years, especially after his genetic enhancement had been revealed, she'd seen him at his absolute lowest, as he struggled to find his place amid friends who'd never really known who he was. And lastly, she'd seen him fighting the most costly war in the history of the Federation. She'd seen how much he hated going to work every day, which would undoubtedly mean more autopsies, and how he'd lost weight and sleep because of his burden. Remembering all the different emotions she'd witnessed in him over the years, however, Ezri wasn't sure if she'd ever seen him truly happy. She didn't think she had. The hand lingered for a moment at the curve of his shoulder, before sliding down the front of him, onto his chest. Her fingers lightly made their way down his flat chest, over his nipples, and continued downwards, where she wrapped her arm around the lean width of his stomach. It was when she spun her index finger around the edge of his belly-button that he finally stirred. He made a small, unconscious sound as he shifted his body, trying, no doubt, to escape the tickling sensation on his stomach. Ezri smiled as she watched his face contort in the effort. She only enjoyed his discomfort for another few seconds before she stopped her circling finger, and moved her palm back up his chest. Julian was slowly beginning to regain consciousness. Ezri watched him as he smiled faintly, and heard the small groan of contentment he uttered at the sensation of her hand against his bare skin. Semi-consciously, he brought his far hand up to cover hers where it lay against him. The only motivation behind the rather clumsy gesture seemed to be to keep her hand from leaving his body, but Ezri didn't have a problem with that, as she continued to run her palm across his chest, now under to guidance of Julian's own hand. "Mmmm..." his loose, sleeping face smiled. "...Jadzia..." Ezri stopped. She froze her hand where it lay, despite Julian's urging for her to continue. Sudden fear swept over her, and the first thing she wanted to do in response to the emotion was to pull her hand as quickly as possible away from Julian. But, knowing that such a sudden motion would almost certainly wake him, and not feeling quite ready to talk to him when it did, Ezri resisted the impulse; however, she found herself growing even more panicked the longer she held out. After what seemed like minutes but was more likely seconds, the computer sounded, and Ezri knew her small struggle was almost at an impasse. "The time is 0500 hours." She closed her eyes briefly, long enough to expel a silent breath through pursed lips. Julian hadn't moved, though; he must not have heard the computer. Ezri leaned slightly over him, and spoke his name. "Julian." Julian's eyelids fluttered. She spoke his name again, softly. "Julian..." A slow, contented smile spread across his loose face, wrinkling his skin at the sides of his lips. "Yes," he said drowsily, his eyes still closed. Finally fully aware of her hand against him, he released an easy breath. He shifted ever so slightly, and she could feel the movement in the prominent lines of his breastbone. With lips that were still dry from sleep, he kissed her fingers where they rested across him. In the face of what had happened mere moments before, Ezri chided herself for her being unable to ignore how much she enjoyed the feel of him against her. She couldn't ignore the even, bronze skin under her, just as she couldn't ignore how pleasingly his warmth contrasted her Trill coolness. Julian groaned softly. "Why is it that getting up in the morning is just becoming more and more difficult?" he asked. From her current position, Ezri could feel the vibrations of his vocal cords through her hand as he spoke. "I don't know," she said. "Maybe you're overworked. You should try and get in more leisure time." She saw him smile. "Is that your professional opinion?" "Should it be?" He laughed softly, causing his vocal cords to stir, Ezri's fingertips along with them. "This is Colonel Kira," came the sharp voice of the Bajoran station commander over the comm system. "All senior staff, please report to the ward room." Doing everything in her power to avoid a relieved sigh, Ezri waited patiently for Julian to respond to the summons. When he didn't, she nudged him. "Julian..." "Yes?" "We have to get up." For a moment longer, he was still. Then, with a groan, this one not pleasurable, he turned himself onto his back. His eyes were blinking groggily, trying to adjust to the light, meaning he had only just opened them. Ezri slid herself off him as he moved, and now lay beside him in the bed. Together, almost in synchronization, they pushed themselves up, and over opposite sides of the bed. ______________________________________________________ NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.pas.earthlink.net!elnk-nf2-pas!newsfeed.earthlink.net!newshub.sdsu.edu!border1.nntp.dca.giganews.com!border2.nntp.dca.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!nf3.bellglobal.com!nf1.bellglobal.com!nf2.bellglobal.com!news20.bellglobal.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Anna Peppard" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW DS9 The Lines of the Day 3/35 [pg 13] b/e Lines: 138 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Message-ID: Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:54:00 -0400 NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.209.185.163 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sympatico.ca X-Trace: news20.bellglobal.com 1098741024 216.209.185.163 (Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:50:24 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:50:24 EDT Organization: Bell Sympatico Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161188 X-Received-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:05:29 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) The Lines of the Day Part One: Emergence Part 3/35 There was a tension in the wardroom, and Julian felt it. He and Ezri entered the room together, first Ezri and then himself. He saw her look around at the faces of the people seated there, offering her usual smiles and nods of greeting. Julian, too, looked around as he followed Ezri down the table to an available seat. Lieutenant Nog was seated near the head of the table, and beside him sat Chief Patricia Saunders, O'Brien's successor as Chief Operations Officer. A capable and oftentimes ingenious engineer, Saunders was someone whom Bashir had come to respect over the past weeks. Succeeding the near legend of Miles O'Brien, only man to ever truly master the hodgepodge of Cardassian and Federation technology that the station consisted of, was a feat unto itself. Of course, O'Brien had taught Saunders well, but, at least for Bashir, it didn't make the former chief's absence any less noticeable. Across from Nog and Saunders were Science Officer Linda Wright and Chief of Security Paulo Laron; Laron had been one of Odo's deputies for years, and Odo had recommended the young Bajoran male for the position before the changeling had returned to the Gamma Quadrant to be with his own people. Bashir didn't know either of them very well, as they'd only been on the senior staff together for a few weeks, but he knew they were good officers. Julian sat down next to Ezri, in the farthest chair away from the head of the table, where Kira would be sitting when she arrived. For some reason, he found his mind drifting back to the past, found himself thinking about the missing friends who had always occupied the chairs around him. This new crew was so different, so... young. That realization in itself rather frightened Bashir. He remembered a younger version of himself seated stiffly in the wardroom chair, doing his best to meet the dark gaze of Commander Sisko. He remembered the barely restrained energy of Major Kira beside the Commander, Odo always sitting beside her. He recalled his unvoiced respect for Chief O'Brien, the man who'd seen it all, and later his subtle curiosity of Worf, the only Klingon to ever join Starfleet. And then, there had been Jadzia. She would sit there, hands calmly folded in front of her on the lit surface of the table, serene expression, straight back, and eyes that seemed to hold more wisdom than he would ever be able to gather. Julian had always been the greenhorn among them, the youngest member of the crew who was just trying to learn everything he could from those around him. He had everything to learn back then, and now, he was going to be teaching it to others. Everyone on the senior staff, with the exception of Colonel Kira and the technical exception of Ezri, was younger than Bashir, now. Strange, he mused, how so much could change in just seven years. Swiveling his eyes in Ezri's direction, he managed to catch the Trill's attention. He smiled softly at her, and she returned the gesture. Looking at her then, Bashir knew that his melancholy would pass; times might have changed, but he still had a very bright future in front of him, one that he would be able to share with the woman he loved. The door at the front of the room finally swished open, and Colonel Kira entered. Along with the rest of the officers, Bashir stood as she entered. Head held high, and proud, the Colonel surveyed the senior staff. For a moment, she met eyes with Bashir, and in that briefest moment, he thought he saw her smile. He had no further time to consider the issue, however, as she stepped forward and took her seat, followed by the rest of the officers. Relaxed in a chair he'd once thought to be the most uncomfortable piece of furniture in the quadrant, Bashir waited patiently for her to begin. "I just received a transmission from Bajor's First Minister," she began gravely. Bashir noticed that her eyes were directed downwards, towards the tabletop. "And it's imperative that all of you listen to what I'm about to say, as it concerns all of our futures, and just might change the whole structure of the quadrant itself." Despite his silently professed veteran status, Bashir felt a slight tensing in his posture at her words. He'd been rather enjoying the period of relative calm that had descended on the station since the end of the Dominion War, and wasn't anxious to have it disrupted. Kira looked up, her brown eyes making a sweep of the entire room before she spoke. "The message was concerning something of great magnitude, and I must profess that I myself reacted rather strongly to the news, so wouldn't think any less of any of you for having similar reactions." Bashir held his breath, waiting for the inevitable. After a moment, Kira delivered it. "Bajor," she said slowly, solemnly. "Has officially been accepted into the Federation." Having expected the worst, Bashir was a bit unprepared for the news. In fact, it took him a few seconds to actually process the words. Once he did, though, he did the only appropriate thing under the circumstances; he started clapping. Soon, the whole wardroom was filled with the sound of clapping, accentuated by the beaming smile of Colonel Kira at the head of the table. Bashir found that he, too, couldn't hold back a smile, and saw Ezri and Nog doing the same. The other officers also seemed happy, but Bashir could understand if the news didn't carry quite the same weight for them as it did for those of them who had served on the station since the beginning. Bajor being accepted into the Federation had been Captain Sisko's original mission, and had become his personal dream. Having Bajor accepted into the Federation represented the culmination of everything they had all worked towards under him for so many years, everything they had sacrificed for. If the Dominion War was the climax of their journey, then Bajor's Federation membership was the happy ending. "I say it's about time," Julian emphasized, once the clapping had stopped. "Although... I hope it's for real, this time." Kira nodded graciously in his direction, recognizing his referral to the last time Bajor had been offered Federation membership, and Captain Sisko, as a result of the visions he'd been receiving from the Prophets, had burst into the wardroom, telling everyone that Bajor needed to stand alone. The Bajoran ministers had, as a result, withdrawn their application until a later date. Now, though, that later date had finally arrived. "Oh, it's for real this time, all right," she assured him happily. "The Federation delegation will be arriving in three days, along with the Bajoran ministers, to conduct the ceremony. In three days, the floor you're standing on will be official Federation territory." In some ways, the words sounded strange coming from Colonel Kira, the woman who's once been obstinately opposed to the Federation even being involved in Bajor's affairs. But over the last seven years, through the war, and through all the other battles, she'd changed along with all of them, and come to see Bajor's Federation membership not as a threat, but as a marvelous opportunity for its inhabitants, an opportunity to be part of something great, something larger than themselves. Bashir accepted the change as another one of the many of late. "The delegation will be arriving at 0900 hours three days from now," she continued. "I trust security will be ready for them." Laron nodded to her. "Of course, Colonel." "Good," Kira nodded once, then added, almost reluctantly, "And, if any of you were wondering, there will be a welcome to the Federation party tonight at Quark's, at which you are all ordered to have a good time." A smile played across her features as she looked around the table one more time. "Dismissed." Kira watched them leave, her smile only fading once the door had slid shut behind them. She still wasn't completely used to seeing Dax and Bashir together, although she had to admit, they made a cute couple. Hopefully, they would have many years ahead of them to share. Briefly, she found her thoughts drifting back to Odo, and their all too brief relationship. For a moment, she thought she felt his warm, thin lips against her neck, sensed his soft arms wrapped around her, his long, thin fingers intertwined with hers; he always liked touching her hands... Kira blinked abruptly, effectively ending her daydream. As her open eyes surveyed the empty wardroom, she was struck with a sudden chill, and shivered involuntarily. Once Bajor joined the Federation, she wasn't sure what she would do. Would she become a Federation officer? Would she go back to Bajor? Would she stay on the station? The uncertainties were many, but she'd been around long enough not to let them trouble her. The Prophets would look after her, along with the rest of Bajor, just as they always had. She looked out the large window at her left at the vast starfield that spread out around the station. "Congratulations, Captain," she whispered. _________________________________________________________ NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!atl-c03.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!wns14feed!worldnet.att.net!207.35.177.252!nf3.bellglobal.com!nf1.bellglobal.com!nf2.bellglobal.com!news20.bellglobal.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Anna Peppard" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW DS9 The Lines of the Day 4/35 [pg 13] b/e Lines: 100 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Message-ID: Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:54:42 -0400 NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.209.185.163 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sympatico.ca X-Trace: news20.bellglobal.com 1098741065 216.209.185.163 (Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:51:05 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:51:05 EDT Organization: Bell Sympatico Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161189 X-Received-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:06:21 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) The Lines of the Day Part One: Emergence Part 4/35 She picked at her salad, not quite able to muster the appetite she knew she should have. It was lunchtime, after all, and Ezri had only managed to grab some toast for breakfast, and yet... she just didn't feel like eating. She flipped over a lettuce leaf, unearthing a ripe, glistening, and completely unappetizing tomato, and then she noticed that someone was standing over her. Ezri looked up unenthusiastically, but smiled when she saw Kira. "Nerys," she greeted with genuine warmth, glad it was her friend and not someone else. "Mind if I join you?" Ezri nodded, indicating the chair opposite to her. Kira smiled, and took the seat, setting her Raktajino down on the table. She didn't have any food, Ezri noticed. "No lunch today?" Ezri questioned. Kira regarded her strangely for a moment, as though confused, then she laughed, shaking her head. "No... No, I'm afraid I already ate, actually." She smiled at Ezri. "I just saw you here and... decided you looked like you could use some company. It feels like we haven't talked in weeks." "Has it really been weeks?" Ezri asked, only half-joking. "It seems like the war only ended yesterday." "I know what you mean," Kira sympathized. "I've been so busy with reports, and paperwork, and log entries... And you know me, I'm no diplomat!" The two women laughed, but Ezri never really felt the joy of the moment. As she continued to stir her salad with her fork, the events of the morning still stuck in her mind. Her hand on Julian's skin... his smile as he said her name... "But then... I guess I'm not the only one who's been busy..." Ezri looked up from her salad long enough to catch the uncharacteristically coy smile of her Bajoran friend. "Meaning what?" she smiled innocently back. "You and Julian. I've barely seen the two of you apart since the end of the war. I guess you've really been hitting it off." Ezri made a gallant effort to smile, but could feel that she never quite succeeded. Kira's suddenly concerned expression only confirmed her failure. "Trouble in paradise?" Kira asked. Ezri sighed. "No, not really, I mean, that is to say... I'm not sure." She looked over at Kira, seeing only support in the colonel's eyes. She continued. "Something happened," Ezri continued, trying to avoid specifics. "Something that got me thinking." "Thinking..." Kira echoed. "Thinking..." Ezri said again. "Just... thinking. About a lot of things. About me, about Julian, about our relationship... my life... You know, it's strange. It just seems like in the last few weeks, all of the questions I'd originally had thinking about a relationship with Julian were completely forgotten. I was so caught up in the moment that I completely forgot to take a step back and look at it, to evaluate what he means to me, what we mean to each other..." "Have you talked about this with Julian?" Kira asked gently. Ezri shook her head. "I'm not sure I know how to approach it. I mean," she smiled. "It just sounds so stupid! I keep telling myself, 'Ezri, you know how this works, you've been married three times, you know how to handle relationships.' And yet... having someone's memories is so different from the real thing. Your emotions start to get in the way, and you're not sure if it's love, or infatuation, or physical attraction..." "But isn't that what makes it interesting?" Kira asked, and Ezri was mildly surprised by the sudden passion that had entered her friend's voice. "Not knowing? You never know what's going to happen, but I think the most important thing is to enjoy it while it lasts. Because you never know when it's going to come along again." Ezri regarded her friend warmly. She loved Kira's passion; it was one of the reasons Kira was such a great leader. But she also felt a deep sorrow beneath the passion, a sorrow which, Ezri knew, would likely stay with the colonel forever. "I know," she nodded, and she did understand. "I guess I'm just concerned, is all. I'm sure it'll pass." She paused for a moment, considering her salad. "So," she began lightly, looking back up at Kira. "It's finally happening. Bajor's finally going to be in the Federation." Kira grinned. "I'm happy," she said. "And you know what? I'm happy I'm happy. There was a time when I didn't think Federation membership was right for Bajor." "A lot of things can change in seven years," Ezri said, feeling as though she'd never meant anything more. "I'm so proud, too," Kira continued. "Proud of Benjamin, proud of what he built here." "Don't forget to be proud of yourself," Ezri reminded her. "You played a big part in this. Don't think that you didn't." Kira nodded slowly. Reaching across the table, she took Ezri's hand in hers, and squeezed it. "Thank you," she said, and Ezri could tell that she meant it. "That means a lot." Kira's commbadge broke the moment. "Ops to Colonel Kira." "Go ahead," the colonel instructed. "Admiral Ross is calling on subspace, sir." Kira nodded. "On my way." Looking back over at Ezri, Kira gave the Trill's cool hand a final squeeze, smiling toothlessly, before getting up from the table and striding determinedly across the promenade towards the nearest turbolift. Ezri watched her go, then returned to her salad. She stared for a second down into its green leaves before finally pushing it away. Her conversation with Kira hadn't managed to encourage her appetite. _____________________________________________________________ NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!atl-c03.usenetserver.com!wn13feed!worldnet.att.net!63.223.20.72!sjc1.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!nf3.bellglobal.com!nf1.bellglobal.com!nf2.bellglobal.com!news20.bellglobal.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Anna Peppard" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW DS9 The Lines of the Day 5/35 [pg 13] b/e Lines: 73 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Message-ID: Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:55:21 -0400 NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.209.185.163 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sympatico.ca X-Trace: news20.bellglobal.com 1098741103 216.209.185.163 (Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:51:43 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:51:43 EDT Organization: Bell Sympatico Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161190 X-Received-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:06:58 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) The Lines of the Day Part One: Emergence Part 5/35 "Welcome! Welcome! Friends, well-wishers! Spenders!" Quark punctuated his final, boisterous cry into the raucous crowd with a sweeping hand gesture that encompassed the entire bar. Bashir grinned, and then found himself laughing, his laughter disappearing into the depths of noise around him. If there was profit involved, Quark certainly knew how to throw a party. "Dr. Bashir!" Bashir looked up in the direction of the greeting, and saw Chief Patricia Saunders making her way through the crowd towards him. Carefully protecting a brightly coloured drink on her way through the hordes, the handsome, blond-haired young woman released a grateful breath when she finally made it over to him "Chief," Bashir greeted. The shorter Saunders smiled up at him, pushing an errant strand of blond hair away from her face. "Great party," she spoke loudly to be heard over the noise. "Seems like the entire station showed up." Bashir smiled. "Certainly seems that way. It's been a while since I've seen it like this... not since before the war." Saunders looked at him quickly. "I guess not. It's nice to have something that you actually feel like celebrating though, isn't it?" The doctor allowed his smile to widen. It was true what he'd said about Quark's not being so crowded since before the war. But it was also true, he realized then, that it had been at least that long since he'd felt as relaxed as he did then. He actually found himself enjoying the engineer's simple cheerfulness. He tipped his own glass towards her. "Cheers to that." The chief grinned, and met his toast. "Well... it certainly looks as though you two took my orders to heart." Bashir reeled his head around and over his shoulder to see Kira behind him. "Colonel." He took a half-step backwards to include her in their circle of conversation. Kira smiled toothlessly, even though it looked to Bashir as though she were holding back some of her true enthusiasm. "That's not permission to stop," she cautioned mockingly. Bashir's eyes flickered across hers, and a silent meaning passed between them. "To the future," he said, raising his glass. "May it build on the past." The three officers toasted each other, and downed their drinks. "Have you seen Ezri?" Bashir asked her once his drink had made its way down his throat. Kira looked around her, and shook her head. "I thought you two would be coming together. I saw her earlier at lunch, but I haven't seen her since." "I haven't seen her all day," he frowned. "not since we left the staff meeting this morning." Kira shrugged. "She must be here somewhere. I'm sure we'll find her sooner or later." "Mmm," he agreed, his eyes focused on a point somewhere across the room. "Excuse me." Kira watched him disappear into the crowd, before Saunders' voice caused her to turn. "Boy, he look good from that angle too, doesn't he?" Kira eyed the engineer. "Beg your pardon?" Saunders tilted her head in the direction of the departed doctor. "He's certainly easy on the eyes for a bookworm," she said. "Hearing about some of his research projects over the years, I'd expected something different." The Colonel found herself struggling to keep down a grin. "If I didn't know better, I'd almost say you had a little crush on that doctor of ours." Saunders blinked abruptly. "Of course not. I mean... aren't he and Lieutenant Dax...?" "For a few weeks now," Kira answered her unfinished question, then added, "Sorry." The chief expelled a breath. "So am I." _________________________________________________________ NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!atl-c03.usenetserver.com!wn13feed!worldnet.att.net!63.223.20.72!sjc1.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!nf3.bellglobal.com!nf1.bellglobal.com!nf2.bellglobal.com!news20.bellglobal.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Anna Peppard" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW DS9 The Lines of the Day 6/35 [pg 13] b/e Lines: 96 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Message-ID: Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:56:07 -0400 NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.209.185.163 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sympatico.ca X-Trace: news20.bellglobal.com 1098741149 216.209.185.163 (Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:52:29 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:52:29 EDT Organization: Bell Sympatico Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161191 X-Received-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:07:48 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) The Lines of the Day Part One: Emergence Part 6/35 The noise was suffocating. For a while, Ezri had considered looking for Julian, before she remembered that he was absolutely the last person she was interested in seeing. Besides, she doubted she could navigate her way through this crowd, not with the lead weight that was pounding itself against the inside of her skull. Seeking out and finding momentary sanctuary behind a protruding bulkhead on a wall of the bar, she leaned her tired-feeling body up against the metal surface. The simple gesture seemed to ease her pounding head, and she released a long breath. She felt the soft touch against her arm before she heard the familiar voice that accompanied it. "Hey." Ezri hesitated only briefly before opening her eyes onto Julian. He smiled as she looked at him. "I've been looking for you all evening," he said. Ezri found herself hesitating to meet his gaze, her eyes falling just to the side of his. She knew better than to think that Julian, with his enhanced intellect, wouldn't notice the subtle action, but she didn't find herself able to desist. "I know," she lamented. "The crowd." Julian's smiled had fallen from his face by that time. "Is something wrong?" "No," she said quickly. "I'm just... tired. It was a late night." He smiled weakly, and without any true humor. "Do you want something to drink?" Ezri looked down, shaking her head. "No, that's okay. I've got a bit of a headache and..." Her voice trailed off as she felt his fingers against her jaw. He cupped her cheek with his warm, soft palm, and touched his thumb lightly to her lips. Ezri closed her eyes, trying to center the conflicting emotions coursing through her body. Stiffening, she stepped away from him, and out from under his touch. Julian's eyes looked down at her with concern when she opened her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something more, but was abruptly cut off by the amplified voice that suddenly rang through the bar. "On this momentous occasion..." Both Ezri and Julian turned to see Quark standing up on the bar, clearly trying to attract the attention of the patrons. After a few moments, the noise level had subsided, and most everyone in the bar had turned to him. Quark cleared his throat, and began again. "On this momentous occasion, it is my personal pleasure to open my doors to so many of the brilliant males and females of all races who's efforts helped to make this day a reality. Remember... there is a 10% discount on all syntheales for any members of Starfleet or the Bajoran Militia. That's a 10% discount on all..." "Thank you Quark," Kira's voice cut the Ferengi off mid-speech. She, too, was standing slightly elevated from the rest of the crowd. "Welcome, everyone," she smiled at the audience. "I know you all want to get back to the partly, so I won't waste too much of your time," she paused, her eyes taking a long, slow sweep of the room. "There are just two things that I want to say about Bajor's joining the Federation," she continued. "First of all, I want to say how much I fully support this decision. And, for any of you who knew me when Starfleet first arrived, you can understand what a statement that is. It's been seven years, now. We've come to know each other pretty well, and, I hope, we've come to trust each other, too. We've come a long way in seven years, and hopefully, we'll be able to build on what we've accomplished." There was applause from throughout the bar, and a few cheers. Ezri applauded absently, and noticed Julian doing the same. "Which brings me to the second thing," Kira continued, once the bar had quieted down. "Most of you knew Captain Sisko when he commanded this station, but for those of you who didn't, you should know had badly he wanted this. This was his dream, and I know that wherever he is now, he's proud of us." She raised her glass high above her head. "With that in mind, I'd like to propose a toast: to Captain Sisko; may he continue to walk with the Prophets." The crowd repeated her words in a jumbled murmur, and the sound of glasses clinking together echoed through the room a moment later. "Now... enjoy yourselves!" Kira called out, before stepping down from the bar. There were laughs and cheers as Kira re-entered the crowd, and the noise started up again at the same time. Ezri was aware of Julian turning to face her, but she didn't want to acknowledge the fact. "Ezri." Finally, reluctantly, she turned. His chocolate eyes flickered across her face; she could tell that he wanted to touch her, but was hesitant because of her earlier reaction. "Do you want to get out of here?" he asked her. Ezri nodded. "Sure." Julian reached out, and took her hand, his long fingers wrapping themselves around hers, as he led the way through the crowd towards the exit. She saw Julian smiling at people as they passed, and acknowledging others with nods. For her part, Ezri merely maintained a small smile, in hopes that her and Julian's departure wouldn't arouse too much unwanted speculation among the station's other inhabitants. Most of them were nice people, but rumors did tend to spread, especially when they concerned serious romantic relationships among the senior staff. But, through all the other contrasting thoughts and emotions that were running through Ezri's head as they left Quark's, the most prominent was how soft the skin of Julian's hand felt as he held her. _____________________________________________________________ NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!prodigy.com!atl-c02.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!feed5.newsreader.com!newsreader.com!border2.nntp.dca.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!nf3.bellglobal.com!nf1.bellglobal.com!nf2.bellglobal.com!news20.bellglobal.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Anna Peppard" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW DS9 The Lines of the Day 7/35 [pg 13] b/e Lines: 130 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Message-ID: <9Befd.5389$rs5.347084@news20.bellglobal.com> Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:56:46 -0400 NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.209.185.163 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sympatico.ca X-Trace: news20.bellglobal.com 1098741189 216.209.185.163 (Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:53:09 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:53:09 EDT Organization: Bell Sympatico Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161192 X-Received-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:08:25 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) The Lines of the Day Part One: Emergence Part 7/35 The door to Julian's quarters opened, and Ezri stepped past Julian and entered first. She told herself she was prepared for the ensuing argument, but when the inevitable question finally came, she still didn't feel ready to answer. "What's wrong, Ezri?" She looked up at him. Even though it had been a year already, looking so far up at him still felt strange, mostly because she possessed so many memories of him, memories that had come from a different vantage point. So many memories... "There's nothing wrong," she lied foolishly, knowing full well that she wouldn't fool Julian for a second. Sure enough, she saw him shake his head disbelievingly. "Ezri..." Ezri raised a hand, stopping him. "I'm sorry, you're right. There is something bothering me, I just... I don't think that I really want to talk about it right now." Julian seemed to consider her words for a moment. "How long do you think it will be before you're ready to talk about it?" Ezri pushed an annoyed breath through her lips. "I don't know. What do you want, a schedule?" Julian frowned at her bitterness. "That's not what I meant." "Then what did you mean, Julian?" she asked sarcastically. "This is real life here, not some math equation that fits perfectly into that computer brain of yours." She regretted the words as soon as she said them. She was angry with him, but she shouldn't have referred to his genetic enhancement, not when she was so aware of how sensitive he was on the issue. "Ezri..." he began slowly, and she could tell he was hurt, but trying to ignore the fact. "I really think that whatever it is, we really need to talk about it." She let her eyes flicker over his face, finally resting on his eyes. Ezri knew that she had to meet his gaze as she told him, to make sure she was certain about what she was doing. "I think we should take some time off," she told him. "I've got a lot of things going on and... I just think it would be better for both of us if I could take some time to figure things out." "Ezri... what?.." it was so different from the way she said her name. His accent was less pronounced with the fewer syllables. "Maybe if I just knew why you felt that way... if you could just tell me what it was that I did..." "What difference would it make? Honestly, Julian... Don't you trust me enough to just accept that I have my reasons?" "Of course I trust you..." "Well then let me do this!" Julian shook his head. "You talk about trust, and yet, you don't even trust me enough to tell me what it is that's bothering you!" "See?" she gestured to him with an angry flick of her hand. "And that's another thing I hate. I hate it when you try to do my job for me!" Julian blinked, somewhat taken aback by her sudden vehemence. "Maybe if you would just follow your own advice for a change, I wouldn't have to!" "Yeah, and maybe if you could have just left me alone after I was joined, none of this would have happened. Maybe if you'd just been able to let go, to forget whatever had happened in the past..." Julian shook his head, obviously confused. "What are you talking about?" "Do you want to know what's bothering me?" she practically demanded. "Do you really want to know what's bothering me?" "Yes!" "You said her name in your sleep." As soon as she said it, she dropped her eyes, feeling almost embarrassed by the admission. "What?" he questioned. "What are you talking about? Who's name?" Ezri looked at him. "Hers-Jadzia's. I had my hand on your chest, and you smiled and said her name." "You're imagining things..." "Julian, I was there," Ezri reminded him, her voice forceful. "I heard you say it." "But why would I?" he asked. "Why would I say that?" "Because... you're still in love with her." "Ezri..." he began, but she interrupted him, not wanting to hear whatever excuse it was he was about to give. "When I'm around you I just... feel like I don't know who I am..." she tried to explain. "You don't know what that feels like, to never be sure from one minute to the next what reaction is yours, and what belongs to some other personality living inside of you... to never be sure what your personality is, to doubt your own identity..." "You think I know who I am?" he asked her. "Hell, I spent half my life believing I was normal before I found out I'd been surgically improved! I've spent almost twenty years trying to figure myself out. But I'd never got anywhere before. Not until I met you." The passion behind his words was it making it harder for her, and she found her resolve weakening. "Ezri..." he continued, his voice pleading. "I know you've got a lot going on, and I know that you need time to figure it all out, but let me help you. We can do it together. We can both figure out who we are." Ezri shook her head, determined to hold her ground. "But just being around you, hearing your voice, feeling your touch... it makes me think of her, and I don't know what to feel..." "Then don't think," he put his hands on her shoulders, and with a surprisingly firm grip, pulled her towards him. "Just feel." He kissed her. Ezri's already conflicted emotions were sent into a whirlwind. Her head spun, her stomach churned. It was quite possibly the very worst moment of her entire life. Julian broke off the kiss. Still holding onto her shoulders, he looked back at her, his expression appearing almost as confused as she felt, and twice as hurt. Seeing both emotions spread out across his face, and knowing that she was the cause, pained Ezri more deeply than she would have thought possible. She found herself having difficulty meeting his gaze. "Julian... I'm sorry..." she struggled to even get the whispered words out, she felt so thoroughly drained. Julian looked away from her, releasing her shoulders. His eyes flickered across some distant, unseen point, before he once more turned his gaze onto her. "I just... want you to be happy," he said at last. Her eyes shot up to look at him, but as she looked into the depths of his brown eyes, she realized just how completely unsurprised she actually was by his words. She nodded once, and turned away from him, away from his eyes, towards the door. Without so much as a backwards glance, she left his quarters. For several very lengthy moments, Julian found himself staring at the closed door, where Ezri had long since departed. He could hardly believe what had just happened, or how quickly it had been sprung on him. Just that morning, he had been taking solace in the rapid changes aboard Deep Space Nine by reminding himself of the future he had ahead of him. But if he had to face that future without Ezri, if her sudden concern turned into an insurmountable obstacle in their relationship... things very quickly became dimmer. When he finally dragged his eyes away from the door, Julian went further into his quarters to the couch, where he sat down carefully on the cushions. His eyes stared out in front of him, without really focusing on any of the familiar surroundings in the room, wondering what in the world he had done wrong to have his perfect life of a few hours before crumble at his feet. ___________________________________________________________ NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!in.100proofnews.com!in.100proofnews.com!border2.nntp.dca.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!nf3.bellglobal.com!nf1.bellglobal.com!nf2.bellglobal.com!news20.bellglobal.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Anna Peppard" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW DS9 The Lines of the Day 8/35 [pg 13] b/e Lines: 91 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Message-ID: Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:57:55 -0400 NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.209.185.163 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sympatico.ca X-Trace: news20.bellglobal.com 1098741258 216.209.185.163 (Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:54:18 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:54:18 EDT Organization: Bell Sympatico Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161193 X-Received-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:09:32 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) The Lines of the Day Part One: Emergence Part 8/35 Ezri wasn't sure how long she'd been wandering around the promenade before she found herself back at Quark's bar, but it must have been a long time, because by the time she got there, it seemed as though the party had been over for quite some time. Walking in the open door, she saw only a few stragglers hanging around: Morn, and two Bajorans leaning over a table in the corner, either asleep or very, very drunk. Other than them, though, the only other people in the bar were Quark's Ferengi waiters as they took their time gathering up trays and sweeping the floors for lost valuables. "Hi, Quark." Ezri plopped herself down heavily onto one of the barstools, leaning her forearms in front of her on the metal counter, as she waited for Quark, who was ducked down under the bar, to draw himself up. "Ezri!" Quark grinned in greeting as he straightened, exposing his pointed, Ferengi teeth. "We're just about closed for the evening." "Just one drink. For old time's sake." Quark eyed her for a moment, then shrugged. "For old time's sake." He reached down under the counter, and brought up a long bottle of a yellow colored liquid. He poured some into a glass and slid it towards her. Ezri sipped it slowly. "So," she began. "How's business?" Quark eyed her. "Yes, I suppose you wouldn't know. You've been rather... busy, lately, haven't you?" Ezri blinked at him, smiling mockingly. "Why Quark... you're not jealous, are you?" Quark gave a small, dismissive wave of his hand. "You're too good for him," he said. "I've always said that. Just like Jadzia was too good for Worf." "Well, everyone's entitled to their opinion, I suppose." Sharp Ferengi eyes regarded her. "It's just a shame people never take any heed of my opinions." Ezri rolled her eyes, but couldn't help smiling. She was glad Quark had remained on the station after the war; things just wouldn't have been the same without him. "And how have things been going on Ferenginar?" she asked. "Your brother... the Grand Nagus..." It was obviously a sore subject with Quark. He shook his head, releasing a heavy breath as he did so. "Don't get me started. I mean, I've always said my brother's an idiot," he said. "I just never realized how big of an idiot he was until now. I tell you... Zek must have been madder than I thought to make him the Grand Nagus. Just this morning, he sent me two subspace messages, first to tell me that it was raining, then to ask me if I'd seen his brown shoes, which he wanted to wear to the council meeting this afternoon. I told him, 'you're the Grand Nagus. You can buy as many pairs of shoes as you want, and almost anything you buy will be better than those awful brown things.' Of course, Rom's nothing if not practical. He just told me to look for the shoes, and that he'd find a different pair for the meeting." Ezri watched his consternation was barely contained amusement. It was so obvious that Quark loved his brother more than anything. "So you think he's a good Grand Nagus thus far?' Quark regarded her earnestly. "I can't think of anyone better to lead the people of this 'new Ferenginar' as they call it into whatever future they might have." "Have you told Rom that?" Quark inclined his head in her direction. "I tell him every day." Ezri smiled toothlessly, and took another sip of her drink. But as she swallowed its contents, the familiar taste hitting her tongue and slipping down her throat, she felt a sudden dizziness sweep over her. Sharply, she set down her drink, and gripped the side of the counter. Ever the keen observer, Quark noticed her sudden reaction, and eyed her with concern. "Are you alright?" After a brief hesitation, Ezri shook her head. "I'm fine," she told him, her dizziness having passed. Quark gave a slight, unconvinced nod. "This isn't about tomorrow, is it? Because if it is, you should know right now that I haven't planned anything. I'm already going to make enough money off this Federation joining, and I would never do something like that without consulting you first..." He might have continued, but Ezri interrupted him. "Wait, what are you talking about? What's tomorrow?" Quark stopped, and his sudden stillness made her nervous. "What?" she prompted. "Tomorrow... is the one year anniversary of Jadzia's death," Quark said flatly. Ezri blinked. She was surprised she'd forgotten. "Yes," she said quietly. "I suppose it is." "I'm sorry," Quark offered. "I thought you knew." "No," she said quickly. "No, it's not you're fault. Actually, I should thank you for reminding me. I should have known." Quark gave her a moment. "So... is this a special occasion for Trills? Do you have anything planned?" Ezri shook her head. "No, it's just another day. It's not common for Trills to honor the death days of their previous hosts." "But this is different, isn't it?" Ezri sighed. "Sort of, I guess. Mostly because I'm still so close to Jadzia. And... it might mean something to Julian." NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!atl-c03.usenetserver.com!wn14feed!worldnet.att.net!63.223.20.72!sjc1.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!nf3.bellglobal.com!nf1.bellglobal.com!nf2.bellglobal.com!news20.bellglobal.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Anna Peppard" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW DS9 The Lines of the Day 9/35 [pg 13] b/e Lines: 67 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Message-ID: <0Defd.5392$rs5.347030@news20.bellglobal.com> Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:58:46 -0400 NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.209.185.163 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sympatico.ca X-Trace: news20.bellglobal.com 1098741308 216.209.185.163 (Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:55:08 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:55:08 EDT Organization: Bell Sympatico Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161194 X-Received-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:10:19 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) The Lines of the Day Part One: Emergence Part 9/35 At the mention of the doctor, Quark seemed to tense, and his sharp eyes flickered. Ezri watched his reaction with interest. "What is it now?" she asked him. "You're really that jealous?" The Ferengi gave a small snort of laughter. "Jealous? Of course not. I was just wondering... what, with you two having been so close before... and now you're having a relationship... Are any of the rules of re-association being breached, here?" Ezri eyed him. "Are you asking me if Jadzia ever slept with Julian?" "No!" Quark raised a hand, accenting his denial. "I would never voice anything so distasteful." Ezri shrugged, and sipped her drink. She felt Quark's eyes on her the whole time, but managed to maintain a blank visage. Finally, the bartender could no longer take it. "Well?" he breathed, almost desperately. "I'm not answering that," she said coyly. "Besides... Jadzia was never in a relationship with Julian." "Maybe not," Quark conceded. "But they were close friends for many years. And I know for a fact that he was pinning after her-you-the whole time you and Worf were together." "Pinning?" she echoed, then changed her mind. "Well... Julian is pretty good at pinning... In fact, I remember one time..." "If this is another story about Curzon..." She turned to look at Worf, pretending to be insulted by his obvious expression of disinterest. "You never told me before that you didn't like hearing about my previous hosts. Anyway, it's not as though I don't listen to enough Klingon lore to satisfy even the most avid Klingon for years..." She watched as Worf shook his larger head. "That is not the same thing." "Why?" He was stuck, and he knew it. But what truly delighted Jadzia was the fact that she knew he would never admit his position. "I will check if Quark has our holosuite ready," he said, before standing, and heading for the staircase. "Hurry back," Jadzia called after him, as she watched his tall form disappear into the crowd. Suddenly finding herself alone, she looked around her. Morn was sitting at the bar, as usual, a little further down. Several Bajorans and a few Starfleet officers surrounded him. One officer in particular, however, at the very furthest end of the bar, near the door, attracted Jadzia's attention. Julian was staring down at his beverage, the small glass cupped in both of his brown hands. He didn't seem especially interested in drinking it; in fact, he didn't look interested in much of anything. Briefly, Jadzia found herself wondering why he would be so dejected, before she realized that she really had no idea. She'd been so busy since they'd returned to the station, first with her wedding, and then planning for the honeymoon... She hadn't actually spoken to him outside of their duties for weeks, not since she'd last had to visit the Infirmary. But then, perhaps it was better that way... She felt the hand that touched her shoulder lightly, and turned to face... ...Quark. "Ezri?" he asked, the concern in his voice suggesting to her that it wasn't the first time he'd tried to attract her attention. "Yes?" she said, almost absently. "Nothing. You just looked like you were lost there, for a minute." "I'm fine." Ezri gulped down the last of her synthehol, and stood up. "Well, I should go." Then, with a final parting smile at Quark, she left the bar. _______________________________________________________________ NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.pas.earthlink.net!elnk-nf2-pas!newsfeed.earthlink.net!sjc1.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!nf3.bellglobal.com!nf1.bellglobal.com!nf2.bellglobal.com!news20.bellglobal.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Anna Peppard" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW DS9 The Lines of the Day 10/35 [pg 13] b/e Lines: 74 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Message-ID: Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:00:36 -0400 NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.209.185.163 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sympatico.ca X-Trace: news20.bellglobal.com 1098741419 216.209.185.163 (Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:56:59 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:56:59 EDT Organization: Bell Sympatico Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161195 X-Received-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:12:02 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) The Lines of the Day Part One: Emergence Part 10/35 Ezri entered the Infirmary, the slightly brighter overhead lights spilling down over her, and looked around for Julian. The room was empty, though, with no patients or even nurses about. Idly, Ezri ambled forward, to the side of the first biobed. She looked down at its light blue cushioned surface, absently running her fingers along the edge of the bed, remembering some of the times she had lain on its surface... ..."Don't die, Jadzia... Please... I can't live without you and... I love you..." ..."Lieutenant Dax?" She raised her head to see one of Julian's nurses, a Bajoran female, enter the room. In the back of her mind, Ezri knew the woman's name, but at the moment found herself unable to remember. "Is there something I can help you with?" asked the nurse politely. Suddenly realizing that she had been staring at the woman for a longer than necessary time, Ezri blinked herself out of her trance. "Yes. I'm... looking for Julian." "Doctor Bashir went off duty several hours ago, sir," the nurse answered her. "He hasn't been back since then." "Oh... but I was sure... I mean, I thought..." A sudden wave of dizziness swept over her, and she stepped forward, groping about for something to hold on to. The nurse was there, fortunately, to keep her from tumbling to the floor on her face. Once the dizziness had subsided, Ezri smiled gratefully up at the nurse as she straightened herself out. "Are you okay, sir?" the nurse asked, not completely letting go of Ezri's arms. "I'm fine," Ezri assured her with a smile. Then her eyes grew distant, as she remembered something. "Did Julian ever tell you about when we first met?" she asked. The nurse shook her head. "No..." "Oh, I don't mean me," the Trill cautioned. "I mean... not exactly. I remember when he and Jadzia met, on the shuttlecraft heading here-heading to Deep Space Nine for the first time." "Lieutenant," the nurse was saying. "Maybe you should..." Ezri ignored her. "He was so much different then," she continued, smiling at the memory. "His hair was longer, and those wrinkles he has at the sides of his lips weren't quite so deep... And I don't even know if this is possible, but his eyes seemed... bigger, somehow. Maybe that's because he had so much energy. I remember the way he used to tear around the station. I always said..." Ezri blinked, and when she opened her eyes again, the world around her had adopted an unusual, blurred appearance. "I..." she touched her head, trying to steady herself against a sudden assault on her senses. The blurring around her only worsened, however, until she could no longer see anything at all. She tried to take another step forward, but found that her legs had given out on her, and she collapsed clumsily into the waiting arms of the nurse. She closed her eyes, finally no longer able to take the confusion around her, and her whole body seemed to cease working a moment later. She could feel the nurse helping her to the ground, and was vaguely aware of her calling for a medical team, before she lost consciousness. ___________________________________________________________ Julian was fast asleep when the blip of the computer sounded, plunging him back into cold, dark reality. He rolled tiredly over onto his back and cleared his throat before addressing the computer. "Bashir here." "Dr. Bashir," came the voice of nurse Talar over the com system. "We have a medical emergency in the Infirmary." Julian pushed himself into a sitting position, suddenly at full attention. "What seems to be the problem?" "Lieutenant Dax has had a seizure," the nurse replied. "She's in a coma." _______________________________________________________________ End of Part One NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!atl-c03.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!wns14feed!worldnet.att.net!207.35.177.252!nf3.bellglobal.com!nf1.bellglobal.com!nf2.bellglobal.com!news20.bellglobal.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Anna Peppard" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW DS9 The Lines of the Day 11/35 [pg 13] b/e Lines: 84 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Message-ID: Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:01:46 -0400 NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.209.185.163 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sympatico.ca X-Trace: news20.bellglobal.com 1098741489 216.209.185.163 (Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:58:09 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:58:09 EDT Organization: Bell Sympatico Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161196 X-Received-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:13:25 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) The Lines of the Day Part Two: Resurgence Part 11/35 "Shields at 71 percent!" Jadzia Dax heard her own voice for only a moment before it was swallowed by the confusion around her. She was peripherally aware of the smoke, and the sparks from exploding consoles, and the shouts. There was only one console that she was focused on, though, and only one voice that truly mattered. "Dax! Evasive procedures, pattern Alpha Seven!" Jadzia answered Captain Sisko's order immediately, willing her voice to carry over the barely restrained pandemonium. "Aye, sir!" She entered the commands into her console, focusing on her task. She'd been here before, more times than she cared to remember. She just had to focus on her tasks... The ship shuddered as it was assaulted again, the lights on the bridge flickering dangerously. "Shields down to 54 percent!" Jadzia called out. "Transfer emergency power! We have to keep those shields up!" Dax nodded once as she obeyed the captain. A strand of hair that had come loose was knocked down into her face by the motion, and it blurred the edge of her left eye. Jadzia desperately wanted to push it away, but she didn't dare look up from the controls long enough to do so. "Shields at 81 percent!" she was surprised by the relief that she heard in her voice. The ship buckled again, and Jadzia heard a cry as a console on her left burst out on its occupant in a flurry of sparks. Dax took her hands off the controls just long enough to slap her commbadge. "Dax to sickbay! Medical team to the bridge!" She thought she heard a voice answering her, but she couldn't be certain. She'd already re-focused on their flight plan. "Bring us about, old man! I want to swing by for another pass!" "Aye, aye, Captain!" she acknowledged. The thrill of the battle was not completely lost on her, and the sudden enthusiasm in her response was evidence of the fact. Dax risked a glance at the viewscreen as she brought the ship about. The view spun rapidly, bringing them face to face with the Jem'Hadar attack vessel. An illogical rush of adrenaline coursed through her as they faced the bug-like ship. They swooped down towards it, taking a few hits as they came across it's glowing, purple hull, firing again, and again, each explosion illuminating the dominating viewscreen in front of them. A few seconds later, the view confirmed what Dax's readings had already told her; the Jem'Hadar vessel had been destroyed. "Dax!" Sisko bellowed. "Take us..." "New orders, sir!" Chief O'Brien's voice cut through Jadzia's pinpoint concentration. "We're to pull back, and retreat." She glanced over her shoulder at Benjamin. He didn't look particularly pleased, although she knew he wasn't about to say so. "Looks like we've done enough damage for one day," he growled. "Get us out of here, Dax." "Aye, sir." The clouds of enemy ships disappeared from the viewscreen a few moments later, gradually replaced by other Starfleet vessels. "We're to report to Starbase 371 for reassignment," O'Brien reported. "Right. Dax, set course. Warp four. Engage." "Aye, sir." The enthusiasm was gone from her voice, the fire of the battle slowly diminishing within her. The stars streaked by them in long ribbons as the ship jumped obediently into warp. As frustrated as she was by their retreat, she felt herself relaxing as they warped away from the battle scene. There would be other times, she reminded herself. Before this war was over, there would be many more times. Releasing a breath, she finally took the time to push the offending strand of hair away from her face, tucking it clumsily back behind her ear. A familiar voice at her left then caused her to turn, and she remembered the console that had exploded during the battle. She looked down at Julian as the young doctor ran his scanner over the body of the fallen ensign. He didn't notice her gaze, too focused was he on his work. "He's got massive internal injuries," Julian was saying to one of his nurses. "We've got to get him to sickbay." Julian grunted with effort as he put one hand behind the ensign's back, his two arms cradling the man's upper body in preparation to transport. "Bashir to transporter room. Two to transport directly to sickbay." He looked up, then, his eyes drawn immediately to Jadzia, who was still watching him. Their gazes met for an instant before the forms of Julian and the ensign shimmered away in the transporter beam, leaving the Starfleet nurse to attend to the other minor injuries among the bridge crew. Jadzia returned to her console, and waited for them to approach the starbase. __________________________________________________________ NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!atl-c03.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!wns14feed!worldnet.att.net!207.35.177.252!nf3.bellglobal.com!nf1.bellglobal.com!nf2.bellglobal.com!news20.bellglobal.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Anna Peppard" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW DS9 The Lines of the Day 12/35 [pg 13] b/e Lines: 132 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Message-ID: Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:02:36 -0400 NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.209.185.163 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sympatico.ca X-Trace: news20.bellglobal.com 1098741543 216.209.185.163 (Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:59:03 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 17:59:03 EDT Organization: Bell Sympatico Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161197 X-Received-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:14:15 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) The Lines of the Day Part Two: Resurgence Part 12/35 Colonel Kira Nerys leaned her small body against the pale Infirmary wall, waiting. She hated waiting, had always hated it. Of course, she'd had to do it often enough over the years that she had become used to it, but that didn't mean she enjoyed it any more. After what seemed like an eternity, she saw Julian cross into the room. He was looking down at a pad that he had in his hand, but looked up as he noticed her. "Colonel," he greeted, walking away from her towards a medical console against the wall. Kira walked over to him and regarded the information he was consulting over his shoulder. "How is she?" "We're not sure yet," he answered her flatly. Kira shook her head. Julian wasn't a good liar, and she hated that he'd never realized it himself. "Julian..." At the sound of her saying his name, he closed his eyes against the data on the screen, and lowered his head as he released a heavy breath. "I don't know what's wrong with her," he admitted after a moment. "She's just... slipping away, and I don't know what to do." "What was she doing when she collapsed?" Kira asked. "Have you found any reason this would just happen?" Slowly, and almost reluctantly, Julian opened his eyes, and looked at her. "Nurse Talara was here when it happened. She says Ezri came into the Infirmary looking for me, except she knew I'd gone off duty earlier. Talara said she seemed confused, and started talking about... about me..." He swallowed, and she could see him clenching his jaw. "And then she collapsed." Thinking back to her earlier conversation with Ezri, Kira couldn't help but wonder if what had happened to the Trill was somehow connected to the problems she and Julian had apparently been having. Seeing Julian's reaction as he explained the circumstances only confirmed her suspicion. "Is she in stable condition?" "For the time being," Julian nodded tiredly. "But I can't guarantee how long she'll stay that way." "Then maybe you should try and get some sleep. You've been awake for nearly twenty hours." Julian shook his head. "There's no telling how her condition might change during the night. She might have a seizure, or suffer a sudden drop in her SOMETHING TRILLISH levels." Kira sympathized with what he was going through. She'd been where he was before, as well as where she currently was herself; on the verge of loosing a close friend. But she was determined not to let her concern affect her sense of duty. She crossed her arms across her chest. "Is there any indication that either of those things will happen?" Julian opened his mouth his mouth to protest, but ultimately decided against it. "No," he sighed. "Then get some sleep," Kira uncrossed her arms, and lightly touched his arm. "You'll feel better." "I won't be able to sleep," he told her. "You know that." "I can order you off duty," she reminded him. "Kira..." The Bajoran's keen eyes went from Julian, to the patient ward, then back to Julian. "Keep me informed," she said simply, before turning on her heel and striding out of the Infirmary. Julian didn't watch her leave, although the soft sound of the door swishing shut behind her seemed to echo off the walls of his enhanced senses. He watched the data running across the screen in front of him with unseeing eyes, his normally acutely focused attention wandering beyond the point that he was able to control it. He found himself possessed by memories, in particular, one of another Dax host dying in his sickbay... In a very heavy motion, Julian plopped himself down into the chair beside the console. He leaned his body over his legs, resting his elbows on his knees, and wrapped his hands around the back of his lowered head, effectively closing out the world around him. He didn't want to face his memories, but he wanted to face the present even less... ..."Jadzia... I'm sorry... I just don't know what else to do... Don't die, Jadzia... Please... I can't live without you and... I love you..." ...The memory of his own voice sounded strange in his mind, and he was momentarily consumed by how much he didn't want to sound that way ever again. "Sir?" Julian removed his hands from the back of his head, and looked up at Dr. Girani, who was standing in front of him, looking down at him with some concern. "Yes?" he tried to make his tone nonchalant. "Umh... Is something wrong, sir?" Julian continued to look up at her, considering what might be a reasonable reply to her question. "Lieutenant Dax is inside," he told her. "She's suffered some sort of mental decline, and we're not sure what's wrong." The Bajoran woman nodded, as though that explained everything. "I understand," she said. "Is the Colonel letting you stay on duty?" "For now." "I'll watch her for a while, if you want." Dr. Girani was a few years younger than Julian, as indeed everyone seemed to be these days. At that moment, though, he felt as if she were decades older than himself. "Thanks," he offered. "I'll be in my office." The Bajoran nodded, and walked past Julian into the patient ward. Once she'd left, he stood, and entered the his office, which was just to the left of the patient ward. The door closed behind him, and he rounded his desk so that he could look at his personal console on the other side. Sitting down in his chair, he noticed that he had one message waiting for him. Punching up the data on the message, he saw that it was from Cardassia, from the only Cardassian he knew: Garak. "Computer, play message." The computer blipped. "Message is text only." "Display message." Again the computer blipped before displaying a screen full of writing. Julian leaned back in his chair, and started to read. "My dear Doctor: "Forgive my delay in responding to your kind communications. I wanted to give this modest chronicle I've enclosed a modicum of organization and update it before I sent it to you. Thank you for your concern. I have thought of you often since our last meeting, and I am pleased to hear that your life on Deep Space 9 remains challenging and productive. Considering all the changes that have taken place I would have expected nothing less. And I'm certainly not surprised that your research proposals have been accepted. You're a brilliant young scientist-even if you are genetically enhanced. As for my life here... "It's the dust. I can live with the rubble. I can live with the survivors who move like holographic phantoms and spend every waking hour scavenging for whatever will keep them alive. I can even live with the stench of the corpses that litter the broken streets..." In a violent motion, Julian punched a button on the console, deleting the text from the screen. He would read the Cardassian's message, he owed his friend at least that much. But not now. He couldn't deal with that right now. Instead, he called up all the information he knew on Trill physiology, and started reading the safe, detached words of the medical reports that appeared on the screen. _________________________________________________________________ NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.pas.earthlink.net!elnk-nf2-pas!newsfeed.earthlink.net!sjc1.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!nf3.bellglobal.com!nf1.bellglobal.com!nf2.bellglobal.com!news20.bellglobal.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Anna Peppard" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW DS9 The Lines of the Day 13/35 [pg 13] b/e Lines: 96 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Message-ID: Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:03:35 -0400 NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.209.185.163 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sympatico.ca X-Trace: news20.bellglobal.com 1098741601 216.209.185.163 (Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:00:01 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:00:01 EDT Organization: Bell Sympatico Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161198 X-Received-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:15:28 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) The Lines of the Day Part Two: Resurgence Part 13/35 Bashir bit back the curse that sprung unbidden to his lips, knowing that it wouldn't encourage his staff to hear the frustrations of their CMO. Instead, he settled for a deep, calming breath. "Cordrazine, ten milligrams." The nurse promptly handed him the hypo, and Bashir inserted it into the young lieutenant's neck, doing his best to find a place that wasn't completely adulterated by blood. The blood was everywhere. It dripped off his surgical gloves as he worked, as he fought to keep the young man's insides in once piece. He was detached from the actual humanistic quality of his work, concentrating only on the technical aspects for the time being. But still, in the back of his mind, there was the constant reminder that the lieutenant had a life of his own somewhere, people waiting for him to come home, loved ones who might be anxious if they were aware of the state the man was currently in. When he operated, though, Bashir tried to isolate that part of him. He couldn't afford to be distracted. He was just finishing with the application of the micro-cellular sutures when he saw the shimmer of a transporter beam on the floor at his right. As the two figures materialized on the carpet at his feet, he couldn't help the way his eyes widened at the sight, all his clinical detachment momentarily deserting him. The female engineer, who was being supported by one of his nurses, was covered with blood. But despite the loss of fluids, she was somehow still conscious. Even with all the other noises around him, Bashir could somehow hear distinctively her sputtered cries of pain. Her ashen face contorted into a mask of pain with each unintelligible protest, in response, no doubt, to the long, thin metal bar that protruded awkwardly from the torn flesh of her stomach. He handed his regenerating instrument off to a nurse beside him. "The bleeding's stopped. You can close him up." He then turned to the engineer. "Help me get her up on the biobed!" he instructed, and the willing hands of his nurse promptly obeyed. Together, they lifted the quivering body up onto the blue sheets, setting her down as carefully as possible. His mask now thoroughly back in place, Bashir surveyed her condition with a trained eye. "We have to get the bar out before we can do anything," he said, speaking calmly. He looked across the bed at the nurse on the other side. "I'm going to need you to support her," he said. "Hold her down while I pull it out." She looked shaken. She was young, Bashir knew, and had only been on assignment for a few weeks. Still, Bashir knew she was ready, knew she had the experience within her to handle the task. As long as she remained calm. "It'll be okay," he assured her, making sure to take any edge off his own voice as he met her gaze. "Just make sure she doesn't move. I'm going to count to three, okay?" She nodded. "Okay..." he looked down at the bar, adjusting his hands to make sure he achieved a firm grip. "On three. One... two... three..." He pulled the bar, quickly, but steadily, and it left the engineer's stomach with a distinct sucking sound that Bashir did his best to ignore. The sucking sound was followed by an immediate rush of blood. Almost like a clogged fountain, the blood spurted up from the ragged hole towards Bashir, splattering thickly across his face. Bashir ignored the infraction, instead concentrating on stopping the woman's bleeding. The woman cried out. It was a loud cry, louder than any she had managed previously. Bashir wished she would save her strength; he needed all the help he could get. As the minutes passed, Bashir was slowly becoming aware that he wasn't going to be able to stop the bleeding. There were too many internal injuries, too much blood lost already. It was actually a small miracle that the engineer had managed to stay alive as long as she had. But still, he fought. He fought for her as hard as he could, used every technique to knew. He employed all of his formidable skill, but the bleeding refused to stop. She was drowning in her own fluids, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. "We're loosing her," the young nurse announced from the readings at the side of the biobed. Bashir shook his head, but didn't respond. He'd come to the same conclusion minutes before, and a few minutes after that, it was over. With a heavy motion, Bashir set the dermal regenerator down at the side of the biobed, knowing the fight was over. He looked up at his young nurse, and she looked back at him with shinning eyes. He nodded once, and she reached over the engineer's body and closed the young woman's eyelids. Bashir wondered idly if the two had known each other. Still, there was no time to dwell on the loss. More casualties were coming in all the time, and Bashir had to go and attend to them. He was just turning away from the biobed when the nurse's voice stopped him. "Sir?" He paused, and looked at her. "Yes?" She handed him a blue towel. Bashir hesitated only an instant before remembering the blood on his face. "Thanks." He accepted the towel gratefully and wiped all the blood he could off his face, although most of it had already dried across his features. He then moved on to the next patient. It wouldn't be until several hours later that he would be given the opportunity to clean his face completely. NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!newshosting.com!nx02.iad01.newshosting.com!38.144.126.100.MISMATCH!feed5.newsreader.com!newsreader.com!border2.nntp.dca.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!nf3.bellglobal.com!nf1.bellglobal.com!nf2.bellglobal.com!news20.bellglobal.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Anna Peppard" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW DS9 The Lines of the Day 14/35 [pg 13] b/e Lines: 43 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Message-ID: Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:04:40 -0400 NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.209.185.163 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sympatico.ca X-Trace: news20.bellglobal.com 1098741662 216.209.185.163 (Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:01:02 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:01:02 EDT Organization: Bell Sympatico Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161199 X-Received-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:16:12 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) The Lines of the Day Part Two: Resurgence Part 14/35 He looked at himself in the mirror as he splashed the water over his face, scrubbing the dried blood with a cloth. Slowly, the crusty, red splotches began to dissolve and wash away. The pink water in the sink swirled down the drain as he finished. Bashir looked again at his reflection as he dried his face. He looked tired, he noticed. He looked very tired. There was a rather tentative knock on the side of the open doorway leading into the room then, and Bashir turned to see Jadzia standing just outside the door. "Hi," she smiled, an expression that never reached her eyes. "Hi," he smiled weakly back at her. "What are you doing here?" She looked down at her feet as she strolled slowly into the room. "I was wondering if you'd be interested in some dinner," she asked him. "There's a replimat at the starbase, and there was something I wanted to talk to you about." She looked up at him. Bashir hesitated. "Uh... right now?" Jadzia looked around her. "Are you busy?" "Well..." he swallowed. "No... I mean, not really. It's just that, I should be here, in case anyone else comes in. There are also some patients that I'd like to keep on eye on..." He let his voice trail off, but Jadzia got the message. "It's okay," she said. "I understand. I'll see you later?" He nodded once, doing his best to muster what he hoped was an encouraging smile. "Count on it." She smiled back at him before she turned, and left sickbay. Bashir watched her go with mixed emotions. He wasn't precisely sure why he'd turned down her dinner invitation, only knowing that he couldn't be around her at the present. He wasn't ready to share his experiences with Jadzia, and doubted that he would have the concentration to focus on anything else. Better to let her go, he told himself; she had enough to worry about. Besides, he would get over it before long. He always did. He looked out into sickbay at the rows of sleeping patients but, despite all his personal assurances, found his gaze drawn inexplicably to the violent, red stain that still marred the blue carpet across the room. _____________________________________________________________ NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!elnk-nf2-pas!newsfeed.earthlink.net!sjc1.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!nf3.bellglobal.com!nf1.bellglobal.com!nf2.bellglobal.com!news20.bellglobal.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Anna Peppard" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW DS9 The Lines of the Day 15/35 [pg 13] b/e Lines: 62 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Message-ID: Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:05:54 -0400 NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.209.185.163 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sympatico.ca X-Trace: news20.bellglobal.com 1098741736 216.209.185.163 (Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:02:16 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:02:16 EDT Organization: Bell Sympatico Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161200 X-Received-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:17:37 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) The Lines of the Day Part Two: Resurgence Part 15/35 "Dr. Bashir. It's a pleasure to speak to you again." Bashir forced his face into a pleasant smile as he responded. "Dr. Rhenol. Thank you. I only wish it were under better circumstances." "Of course," the Initiate Head's frown deepened, if that was possible. "How is Lieutenant Dax?" Bashir took a breath before starting into his explanation. "She's stable, for now. At about 0100 hours this morning she came into the Infirmary, complaining of dizziness, and then she collapsed. My analysis indicates that her higher brain functions are still operative, although her motor system and sensory relays seem to be inactive." "A psychically induced coma," Dr. Rhenol extrapolated cooly. "That's the conclusion I came to." Her eyes left him for a moment, then turned back. "These things have not been unknown to happen," she began. "They're part of the reason that we have such a rigorous initiate program to begin with. A symbiot being joined with the wrong Trill can result in permanent psychological damage for both host and symbiot. There hasn't been a case like this one in centuries." "You're saying there's no standard treatment." "Essentially, yes." Bashir kept his expression neutral. "Dr. Rhenol... I've run every test that I could find in the medical journals. I even made up a few of my own during the process. I've racked my brain trying to find a cure for this thing, and, quite honestly, I've gotten nowhere. If there's anything that you can do to help..." "If she destabilizes further, you're to contact me as soon as possible," she told him. "I can have an initiate at the station in under four hours." He felt his bottom lip droop open, but found himself unable to stop it. "So you just want me to contact you when she's ready to die. Is that it?" "Dr. Bashir," Dr. Rhenol leaned forward on her desk, visually closing the distance between them. "I'm sorry about Lieutenant Dax. I'm sorry about the circumstances that led to her joining, but she was given a choice. She decided to accept the symbiot, knowing full well of the possible consequences. This is an unfortunate occurrence, but with a host as unprepared for joining as she was... Quite frankly, it's a wonder something like this didn't occur sooner." "Did you mention that to her before you forced her into accepting the symbiot?" Bashir practically demanded. "I am not here to argue Initiate policy with you, Doctor," she reminded him tersely. "I have no further research that may be of service to you in your work. Contact me again if you... need anything more." Her eyes, although actually originating from hundreds of light years away, drilled into him for one more trying second before she broke the link, and Bashir's screen went blank. "Damn!" he brought his clenched fist to bear on the glass tabletop, completely unaffecting the table, but hurting his hand quite nicely. Doing his best to push Dr. Rhenol's remarks to the back of his mind, he called up, for the umpteenth time that day, the data on Ezri's condition, and resumed reading. There was only a slim possibility that he had missed anything on the first two times around, but maybe reviewing it all again would help him to think of something, anything, else that he could do for her. Every disease had a cure; it was a motto by which he lived his life. The only problem was finding it, especially when he had no idea how much time he might have left. ___________________________________________________________ NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.pas.earthlink.net!elnk-nf2-pas!newsfeed.earthlink.net!sjc1.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!nf3.bellglobal.com!nf1.bellglobal.com!nf2.bellglobal.com!news20.bellglobal.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Anna Peppard" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW DS9 The Lines of the Day 16/35 [pg 13] b/e Lines: 60 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Message-ID: Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:06:37 -0400 NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.209.185.163 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sympatico.ca X-Trace: news20.bellglobal.com 1098741779 216.209.185.163 (Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:02:59 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:02:59 EDT Organization: Bell Sympatico Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161201 X-Received-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:18:19 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) The Lines of the Day Part Two: Resurgence Part 16/35 Julian Bashir walked quickly down the spartan corridors of Starbase 379. It wasn't that he was in a hurry to get anywhere; on the contrary, he was off-duty. His rapid pace was just intuitive. It felt right to hurry, somehow, perhaps because it seemed like ages that he'd even had the opportunity to slow down. Each day that the war went on was lived with the constant threat of disaster. Fear seemed to blanket the emotions of everyone in the service like a thick cloud, creating a fog of distance between once close friends and widening gulfs of misunderstanding between enemies. And as the casualties mounted, as more and more Starfleet personnel either died or went missing every day, it didn't look as though it was a threat that was likely to dissipate soon. Julian tried to keep his distance from the unsettling fears and uncertainties that sometimes threatened to overwhelm him. But it was a task that was becoming more and more difficult as the weeks mounted. Ever since they'd been forced to evacuate Deep Space Nine, Julian hadn't been sleeping well. He'd been plagued with nightmares, nightmares about the Dominion, often centering around the time he spent at Internment Camp 371. As his insomnia worsened, Julian found his attention wandering more and more during his work. Pieces of his dreams were starting to come to him during wakefulness, to the point where he found himself feeling uncomfortable in darkened spaces, so much did they remind him of the solitary confinement cell in which he'd once spent five long days under the Dominion's watchful eye. Many times, especially over the last couple of weeks, he actually taken to administrating sedatives to plunge himself into a dreamless sleep. He was so lost in his thoughts that he almost ran directly into Chief of Operations Miles O'Brien as he rounded a corner. The chief stopped himself just in time to avoid the hurrying doctor, as Julian, too, stopped quickly and stepped back. "Miles!" Julian exclaimed, the near collision having snapped him fully back into reality. "Julian," Miles greeted him. "Where are you headed?" "I just got off-duty," Julian explained. "I was headed to the replimat to get something to eat. Care to join me?" The chief looked momentarily troubled. "Well... I'm supposed to re-calibrating the sensor relays for docking port seven but... It was about time I took a break, anyway." "Great!" Julian smiled, genuinely happy for the company of his friend, whom he'd seldom seen of late. They walked together down the final stretch of plain hallway to the equally plain replimat. Once there, they approached one of the several replicators that lined the walls. Miles ordered a corn beef sandwich, but when it came to be Julian's turn to order, he found himself stumped. It was nearly 1400 hours, and Julian had skipped breakfast earlier. And yet... he couldn't seem to muster any sort of appetite at all. Instead, he settled on a hot cup of Tarkalean tea, and followed Miles over to an empty table. As they each took a seat at one of the dull, gray tables that littered the rectangular eating area, Julian found himself feeling almost homesick towards the quirky, alien design of the abandoned space station; it might have been garish and noisy, but at least it had been interesting, unlike the official Starfleet bases, which were designed with nothing more that function in mind. He thought he saw the chief shoot an inquiring glance at his nonexistent meal, but the look vanished just as quickly as it came. NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.pas.earthlink.net!elnk-pas-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!pd7cy1no!shaw.ca!sjc1.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!nf3.bellglobal.com!nf1.bellglobal.com!nf2.bellglobal.com!news20.bellglobal.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Anna Peppard" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW DS9 The Lines of the Day 17/35 [pg 13] b/e Lines: 86 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Message-ID: Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:07:58 -0400 NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.209.185.163 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sympatico.ca X-Trace: news20.bellglobal.com 1098741861 216.209.185.163 (Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:04:21 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:04:21 EDT Organization: Bell Sympatico Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161202 X-Received-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:19:37 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) The Lines of the Day Part Two: Resurgence Part 17/35 "So how long has it been?" Julian looked up at Miles, wondering if he'd been daydreaming again. "Excuse me?" "Since we left Deep Space Nine," the chief clarified. Julian blinked, still uncertain about how he felt about using his 'gifts' around his friends and co-workers. "4 weeks, 3 days... and 36 minutes." Miles smiled briefly, but looked down again quickly at his sandwich. Julian sipped his tea absently as the chief bit into the sandwich. "I bet things have been busy down at the Infirmary," Miles began once he'd finished chewing. "I think we're all being pushed pretty hard," Julian concurred, carefully dodging discussing his own work. "I understand you've had rather a busy schedule yourself since we docked." Miles made a sound that was half laugh, half groan. "You can say that again. You know... five years ago, this workload might have tried my patience. But now, after spending so much time slaving over those damn Cardassian contraptions, working with good, old-fashioned Starfleet technology is almost a relief." He paused, and his eyes flickered. Julian could tell that he was preparing to launch into an uncomfortable topic, and felt fairly certain that he knew what it was going to be. "I suppose you've heard about Dax and Worf," Miles said after a moment. Julian didn't react. It wasn't news to him any more, and he refused to act as though he were still uncomfortable with the woman he'd once been infatuated with marrying another man. "Of course," he confirmed. "I'm happy for them. I suppose it's about time." Miles eyed him, but didn't question his sincerity. "Dax says the wedding's set for after the war is over," he said. "Assuming any of us live that long." Julian snorted in a humorless response to his friend's gallows humor. "They'll be having a traditional Klingon ceremony, I suppose." "That's what Dax was saying," Miles confirmed. "Haven't you talked to her about it yourself? I would have expected her to tell you in person..." Julian remembered the day in the Infirmary, when Jadzia had come to ask him to dinner. "Well, if I've learned anything in the past few weeks, it's how to appreciate the unexpected." He was surprised by how angry he sounded, especially since he'd already convinced himself that he was okay with the news. "I thought you might feel that way," said Miles. "I wanted to talk to you since I found out, but I've just been so busy..." Julian interrupted him before he could go any further. The last thing he wanted was pity. "It was years ago, Miles. Years and years ago. I assure you, I'm completely comfortable with all of this. I'm happy for them. Really. Why shouldn't I be? They love each other, don't they?" "Well, I should think so. Seems like they must have been magnetically drawn, the way they got together so quickly. What has it been? Almost a year since they've been involved?" Julian nodded. "Something like that. I guess that's just the way it works when you find the right person." There was a pause, and when Julian's eyes refocused, he saw that Miles was looking at him. "Are you sure you're okay?" "Miles, I'm fine," Julian assured him, slightly exasperated. "It was so long ago, I barely even remember..." "C'mon, Julian... that deserted planet fantasy isn't something that just falls from memory..." Julian frowned at the engineer, which only encouraged his friend into a laugh. "I should never have told you. From this day forward, I'll never tell you anything again." Miles laughed. "Fine, then. You can tell Worf, instead. He could turn it into a holosuite program!" Julian smiled, but found himself feeling strangely vacant, and unable to share in Miles' good humor. The minutes passed, as Miles discussed the details of the repair schedule, including what was to be done with the as yet unattended to Defiant, which needed to have its phaser banks completely recharged after their last run. Julian relished the safe topics as Miles finished his sandwich, enjoying the pleasant distraction from his own reality. When the chief had finished eating, though, the older man pushed his chair away from the table, and stood up. "I should get going," he said. "I have to finish with that re-calibration." Julian nodded. "I'll see you later." Miles nodded once. "Take care of yourself, Julian." And then he was gone, and the doctor found himself once again alone, left once more at the mercy of his adventurous imagination. He sipped his tea, which was now quite cold. But Julian didn't mind. He hadn't felt especially like tea, anyway. _________________________________________________________ NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!atl-c03.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!wns13feed!worldnet.att.net!204.71.34.3!newsfeed.cwix.com!border1.nntp.dca.giganews.com!border2.nntp.dca.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!nf3.bellglobal.com!nf1.bellglobal.com!nf2.bellglobal.com!news20.bellglobal.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Anna Peppard" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW DS9 The Lines of the Day 18/35 [pg 13] b/e Lines: 109 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Message-ID: Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:08:39 -0400 NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.209.185.163 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sympatico.ca X-Trace: news20.bellglobal.com 1098741902 216.209.185.163 (Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:05:02 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:05:02 EDT Organization: Bell Sympatico Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161203 X-Received-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:20:11 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) The Lines of the Day Part Two: Resurgence Part 18/35 It was only when the edge of a knuckle shifted into his eye socket that he finally woke up. Groggily, Julian raised his head, surveying his unfamiliar surroundings, which his sore muscles recognized as somewhere he didn't usually sleep. He saw that he was still in his office, miles of square, yellow letters spread out across the portable console in front of him. With a disgusted swipe, Julian pushed the console away from him, effectively turning the screen around as he did so, so that he could no longer see the letters. It hadn't been helping, anyway. He already knew all the documented reports on Trill physiology by memory, and there was no new information for him to absorb. He was just wasting time; it was all a waste of time, and an excuse to avoid dealing with the real issues, as well as the painful truth that he had no idea where to take the issues. For once in his life, he felt lost, and the feeling unsettled him. Although the console was turned away from him, Julian's enhanced hearing couldn't help but register the beep that it emitted into the silence room. For a few thoughtful seconds, he allowed the short, sharp beeps to continue. Then, he finally surrendered to duty and pulled the console around to face him, pressing the button that would receive the incoming message. His stubble-flecked face resting droopily against his closed fist, Julian perked up when he saw who he was speaking to. "Hi, Julian." "Miles..." he dropped the hand that was propping up his head, his energy having suddenly returned. Professor Miles Edward O'Brien looked back at him across subspace with concern. He looked the same as he always did, light, slightly graying curls surrounding his round, serious face. The only difference was that he was wearing civilian attire, instead of his customary black and grey uniform. "Who told you?" "Kira," replied O'Brien. "She contacted me a little over an hour ago. This was the first chance I had to get away." "Ah... the brass keeping you busy?" "You said it," he enthused. Then, "How are you?" Julian considered the question, trying to come up with the most judicious way to answer. "I feel like hell." O'Brien snorted. "You look like hell." "Thanks." "How is she?" "I..." he trailed off. "I'm working on it." "Yeah? And while you're working on that, maybe you should work on finding a sonic shower to jump into." "I would," said Julian. "except they've all gone off-line since you left, and no one here seems to be able to get them up and running again." "Bloody hell," breathed the former engineer. "I hope you're joking..." Julian smiled weakly, and saw Miles doing the same from the console screen. "I don't know what I'm gonna do, Miles." Now, even Miles' forced smile fell, and he sighed. "You're sure you don't know what's causing it?" Julian looked at him. "Okay, okay... then I guess we have a problem." "That's for sure," the doctor agreed. "I've already contacted the symbiosis commission, and informed them of her condition." "And?" "And... they said that if she destabilizes further, I'm to contact them right away, so that they can send a Initiate to the station." Miles frowned. "They have no idea what's happening either, do they?" "Well," Julian began tiredly, his former energy slowly deserting him as he was once again confronted with his problems. "They agree with my diagnosis, that it's some kind of psychically induced coma, in which the brain is active, but the body is unresponsive. Possibly, she's trapped in the memories of one or more of Dax's previous hosts." "So how do you bring her out of it?" "Well that's the problem, isn't it?" the younger man lamented. "I haven't a clue." "So you just wait," Miles extrapolated grimly. "And hope she comes out of it." "For now." Miles looked down at his feet-or, at least what was presumably his feet, as Julian couldn't see anything but his friend's face, from the shoulders up. "I wish I was there with you, Julian. I should be there..." "No," Julian shook his head. "Don't worry. She's not in any immediate danger right now. All her life signs are normal; she's resting comfortably..." Miles looked up. "But..." Julian put his face in his hand, his fingers obscuring half of his face, and closed his eyes as he smiled humorlessly. "I miss her, Miles. I really miss her." "Listen, Julian." Somewhat reassured by the familiar, hard voice of his friend, Julian opened his eyes. "She'll be fine," O'Brien stated. Removing his hand, Julian laughed flatly at O'Brien's reassurance. "Of course. And how can you be so sure of that?" "Because she's a Dax," he said. "That... and the two of you have been through too much to have it end here, now... just when it started getting interesting." Julian looked back at his friend-his best friend-wishing not for the first time that they weren't separated by thousands of light years. After a moment, he smiled. "If you only knew how interesting..." Miles held up a hand in protest. "Later! I've got first-year cadets in the next room." There was a companionable silence as they relished the joke, cast as it was against such a serious backdrop. "Well I... suppose I should be getting on," Miles said at last. "My pupils await." "Yes, of course," Julian concurred. "I guess I'll... talk to you later." "Let me know," he said. "if she gets any worse." "After the Symbiosis Commission, you're on the top of my list," the doctor assured him. "Glad to hear it," he said. "Hang in there, Julian." The image of O'Brien blinked off the screen, replaced with the 'transmission terminated' reminder in large, blue letters. "I'll try," Julian mumbled at the dark screen. "I'll damn sure try..." ______________________________________________________ NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.pas.earthlink.net!elnk-nf2-pas!newsfeed.earthlink.net!sjc1.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!nf3.bellglobal.com!nf1.bellglobal.com!nf2.bellglobal.com!news20.bellglobal.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Anna Peppard" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW DS9 The Lines of the Day 19/35 [pg 13] b/e Lines: 74 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Message-ID: Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:09:37 -0400 NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.209.185.163 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sympatico.ca X-Trace: news20.bellglobal.com 1098741960 216.209.185.163 (Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:06:00 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:06:00 EDT Organization: Bell Sympatico Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161204 X-Received-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:21:08 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) The Lines of the Day Part Two: Resurgence Part 19/35 The grip of the transporter slowly dissipated, and Bashir's senses returned to him. He squinted into the darkened engineering section of the Pegasus, the lights blinking and shorting erratically around him and his staff, as well as the crewmembers of the ship. Bashir barely noticed the noise, barely acknowledged the cries of pain and suffering and fear. He'd been in this situation too often over the past couple of weeks to be shocked by any of it. With more and more Federation ship's falling victim to the Dominion, this had become just another part of his daily routine. He opened his tricorder and took the readings of the fallen engineer nearest him. The unconscious Bolian was suffering from a mild concussion. Bashir reached into his medical bag and took out a dermal regenerator to repair the cut on the Bolian's head where dark blue blood was still seeping out. That done, he began to attend to the concussion. Despite how accustomed he had become to the noise and confusion, he still recognized the shout that penetrated his concentration then as unusual. Bashir turned away from his patient, gazing down into the dimly lit section in the direction of the noise. He didn't have to wait long for an answer, however, as a male member of the Pegasus crew grabbed his shoulder, gesturing in the direction Bashir was already looking. "He's hurt badly," the lieutenant yelled to be heard over the noise. "He won't let anyone near him, though. Please, he's a good guy, he's just scared. You have to help him! You have to help!" Bashir looked from the Lieutenant to the Bolian, and then back before he nodded, rising from his crouch to follow the Lieutenant further into the section. The Lieutenant gripped Bashir's arm as he led the way, almost pulling him along. Knowing that the crew had been under a great deal of stress, Bashir tolerated the grip as he made his way around the slew of fallen crewmen. There was another cry, and the sound of something smashing into a console. There was a brief sputter of low voltage sparks, and then silence. The Lieutenant that was leading Bashir stopped, and Bashir stopped behind him. He waited for a moment, disengaging the man's grip as politely as possible and moving cautiously forward. "Hello?" he called. When he didn't receive an answer, he called again. "Hello?" His answer came in the form of a blow across the shoulder. Almost from out of nowhere, a powerful arm knocked him back against the wall, his back colliding heavily with the metal surface. The face that came towards Bashir was splattered with blood, blood which was coming, Bashir saw, from an open laceration on the man's temple. "I'm here to treat you," Bashir said slowly, calmly. "I'm a doctor." The man's eyes flickered wildly across Bashir's face. For a moment, Bashir thought that reason might win over, but as the man grabbed Bashir's body and pushed him aside, he knew he had been mistaken. Fear had taken control of this man, and there was no telling what he might be capable of in his current state. Bashir knew he had to stop the man before he injured anyone else. As the man tried to run forwards, Bashir grabbed a hold of his arm, forcing him back around. "You have to stop! Do you understand me? Everything will be okay, you just have to..." The man swung one fist towards Bashir in a wild swipe, but the doctor, with all his genetically enhanced hand eye coordination, was able to grab the fist before it hit him, deflecting the blow away from himself. He managed to get a grip on the front of the man's gray uniform, and tried to force him to be still. "It'll be okay," he said again. "Just relax..." He saw the other arm coming at him, but with both of his hands occupied keeping his grip on the man's collar, Bashir was unable to do anything about the assault. As it was raised into the air, Bashir caught a glimpse of the pointed object in the man's hand as it picked up the blinking emergency lights along it's serrated edge, then recognizing it for what it was-a piece of broken glass from the screen of one of the consoles. The man brought it to bear on Bashir, slicing across the doctor's chest, just under the his ribs. As sharp as the glass was, it cut easily through the fabric of Bashir's uniform and into the skin underneath. NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.pas.earthlink.net!elnk-nf2-pas!newsfeed.earthlink.net!sjc1.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!nf3.bellglobal.com!nf1.bellglobal.com!nf2.bellglobal.com!news20.bellglobal.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Anna Peppard" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW DS9 The Lines of the Day 20/35 [pg 13] b/e Lines: 54 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Message-ID: <2Oefd.5408$rs5.350165@news20.bellglobal.com> Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:10:32 -0400 NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.209.185.163 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sympatico.ca X-Trace: news20.bellglobal.com 1098742014 216.209.185.163 (Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:06:54 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:06:54 EDT Organization: Bell Sympatico Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161205 X-Received-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:22:00 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) The Lines of the Day Part Two: Resurgence Part 20/35 Bashir cried out briefly in shock and pain as the glass ripped his flesh. Somehow, though, he managed to retain his grip on the man's collar long enough that one of his nurses was able to insert a hypospray of sedative into the man's exposed neck. Bashir released the man into the care of the nurse as he looked down to examine his own injury. The blood had already begun to soak his uniform, and Bashir knew that he'd need to get a pressure bandage onto the wound as quickly as possible before he became no good to the emergency team at all. Reaching into the medkit that was still slung over his shoulder, Bashir pulled out the pressure bandage and gritted his teeth as he stretched his skin flat, then applied the bandage. The bandage would presumably hold for at least a few hours, long enough for the current crisis to pass, at least. His own pain forgotten a moment later, Bashir returned his attention to the section full of injuries. _________________________________________________________ After nearly 35 hours of wakefulness, interspersed with brief, and infrequent periods of erratic sleep, anyone else might have been tempted to give up. Then again, Julian Bashir wasn't just anyone. He was genetically engineered to have greater stamina than a normal human, and as such he could do without as much sleep as others. Sometimes, he cherished his gift; other times, especially when he knew he would like nothing better than to escape reality for a few hours, he cursed it. As he examined the latest readouts on Ezri's brainwave patterns, though, he wasn't sure which reaction was most appropriate. "Dr. Bashir?" Julian blinked in momentary surprise, not having heard the approach of Chief Saunders. Perhaps his lack of sleep was affecting his senses more than he'd thought. He turned to face her, doing his best to keep his expression pleasant, although he knew that with his thickening beard and disheveled hair, he might have been hoping for too much. "Yes?" Her eyes were quite unprofessionally drawn to his unkempt appearance for an instant before she swallowed the slip and found her voice. "The Crissari transport at docking port five is ready to depart," she told him. "We need you to issue a health certificate." Gritting his teeth against the angry response that immediately sprung unbidden to his lips, the doctor channeled his anger into a sigh. "I'm afraid I'm a bit tied up at the moment," he told her, keeping his voice carefully neutral. "Perhaps Dr. Girani will be able to be of some assistance." Julian turned back to the console. For a moment, he thought the young chief of operations had been suitably mollified by his words. Unfortunately, though, she was more strong-willed than she appeared. "Dr. Girani is off-duty, sir," she reminded him. "And even if she weren't, you are the Chief Medical Officer for the station. It would be more appropriate for you to issue the certificate." NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!in.100proofnews.com!in.100proofnews.com!border2.nntp.dca.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!nf3.bellglobal.com!nf1.bellglobal.com!nf2.bellglobal.com!news20.bellglobal.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Anna Peppard" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW DS9 The Lines of the Day 21/35 [pg 13] b/e Lines: 104 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Message-ID: <%Oefd.5410$rs5.350216@news20.bellglobal.com> Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:11:32 -0400 NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.209.185.163 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sympatico.ca X-Trace: news20.bellglobal.com 1098742075 216.209.185.163 (Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:07:55 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:07:55 EDT Organization: Bell Sympatico Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161206 X-Received-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:23:10 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) The Lines of the Day Part Two: Resurgence Part 21/35 Julian closed his eyes against the steady stream of data in an effort to focus his growing annoyance. "Nurse Talara is authorized to issue health certificates," he said. Saunders took a step towards him, and when he opened his eyes, he found himself looking directly into hers. "With all due respect, sir, I don't think I'm overstepping the bounds of protocol with this request. You are the ranking medical officer, and you are currently on duty. That makes it your responsibility to-" Whirling to face her, Julian addressed her tersely. "And with all due respect to you, Chief, I outrank you, and therefore am not required to obey any orders you might choose to issue." Her hazel eyes stared up at him. He admired her for holding her ground, but wasn't in the mood to applaud her for it. "Permission to speak freely, sir." Julian swallowed. Somehow, he knew he was going to regret where the conversation was going to lead him. "Permission granted." "I heard a lot of stories about you before I came on board the station," she said. "Really," he smiled somewhat bemusedly. "What sorts of stories?" "I heard stories about your genetic enhancement, and how your father went to prison just so you could stay in the service," she told him. "At first, I thought that was selfish. I thought that you bartered your father away, just so that you could hold onto your commission, and I was angry that a Starfleet officer could behave in such a way." She paused, and Julian didn't try to interrupt her as she continued. "But then... I heard other stories... stories about how you saved an entire population from the Quickening virus, and how you were the youngest nominee ever for Starfleet's Carrington Award. I also discovered that you're the Federation's resident expert on Ketracel White, and a highly praised battlefield surgeon." Julian shook his head. "I'm sure this is all very flattering, but I really do need to get back to work..." "Frankly, Lieutenant," she interrupted him, emphasizing the fact that he was actually not much higher in rank than she was. "I found some of the stories a little hard to believe. Now, I'm just glad that I didn't get my hopes up." Saunders took a step backwards, and turned away from him to leave. "If you don't mind my asking," Julian called out to her retreating form. Saunders stopped, and turned to face him. "How old are you, Chief?" Saunders straightened her already rod-straight spine. "I'm 27 years old," she replied. Julian nodded slowly, smiling slightly. "That's a fun age to be, isn't it?" She cocked an eyebrow at him, almost coyly. "Has it been that long, sir?" "Seven years," Julian lamented. "Seven years ago I was you, and, like you, I'd just arrived on the station. Tell me... were you assigned to this post, or did you request it?" "I requested it," she told him, and Julian didn't miss the hint of pride behind her words. "Of course you did... who wouldn't want to try their hand at bringing Starfleet values to the furthest reaches of the galaxy by requesting assignment on one of the remotest outposts there is? Quite a challenge... quite an adventure... quite a risk..." "If you don't mind, sir..." Julian ignored her as he continued. "How many combat situations have you been in, chief?" Saunders's eyes flickered. "None directly. I just graduated from the academy last year." "I hadn't been in any either, when I first arrived. But in the last seven years, I've been in exactly 117 different encounters, and 3 separate crashes. I spent the war right here, right at the mouth of the wormhole, and every time the Dominion or the Cardassians attacked the station, I lost another one of my friends. Over the course of the war I performed so many autopsies... I don't even want to think about how many... You said you knew that I was genetically enhanced. As such, you should know that I have a perfect memory. I can remember every one of those death certificates, just like I can remember each of the faces that go with those names. But even more than the patients I didn't know, I remember the ones I did. I remember each and every time that I had to stand here and watch a friend of mine die on one of these biobeds, knowing that there was nothing I could do to save them..." he voice trailed off, as he was momentarily lost in memory. He wasn't sure why he was telling her these things, the almost perfect stranger that she was. He only knew that he was suddenly seized with an uncontrollable urge to justify himself to her. He needed to make her understand, but more than that, he needed to warn her, to caution her of the struggles that would lie ahead of her. Things had been so difficult for him, his innocence ripped away through lesson after painful lesson. And as he thought about it, about everything he'd been through over the last seven years, he grew illogically bitter, and his bitterness allowed him to continue with his tirade. "I've been here for over seven years now," he continued after a moment. "I grew up here, I made friends here, and I lost friends here. This... space station has become my home. I don't know how, or why. I only know that it grows on you... it catches the fallen, this place, and then makes them into a family. And, for all our many differences and backgrounds, all of us who went through this journey together became a family. Ezri... Dax, Jadzia... they're all parts of that family, very important parts. I forgive your ignorance, but in turn you have to forgive the fact that, no matter what it takes, I'm unwilling to let another member of my family slip away from me." Julian heard the cynical tone of his speech, but found himself too tired and too annoyed to fully edit it out. He fixed his eyes upon her silent and unmoving form, his eyes boring into her until she finally dropped her gaze. "I'm... I didn't know... I mean, I knew about Lieutenant Dax, but I didn't know..." Seeing her sudden humility, Julian immediately regretted his harsh words. He wasn't angry at her, and she didn't deserve the treatment he'd given her. He hadn't been lying when he said that he'd once been very much like her, and when he thought about how his younger self might have handled the situation, he regretted things even more. She would learn things in her own time, he knew, and he shouldn't have thrown it all in her face the way he had. NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!bigfeed2.bellsouth.net!news.bellsouth.net!cyclone1.gnilink.net!gnilink.net!wns14feed!worldnet.att.net!207.35.177.252!nf3.bellglobal.com!nf1.bellglobal.com!nf2.bellglobal.com!news20.bellglobal.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Anna Peppard" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW DS9 The Lines of the Day 22/35 [pg 13] b/e Lines: 35 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Message-ID: <1Qefd.5411$rs5.350488@news20.bellglobal.com> Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:12:39 -0400 NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.209.185.163 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sympatico.ca X-Trace: news20.bellglobal.com 1098742141 216.209.185.163 (Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:09:01 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:09:01 EDT Organization: Bell Sympatico Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161207 X-Received-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:24:19 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) The Lines of the Day Part Two: Resurgence Part 22/35 "I'm sorry," he said, having dropped the edge from his voice. "I didn't mean to..." She raised her head, and Julian was shocked to see the slight sheen her eyes had adopted. "No, I'm sorry. I should have known better. I lost friends in the war, too. I know what it's like." Julian looked back at her with sudden sympathy. "I didn't think about that," he said softly. "I mean, when I graduated, the Federation wasn't at war with anybody... I guess I just took for granted that everyone would have the same experience." Saunders smiled sadly. "I guess we've kind of gotten off to a bad start for being two people who are supposed to work together closely." Julian sighed. "Maybe it doesn't have to be so bad." He stuck out his hand. "I'm Dr. Julian Bashir, and I welcome you to the Infirmary." She eyed the hand for a moment, before she approached him and accepted it. "Chief Patricia Saunders. I believe we've met." Julian smiled softly. "Probably not as often as we should have." Her smile faded as she released his hand. "I... hope she gets better," she offered rather awkwardly. "So do I." Saunders broke her gaze. "Well... I should get back to ops... I'm on duty." She turned, but hesitated, and faced him again. "I'll get Dr. Girani to issue the health certificate." Julian exhaled silently. "Thank you," he breathed. The young woman nodded her blond head once, before finally turning and completing her exit. Julian watched her departure, but only for a moment, before returning his attention to the readouts. ________________________________________________________ NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.pas.earthlink.net!elnk-nf2-pas!newsfeed.earthlink.net!sjc1.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!nf3.bellglobal.com!nf1.bellglobal.com!nf2.bellglobal.com!news20.bellglobal.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Anna Peppard" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW DS9 The Lines of the Day 23/35 [pg 13] b/e Lines: 98 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Message-ID: Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:13:27 -0400 NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.209.185.163 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sympatico.ca X-Trace: news20.bellglobal.com 1098742190 216.209.185.163 (Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:09:50 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:09:50 EDT Organization: Bell Sympatico Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161208 X-Received-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:24:56 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) The Lines of the Day Part Two: Resurgence Part 23/35 When Julian finally came out of the patient ward, he was still wearing his red surgical equipment. Despite the colour of his garments, however, the dark patches that stained his arms and chest were unmistakable as dried blood. Looking down at a pad as he walked, he didn't even seem to see her as he crossed the room silently, and entered his office. Jadzia watched his pass, then decided to follow him. The door to Julian's office slid open, admitting her, and she saw Julian sitting in the chair behind his desk. He still didn't notice her, perhaps because he had his eyes closed, and his face pointed down towards the desk, his hands covering his ears. She cleared her throat softly, and when that still didn't work, she approached him. Leaning her hands on the front edge of his desk, she spoke his name. "Julian." He jerked, opening his eyes and lowering his hands. "Jadzia..." She smiled down at him pleasantly. "How..." he looked around him, as though needing to remind himself where he was. "How did you get in?" She took her hands off his desk and stood straight. "The door," she smirked. "I didn't lock it?" he asked, and the Trill shook her head. "I know I meant to..." "Julian?" He looked up at her, as though noticing her for the first time. "Yes?" "Are you okay?" "I'm fine, of course," he replied lightly. "Why?" "I don't know... you just seem... distracted." Julian shook his head. "I'm fine, really. Now... what is it you came in here for?" Jadzia hesitated for a moment, then relayed her request. "I came here to ask you about the scans you did on the crew of the Rotarran before they left..." "You want to know how Worf was doing," he extrapolated. "I just..." she released a breath. "I just want to make sure. You know he has a tendency to push himself too hard and... I just want to make sure he's not in any trouble." "I saw those scans myself, not 10 days ago," he assured her calmly. "And my readings showed that Worf was in magnificent health." The relief was apparent on Jadzia's features. "Thank you," she said genuinely. "I can't tell you how much that means to me. I've wanted to ask you ever since they left, but I thought you'd probably be busy, so I didn't come down, and then..." "Actually," his accented voice cut sharply into her words. "I am a bit busy. So if that's all..?" "Oh, of course! I'll get out of your face." Julian smiled accommodatingly, and Jadzia took the hint, turning and leaving the office. No sooner had the door closed behind her, however, that she stopped, suddenly realizing that she'd probably given up on Julian's quick response about his welfare a little too easily. After all, she'd barely seen Julian in the past week. What had he been doing in that time, besides acting like the miracle doctor that he was? She turned on her heel, and walked back through the door. The first thing she saw was Julian's bare back. He was sitting on the edge of his desk with his back to the door, and had his right hand pressed tightly to a spot just below his ribs, the cause for which Jadzia couldn't see from her current angle. For a moment-an unfashionably long moment-she just stood there looking at him. His backbones were well-defined against his lean frame, creating a hollowed portion between them. The bronze skin that was his whole body looked very smooth; Jadzia wondered idly if it might even be smoother than her own. Julian hopped off his desk then and, still clutching his ribs, started to make his way across the small room. As soon as he stood up, though, he caught sight of Jadzia with his peripheral vision, and wheeled to face her. "Jadzia!" he exclaimed, and she watched him almost bemusedly as he looked around wildly for his shirt, unable to find it. "What are you doing back?" "I was just..." she trailed off, as she noticed the red stain marring a section of the hand clutching his ribs. "...are you okay?" Following her gaze, Julian looked down at the hand, and shook his head quickly. "It's nothing. I'm fine. I just really need to get dressed. If you don't mind..?" Jadzia ignored him, instead coming toward him to get a closer look at his injury. "Let me see." Julian shot her a glance before slowing removing his hand. She watched him, saw the blood that stained his palm, then saw the long, straight gash that had ripped the skin apart just below his ribs. The cut wasn't wide, although it was reasonably deep, and looked as though it had just been re-opened, probably because he'd just removed a pressure bandage. The surface of the wound was partially wet, and was obviously painful. Because of its position, every breath Julian took pulled at the re-opened cut, and she could see his obvious efforts to slow his breathing. "Julian, this needs attention!" "Well, I was about to provide it when you decided to drop by," he grumbled. Easily picking up the annoyance in his voice, she wasn't in the least intimidated by it. "Where's your dermal regenerator?" Instead of answering her question, Julian opened one of the drawers in the wall and pulled out the device. He held his skin together with one hand, and was about to try and operate the regenerator with the other before Jadzia grabbed his hand, stopping him. He glared at her angrily. "Do you have a problem?" he asked. "Let me do it," she said, maintaining her steady tone. "I'll have more control than you will." NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!prodigy.com!atl-c02.usenetserver.com!sjc1.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!nf3.bellglobal.com!nf1.bellglobal.com!nf2.bellglobal.com!news20.bellglobal.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Anna Peppard" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW DS9 The Lines of the Day 24/35 [pg 13] b/e Lines: 83 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Message-ID: Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:15:06 -0400 NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.209.185.163 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sympatico.ca X-Trace: news20.bellglobal.com 1098742288 216.209.185.163 (Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:11:28 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:11:28 EDT Organization: Bell Sympatico Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161209 X-Received-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:26:34 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) The Lines of the Day Part Two: Resurgence Part 24/35 Julian looked about to object, but changed his mind and handed her the regenerator. Jadzia accepted it and adjusted the settings. Julian had closed his eyes, probably to concentrate on slowing his breathing, so he didn't see the hand that came towards him and touched the hand he had over the cut. His eyes flew open, and he took in a sharp breath of air. The look of pain that passed over his dark features was enough evidence to Jadzia that he regretted it. "Just hold still," she spoke softly. Julian gave a small nod of submission before finally removing his hand from the cut. With a soft touch, Jadzia held together the edges of his skin. She could feel the pain the motion must have caused, as Julian's breathing grew unsteady against his ribs. She did her best not to consider his physical protest as she aimed the regenerator at the cut, and activated it. "How did you do this to yourself, anyway?" she asked over the hum of the regenerator. Julian's voice was a bit choppy due to his efforts to keep his breathing steady under the pulling pain of his cut. "An engineer... on the Pegasus... was pretty shaken up... he got me with a piece of glass from one of the consoles." "When you were on the Pegasus? Julian, that must have been hours ago! You're telling me you haven't gotten this treated until now?" "I've been busy!" he protested, whatever pain he'd been experiencing having either abated or been forgotten. His accent became thicker as he spoke, a symptom, Jadzia knew, that he was venting his strong emotions. "You don't know the kind of day I've had! Between the time this happened and now, I haven't had a chance to sit down; I've barely had a chance to breathe! It's just been one patient after another... and it never lets up..." The cut was healed. Jadzia turned off the regenerator, and looked up at Julian. "Now... that wasn't so bad, was it?" Julian breathed a deep, practice breath, and shook his head. "Thanks." She handed him the regenerator, and he replaced it in the drawer. As he moved, Jadzia's eyes seemed to move of their own accord, watching the subtle clench and relax of his stomach muscles as he stretched toward the wall, and then gathered himself. She also noticed how skinny he was, wondering briefly if he'd been eating enough through the hard times of late. Julian noticed her scrutiny, and turned slowly to face her. "You're engaged, you know." Jadzia blinked, and stiffened involuntarily. "What's that supposed to mean?" Julian released a very tired sounding breath, and shook his lowered head. "Nothing. I'm sorry..." Jadzia looked into his averted eyes, no longer interested in his bare skin, but instead worried about how uncharacteristically dim his eyes seemed. "Are you okay, Julian?" she asked him softly. "I mean... really okay?" For a very long moment, he didn't say anything, so long that Jadzia wondered if he was going to respond at all. When he finally did speak, his voice was so quiet she might have missed it if she hadn't been listening closely. "No... I'm not okay." "Tell me." "I just..." he looked up at the ceiling, as though searching it for the words he wanted. After a second, though, he abandoned his search, and closed his eyes with a heavy sigh. Jadzia reached forward, and closed her hand over the thin, rounded muscle of his shoulder. "Please tell me." He looked at her, his dimmed, chocolate eyes meeting hers. "I can't sleep. I find myself not even wanting to sleep... I don't have any appetite... I know I'm tired, but I can't stop working, and I know these are psychological reaction to stress, but there's nothing I can do to stop myself. I mean, I can go a lot longer than most people under these conditions, but I still have this sense of dread hanging over me; I'm scared that something will happen that will finally push me over the edge, and then there won't be any coming back... I'm... scared..." his words had come out all in a rush, as though the dam of a river had been shattered. He stopped, and gave kind of snort-like laugh. "I can't believe I just told you that." "Julian..." she swallowed. "I have to get back. I'm on duty." Julian nodded wordlessly. "Can I come and check on you later?" she asked. "When I get off duty? Maybe we could go and get a drink, or something." A small, sad smile graced Julian's sunken features. "I think I'd like that," he said softly. "Good," she smiled, trying to compensate for his lack of energy. "Then I'll see you later." Julian tossed off a slight hand gesture, a cross between a salute and a wave that struck Jadzia as more like the Julian she knew. With a final glance, she left him behind in his office, and returned to the bridge. ___________________________________________________________ NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!in.100proofnews.com!in.100proofnews.com!news-xfer.cox.net!peer01.cox.net!cox.net!border2.nntp.dca.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!nf3.bellglobal.com!nf1.bellglobal.com!nf2.bellglobal.com!news20.bellglobal.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Anna Peppard" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW DS9 The Lines of the Day 25/35 [pg 13] b/e Lines: 123 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Message-ID: Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:16:13 -0400 NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.209.185.163 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sympatico.ca X-Trace: news20.bellglobal.com 1098742357 216.209.185.163 (Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:12:37 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:12:37 EDT Organization: Bell Sympatico Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161210 X-Received-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:27:49 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) The Lines of the Day Part Two: Resurgence Part 25/35 Kira's expression remained blank as she strode down the hallway towards the Infirmary. In the back of her mind, she knew that it was actually taking her longer to reach her destination than usual. Somewhere, in the furthest, most thoroughly ignored portion of her thoughts, a tiny voice was telling her that her steps, although quick, were just a little bit shorter than usual. Still, she couldn't help herself. Kira wasn't a coward. Her record spoke for itself, and her courage wasn't something she felt insecurity about. She could lead away missions into the deepest Suharey Desert, pilot a ship through the hazardous and unpredictable pockets of unstable plasma of the Badlands. She could hold her ground against the verbal or physical assaults of the fiercest Cardassian Gul, and yet, her mission on this morning she still dreaded. Kira could pass any test of bravery she was put to; confronting an unstable friend, though, was a completely different matter. Kira was worried about Ezri, worried that what had already been a tumultuous year for the muddled counselor would culminate in disaster. The fact that even Julian couldn't find an answer made her even more nervous. And she wasn't the only one. Kira could still remember the faces of Jake and Kasidy as they'd appeared outside her office just after the staff meeting that Julian had not inexplicably missed. She remembered the furrowed brow of the younger Jake as he'd posed the question, "How is she?" The sad truth was that Kira wasn't sure. After her initial meeting with Julian, she hadn't seen the doctor since. Mostly, her absence had to do with her semi-conscious desire to avoid the inevitable confrontation. She turned to the open doorway, hesitating almost imperceptibly before crossing the threshold into the Infirmary. Looking around, Kira was reminded of how much she hated the place. She hated the stale, blue decor, hated the way everything always appeared so perfectly pressed, so sterilized. She hated the bright, white lights, the ones that only made the pale faces of the patients look paler as they spilled down onto the biobeds, illuminating the features of loved ones who were loosing the strength to do so themselves. The Infirmary was a place of recovery, but more than that, it had become a place that Kira Nerys associated with death, and pain. Briefly, she found herself wondering what Julian, the man who had probably seen more death over the course of the war than anyone else on the station, did to rationalize it all to himself; whatever his secret was, Kira sorely wished he would share it with her. She looked around, but Julian was nowhere to be found. One Bajoran nurse, who was working at console against the wall, smiled up at the Colonel. Kira smiled back, then went further into the room, where she requested entry into Julian's office. She sounded the buzzer twice, and on the second try, the door opened. Julian was sitting behind his desk, reading something from the portable console in front of him. He barely wasted a second acknowledging her presence with a quick flick of his eyes before returning to the screen. "Something I can do for you, Colonel?" he asked her, his gaze glued to the display. Kira looked directly into his averted gaze. "How is she?" she asked, unconsciously echoing Jake's words from a few hours before. "Stable," he said simply. "Still unconscious." The Bajoran frowned. "No improvements? No developments?" With obvious reluctance, and more than a hint of annoyance, he pried his eyes away from the console, and looked at her. "Is this about the staff meeting this morning?" he asked her. "Because if it is, you should know that I've been extremely busy here, and I really thought the best interests of station health would be best observed if I..." "This isn't just about the staff meeting, Julian," she interrupted him. "Although... that is part of it." He regarded her blankly. "What, then?" Not wanting to take the time to rethink her practiced words, on the chance that she might back down from saying them, she launched directly into the issue at hand. "Look, Julian, I'm worried about you, and I'm not the only one. I saw Jake and Kasidy earlier, and they were asking about you." The doctor's gaze was unwavering. "And what did you tell them?" "I told them you were doing everything in your power to find a cure for Ezri," she replied. "I didn't mention that you haven't slept for two days, probably haven't eaten, and definitely haven't had a shower." Julian released a low, angry breath. "What do you want from me, Nerys? I can't sleep. Not when I know she's in there... in there like that, and it might be my fault..." he ran a frustrated hand through his tumbled curls. "I can't think. You don't know what that's like for me, not being able to think. There's no clarity, I can't focus... There's nothing I can compare it to. I've never felt like this, I can't remember ever feeling like this..." "You're not helping her by torturing yourself," Kira reminded him softly, but forcefully. "Don't you think I know that?!" he threw one hand into the air with an angry swipe. "Don't you think I want to just leave all this behind, forget that the woman I love is dying, right here in my sickbay, and just collapse into a soft bed? Of course I want to go to sleep, but I can't. Surely, Nerys... you must understand that." "I do understand," she said. "That's why it's so hard for me to watch." Julian's voice was soft, and toneless. "At least you got to say goodbye." Kira shook her head slowly. "But there were dozens of other times that I didn't." she closed her eyes briefly, then opened them again onto him. "As of this moment, I'm ordering you off duty." She turned to leave, hoping that he would have enough sense to leave it at that, but he didn't. Kira didn't manage to take more than three steps towards the door before he bounded up from his chair, his hand shooting out to grab her shoulder. Slowly, and deliberately, she turned around to face him. "Is there something else, doctor?" she asked him, keeping her tone cool. He stared back at her as though she'd physically assaulted him. "You can't do this, Nerys. I know more about Trill physiology than anyone else on the station. Probably more than anyone else in the quadrant who's not employed by the initiate board itself. I have to stay on duty." "I gave you an order, doctor!" She leveled her most crushing gaze in his direction, almost daring him to object further. Julian swallowed. "Okay," he said finally, softly. Kira drilled her eyes into him for a moment longer before she spoke. "I'm confining you to quarters for the next 10 hours. Dr. Girani will handle Lieutenant Dax in your absence. You have ten minutes to delegate your responsibilities, and obey the order." The fight seemed to be gone from Julian as he broke his gaze, lowering his head. Knowing she'd won, Kira turned, and left his office. She didn't look back at him as she left, not quite ready yet to accept the human cost of what she'd just done. Instead, she looked unseeingly out across the Infirmary, knowing that behind the wall at her left, one of the closest friends she'd ever known might lie dying, with the man most able to save her just ordered off duty... by her. Kira turned away from the Infirmary then, her realization over what she'd just done enough to salve her conscience of the thing that had been most bothering her; she now knew, absolutely for certain, that she wasn't allowing personal feelings to sideline her sense of duty. As she walked down the corridor and stepped into the turbolift, she only hoped Julian would be able to forgive her. ___________________________________________________________ NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!atl-c03.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!wns14feed!worldnet.att.net!207.35.177.252!nf3.bellglobal.com!nf1.bellglobal.com!nf2.bellglobal.com!news20.bellglobal.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Anna Peppard" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW DS9 The Lines of the Day 26/35 [pg 13] b/e Lines: 84 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Message-ID: Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:17:38 -0400 NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.209.185.163 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sympatico.ca X-Trace: news20.bellglobal.com 1098742441 216.209.185.163 (Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:14:01 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:14:01 EDT Organization: Bell Sympatico Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161212 X-Received-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:29:08 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) The Lines of the Day Part Two: Resurgence Part 26/35 She sounded the buzzer, but she didn't get a response. "Computer, is Dr. Bashir inside his quarters?" The computer blipped. "Affirmative." "Issue override, authorization Dax Gamma 57 Alpha." Again, the computer chirped, and the door slid obediently open a moment later. All the lights were off, but as she walked further into the room, she spotted Julian; he was splayed out across the couch, fast asleep. Jadzia circled the couch, and stopped in front of him. Not wanting to wake him, she plopped herself down heavily into the chair across from Julian's couch. He was thoroughly asleep, she saw. His lips rested limply in a semi-open state, although since his face was oriented towards the ceiling, he wasn't drooling. One of his hands was trapped beneath his body at the back end of the couch, and the other was draped limply over his stomach, gently rising and falling with each slow breath. Jadzia blinked her eyes slowly, almost reluctantly, then opened them again to look at him as he slept soundly, completely unaware of her scrutiny. Rarely did Jadzia ever get the chance to simply look at Julian, probably because he was usually acutely aware of any glances she might direct his way. He would always notice her, it seemed, and meet her eyes after a second. As such, she secretly relished the opportunity now presented her. His dark hair was ruffled, although he kept it too short for it to ever truly become disheveled. Jadzia had always found his slightly curly hair rather amusing, if only because he wore it as though he were proudly trying to deny the fact. Still, no matter how hard he tried to hide them, his curls would always seem to find a way of asserting themselves; perhaps if she told Julian just how cute she actually thought his curls were, he would finally stop denying his hair's natural texture. From his hairline she allowed her eyes to sweep down, over his dark eyebrows, to his eyes, closed loosely in peaceful sleep. He had long eyelashes, she noticed, long and dark against the caramel skin beneath his eyes. Examining them now she saw that the thin, slightly discolored wrinkles under Julian's eyes were much more prominent now than they'd ever been in the past. Why she'd hadn't noticed them before, Jadzia couldn't say. With his head stretched back and upwards towards the ceiling, his neck was pulled tight. She followed the rather severe hook of his jawline, flecked with thin, black stubble, down his neck, and over the lump of his atoms apple. Her gaze then descended along with his jugular, well-defined against the thin skin of his neck. Where the zipper collar of his uniform was pulled back, she could see his jugular separate, leaving between it the hollowed thumbprint of his neck pit. His breastbones spread out to either side of the thumbprint... and it was there that his uniform collar cut off her view. She could just see a hint of the golden skin that led down towards his chest, the almost uncommon smoothness of what she glimpsed indicative, she now knew, of what lay beneath. As her eyes focused on the base of his neck, she was suddenly compelled to run her fingers across his smooth skin and lift away the fabric that obscured her view. She imagined her hands against his even chest, visualizing how his taught, meager muscles might feel beneath her palms as she moved down the bronze leanness of his stomach, and... A sound interrupted her fantasy. Jadzia was dismayed at her startled reaction to the noise, which indicated just how lost in her thoughts she had become. She blinked, and it took her another moment to realize the sound had come from Julian. He groaned, a rather sick sound, and brought his mouth closed. She saw the jump of his atoms apple as he swallowed, before he readjusted himself. After a moment of that, however, he seemed to give up, and his eyes twitched under his eyelids before his lids opened groggily. Jadzia sat back in her chair, watching the process of his awakening with a bemused smile. He groaned as his eyes struggled to adjust to the dimmed lights, then squinted his clouded eyes in her direction. "Jadzia..?" "Morning," she greeted him. "What?" he swung his long legs quickly over the side of the couch, pushing himself into a sitting position. He put his face in his hands, as though hoping to massage the life back into his features. "It can't be morning already..." For a moment, she thought about letting him get up and check in for duty, but ultimately decided against it. "It's not morning," she told him. "It's 2300 hours." Julian removed his hands from his face, and looked at her. "You're sure about that? You're not just playing around?" A sly smile graced her features. "Now Julian... since when do I ever play with you?" He looked like he was about to say something, but stopped himself just in time, shaking his head. "Never mind." NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!atl-c03.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!wns14feed!worldnet.att.net!207.35.177.252!nf3.bellglobal.com!nf1.bellglobal.com!nf2.bellglobal.com!news20.bellglobal.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Anna Peppard" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW DS9 The Lines of the Day 27/35 [pg 13] b/e Lines: 115 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Message-ID: Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:18:28 -0400 NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.209.185.163 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sympatico.ca X-Trace: news20.bellglobal.com 1098742491 216.209.185.163 (Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:14:51 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:14:51 EDT Organization: Bell Sympatico Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161213 X-Received-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:30:04 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) The Lines of the Day Part Two: Resurgence Part 27/35 It might have been nothing, but Jadzia found that Julian's transgression actually annoyed her. Ever since she'd become involved with Worf, they'd been walking on eggshells around each other. She still considered Julian to be her very good friend-one of her closest and dearest friends-but lately, it certainly hadn't seemed as though that were the case. They barely spoke anymore, and they certainly didn't tease each other and laugh together the way they had used to. Seeing the way he held back now was just another in a long string of restrained comments, and Jadzia found that she missed the way things used to be. At least for the moment, though, she decided to let it go. "I'm sorry," she said, standing up. "I should let you get back to sleep." "No, no," he raised a hand, stopping her. "It's okay. If I fall asleep now, I'll be up halfway through the night, and then I'll just be tired all tomorrow again." Jadzia looked into his blood-shot eyes, and frowned. "Somehow... I doubt that you'd wake up for at least 15 hours." "Maybe," he conceded, offering a small smile. "But it still works as an excuse to keep you here a little longer." Smoothly, Jadzia crossed the distance between them and took a seat next to Julian on the couch. "So," she began lightly, a tone not necessarily suiting the mood. "What have you been up to lately? How's Miles doing? Julian snorted. "I wouldn't know. They've put him to work doing repairs on the starbase... I don't think I've even spoken to him in three days. Then again, in times of war..." He let the quotation hang, but Jadzia knew what he meant. Sacrifice wasn't new to any of them, not anymore. "I haven't seen much of anyone, either," she lamented. "I feel as though I haven't really talked to Benjamin in weeks, and Worf..." "How is the Captain, by the way?" he asked abruptly. Jadzia's blue eyes swiveled to meet his, recognizing his far from subtle attempt to change the subject. "Tired," she replied smoothly. "like the rest of us. Tired, and angry. He hates paperwork, both Curzon and I knew that, and now, he's got more of it than ever. I went to see him the other day, and found him practically climbing the walls. I know he wants to get in the Defiant and go on the offensive... of course, it doesn't look as though Starfleet command has quite the same agenda." "I just wish we'd do something," Julian groaned. "All this waiting around is killing me. It kills me to have to be here, every day, watching as the casualties roll in. Just thinking about the number of ships we're loosing every day, especially when compared to the number they're loosing..." "I know," she said softly. "It seems pretty grim, doesn't it?" Julian released a heavy breath, shaking his head. "This isn't why I joined Starfleet," he said. "I never wanted to go to war." "I know it must be hard for you," she sympathized. "Seeing first hand how many people this war is affecting." Julian didn't look at her, his eyes instead locked in memory. "The worst part is... it's getting easier all the time." Jadzia reached across the distance between them, and touched Julian's hand where his forearms leaned over his knees. He blinked, effectively breaking himself out of his reverie, and looked down at the hand as she wrapped her fingers around his. Julian accepted the gesture, and squeezed her hand gently back. "How..." his soft voice trailed off, long enough for him to give a short exhale. "How do you just do that?" "What?" Julian raised his eyes to look at her. "Bring hope back into my life, just by taking my hand?" She dropped her lower lip, and tried to answer him, finding that she didn't have the words. "Julian..." "It's okay," he told her. "I understand. I've had many years to understand." "I love him, Julian." "I know." The gentle hum of the engines resonated through the room, almost comforting Jadzia with it's familiarity. Putting her other hand on his arm, she edged in closer to him, so that she was leaning against his shoulder. She wasn't quite sure why she did it, only that she suddenly needed to feel the warmth of his body against her; Julian's body stiffened momentarily, but he soon began to relax. "You know what the worst part about doing autopsies is?" he asked her. "No," she admitted, not sure that she wanted to know. "The worst part is knowing that no matter how many years pass, no matter how hard I try to forget... every one of those people is going to stay with me forever. Everything that has happened is going to be imprinted on my brain in perfect clarity until the day I die." "Because of the enhancement," she extrapolated softly. She paused for a second, then asked, "Does it bother you? The enhancement? I mean, you never talk about it..." Julian shifted just slightly beneath her. "It bothers me," he confirmed. "But... it's something I've had to learn to live with." "It's strange..." she began thoughtfully. "The things that happen that lead us to where we are. When you have the memories of so many different lives, it's possible to go back through each one, and analyze the choices they made, wondering where they would have been had they made a different choice." She paused. "I remember... just before I was joined. I remember lying there on the operating table, and just realizing for the first time what I was really getting into. I wouldn't just be Jadzia anymore. I was going to have all these other memories inside of me. And it was stupid of me to suddenly be scared, because I'd gone through all the training, all the preparation... I knew I was ready; I knew I wanted to be joined. But... I was still scared. For a moment, I seriously considered bolting... running away from the operating room, from Trill, from everything... Somehow, that seemed so much easier." Julian was relaxed, and yielding against her, his voice carrying a softness that she found so appealing with his exotic accent. "So... what made you go through with it?" A small smile spread across Jadzia's lips at the memory. "Curzon..." she recalled. "I looked over at him, and he looked back at me. He knew he was about to die, but instead of being scared, he looked over at me... and he smiled. And then, somehow, I knew everything was going to be okay. I knew I would make it through the joining." She paused for a moment, just enjoying the steady rise and fall of Julian's chest against her. "At the time, I wasn't quite sure why I trusted him. But now I know... He loved me. Maybe, somehow, I knew that, and I knew he would never let anything happen to me. All I know for sure is that if it hadn't been for him, I might never have gone through with it, and my life would certainly be a lot different right now." NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.pas.earthlink.net!elnk-pas-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!pd7cy1no!shaw.ca!sjc1.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!nf3.bellglobal.com!nf1.bellglobal.com!nf2.bellglobal.com!news20.bellglobal.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Anna Peppard" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW DS9 The Lines of the Day 28/35 [pg 13] b/e Lines: 106 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Message-ID: Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:19:58 -0400 NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.209.185.163 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sympatico.ca X-Trace: news20.bellglobal.com 1098742580 216.209.185.163 (Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:16:20 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:16:20 EDT Organization: Bell Sympatico Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161214 X-Received-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:31:27 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) The Lines of the Day Part Two: Resurgence Part 28/35 Julian shifted his weight. Jadzia felt his movement, and she removed her arms from him long enough to give him the freedom to move. He responded by lifting up the arm she'd been holding and wrapping it around her shoulders. The action seemed to pull her even closer into him, and Jadzia slipped her own arm behind his back. Her other hand fell against her chest. "I remember being at the hospital," he said after a rather lengthy pause. "when I had the DNA re-sequencing done." "You remember?" she echoed. "I don't remember much," he admitted. "but I do remember going there, and I remember my room. It had huge; white walls, and a tall ceiling that seemed to go on forever. I remember feeling... small, but then, I was always small. The only thing I really remember vividly, though, is the expressions of my parents. The way my mother looked down at me as I lay in the bed; I could tell she was scared. And father... he tried not to look at me. I thought at the time it was because he was ashamed... that I'd somehow done something wrong, and that was the reason I'd been sent to the hospital in the first place. I didn't understand until nine years later what was really going on." Jadzia ran her hand absently up and down his chest, seeking to comfort him, while at the same time enjoying the firm flatness of the body beneath his uniform. "But you know something?" he asked. "What?" she whispered back. "This war scares me," he said. "Probably more than Adgeon Prime ever did. At least then I didn't really know what was happening; I had no idea what was at stake. But now... This war had changed us, all of us. And no matter what happens, no matter how it all ends, none of us will ever be able to go back to the way things were." Jadzia reached her head up, and rested her cheek against the curve of his neck. "Whatever happened to that young doctor I used to know... the one who used to race around the station with the enthusiasm of a ten year old? The one with the bright eyes, and the easy smile, who used to invite me out to dinner every second day?" Jadzia felt Julian smile weakly. "He grew up, I suppose." "I sort of miss him, Julian." His arm squeezed her as he brought his chin up, over her head. "Sometimes... I do, too." Smiling a slight, sad smile, Jadzia pulled herself slightly away from him, enough that she was able to look into his face. He looked back at her, his chocolate eyes meeting hers as they sparkled darkly in the dim light. She took her hand off his chest, and reached up to touch his face, gently easing her hand across his thin features. She touched his face, the edges of his dark eyebrows, the gentle hook of his nose. Her thumb stroked the tip of his cheek bone, just below his eye, as her fingers circled the pliable cartilage of his ear, running through the subtle, soft curls of his dark hair. She watched him as he closed his eyes against the sensation, and finally stopped her fingers with the side of her hand resting against his jawline. As she did so, she could feel the light, rhythmic beating of his pulse through her fingers, while her thumb traced the lines of his lips. His eyes still closed, Julian's mouth opened just slightly, enough that his soft lips were able to brush themselves against her thumb. After a few seconds of the contact, Jadzia felt Julian draw an unsteady breath into his lungs through his open mouth. He opened his eyes. "Jadzia..." She liked the way he said her name, she realized. His accent made it sound almost musical. "Yes?" His darkened eyes flickered over her. "I miss you..." he paused, long enough to swallow. "You're so beautiful..." "Then what are you waiting for?" she breathed. He paused, then shook his head slightly. "Nothing." Jadzia ran her hand down his jaw and wrapped it around the back of his neck, pulling him towards her. But Julian didn't need much encouragement. He surrendered almost immediately, leaning forward and grabbing her lips in a firm kiss. Jadzia brought her other hand up to his neck, and felt Julian's own hands come around her back. For a very long moment, Jadzia just continued the kiss, enjoying the taste of something that a part of her had wanted since they'd first met almost six years ago. When they did eventually part, she didn't open her eyes right away, instead savoring everything that had just happened with a brief vividness that she knew would never come again. Julian's hands and arms were still holding her, and her body was still pressed up against his chest. She could feel his breathing against her, and noticed that it was coming more quickly than usual. Finally, she opened her eyes. Julian looked back at her, his eyes pleading, although she wasn't quite sure for what. She ran one hand back up his neck and into his hair. "Julian..." "We never change," he said, his voice soft, and deep. "do we?" Her eyes flicked across his face. She shook her head almost imperceptibly. "No..." Jadzia's other hand cupped his face, feeling a shiver through Julian's whole body as she ran her fingers once more over his mouth. He closed his eyes, and kissed her fingers. Sliding her hand off his face, Jadzia moved towards him again, stopping her lips just short of meeting his. For a drawn out moment she froze there, waiting, almost hoping, for him to make a move towards her. She could feel his still slightly uneven breath against her lips as she waited, and waited... But he didn't move. In one motion, Jadzia bent her lips away from him, and directed herself to the side of his face. She brought herself towards him so that their two cheeks were touching, and thought that she heard an almost relieved breath escape Julian in response. "Right now," she whispered, her quiet words partially obscured by her squished cheek. "If you'd asked..." "I know." She didn't speak, or move right away. Julian's skin was so warm, so soft... so beautiful... "Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?" she asked him. Julian paused, then breathed his response. "No." "You're beautiful, Julian," her voice was almost silent, now, and he would never have been able to hear her if she hadn't been whispering right into his ear. "And I miss you, too..." NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.pas.earthlink.net!elnk-nf2-pas!newsfeed.earthlink.net!sjc1.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!nf3.bellglobal.com!nf1.bellglobal.com!nf2.bellglobal.com!news20.bellglobal.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Anna Peppard" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW DS9 The Lines of the Day 29/35 [pg 13] b/e Lines: 27 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Message-ID: Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:20:44 -0400 NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.209.185.163 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sympatico.ca X-Trace: news20.bellglobal.com 1098742626 216.209.185.163 (Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:17:06 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:17:06 EDT Organization: Bell Sympatico Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161215 X-Received-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:32:16 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) The Lines of the Day Part Two: Resurgence Part 29/35 He squeezed her, and she let her cheek brush past his as she hugged him back. A sudden pain in her throat surprised her, but she managed to swallow it back. After what seemed a very long time, they broke off the hug, pulling rather awkwardly away from one another. Jadzia saw Julian hesitating to meet her gaze, and she found herself doing the same. It suddenly seemed as though everything had changed, and they couldn't quite grasp their usual etiquette. The steady hand that he laid on her shoulder almost startled her, but she recovered, surrendering to his touch and moving once more towards him to rest her head against his shoulder. As they sat there, in the dark silence, Jadzia found herself seized with the need to say something, suddenly wanting desperately to use the moment to tell him things, to try and explain why things were the way they were. There were so many things she wanted to say, but she couldn't quite seem to find her voice, and after a while, she quit trying. There would be other times, other moments. Right now, the comfort of his shoulder was enough. Julian's slender fingers wrapped around her shoulder, and Jadzia released a breath. With a calmness that she hadn't felt in months, she closed her eyes, and would not open them again until the next morning. ____________________________________________________ End of Part Two NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!atl-c03.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!wns14feed!worldnet.att.net!207.35.177.252!nf3.bellglobal.com!nf1.bellglobal.com!nf2.bellglobal.com!news20.bellglobal.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Anna Peppard" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW DS9 The Lines of the Day 30/35 [pg 13] b/e Lines: 101 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Message-ID: Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:21:37 -0400 NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.209.185.163 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sympatico.ca X-Trace: news20.bellglobal.com 1098742688 216.209.185.163 (Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:18:08 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:18:08 EDT Organization: Bell Sympatico Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161216 X-Received-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:33:28 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) The Lines of the Day Part Three: Convergence Part 30/35 Julian could scarcely comprehend his situation. It seemed to be almost the most radical thing that had happened over the last 48 hours. Kira had actually ordered him off-duty. Julian knew Kira, or at least knew her well enough that he'd been fairly certain about her reaction toward his current situation. Having dealt with the progression of Odo's disease not 2 months earlier, Julian had thought the experience would have made her sympathetic to his cause. At any rate, he'd been sure she wouldn't order him off-duty. He was just exiting his office as another familiar figure entered the Infirmary, standing rather hesitantly just inside the doorway. It was Quark. The Ferengi looked nervous, not that that was unusual, as from Julian's experience, Quark was usually nervous about something, regardless of how adept the Ferengi had become at hiding the fact. "What do you want Quark?" Julian asked tiredly, no longer able to muster the energy required for politeness. Quark looked up, and all at once, he seemed to come to life, stepping eagerly forward, towards the doctor. "How is she?" For a moment, Julian was tempted to blow up at the bartender in response to what seemed like the millionth time he'd heard the question posed. The moment passed, though, and Julian changed his mind. "Not good," he answered truthfully. "I've been able to keep her stable so far, but I can't guarantee things will stay this way." Quark stopped, and looked at Julian. "Does that mean she's likely to get better... or worse?" Julian sighed. "Well... maybe it's just my pessimism talking, but I would say her cortical functions are more likely to destabilize further the longer she remains this way." "And there's nothing you can do?" the Ferengi practically demanded. "You? Mr. Smartest Human in the Galaxy? Mr. Miracle Worker?" "Look, Quark," Julian hissed angrily. "I'm very busy. If you want to see Ezri, I'll take you in to see her. But if all you're interested in is harassing me for my inefficiency..." "Alright, alright," Quark raised a hand. "I'd like to see Dax." Julian nodded once, then led the way into the patient ward. He stopped just inside the doorway, allowing Quark to walk past him. The Ferengi shot him a glance with his sharp eyes, but Julian merely stared back at him. Quark looked away, and walked slowly towards the still form that rested on the biobed at the center of the room. Julian told himself that he was staying where he was in an effort to accord Quark at least some small measure of privacy, but in the back of his mind, he wondered if that was true. He had been in the Infirmary for nearly two days, working on the problem, but during that time, he'd only visited Ezri's bedside once, and that was when he'd needed her readouts. Even thinking about approaching her, though, thinking about looking down into her closed eyelids, and wondering what he would possibly do if they never opened again... he didn't really consider entering the room further. He couldn't... not yet, and certainly not today. Quark stopped for a moment beside the bed. He watched her, then took her limp hand in his. Julian found his attention and his interest wandering as Quark raised her hand to his lips, and planted a gentle kiss on the back of her hand. His attention was riveted back to the present, however, by the sharp sound he heard next. "Doctor..?" Quark, with his naturally sensitive hearing, had obviously heard it, too. Julian rushed over to the side of the biobed, simultaneously pushing Quark aside as he examined the readings. "Damn..." the swear he uttered under his breath was laughably mild for what he was really feeling, but he didn't have time for anything else, as Ezri's brain functions continued to destabilize. Two nurses hurried into the room a second later, each of them running over to assist Julian. "Her Alpha waves are attenuating," one nurse announced with a calm efficiency Julian almost envied. "Cordrazine," he put out his hand, and had the requested hypospray thrust immediately into it. He injected it into Ezri's neck, then returned to the console, his fingers flying over the controls. "Alpha waves stabilizing," the nurse announced. "Lifesigns... returning to normal." Julian worked the console for a moment longer, before pulling himself away with a restrained sigh. His peripheral vision caught Quark's anxious gaze. "What happened?" "She's had a seizure," the doctor explained. "And?" Bashir ignored the Ferengi, but would end up answering his question, anyway. "Contact the Trill homeworld," he instructed one nurse. "Tell them... we need an initiate send to the station as quickly as possible." The nurse nodded her ascent, and left with her companion to follow his instructions. "How long does she have?" Quark asked him, his voice seeming to echo off the walls of the now silent patient ward. "Her brain functions have destabilized, as I predicted. She should crash again in a few hours, and then, there won't be anything I can do." Quark looked from Bashir, to Ezri, and back again. "I guess... I'll leave you two alone." Julian heard the swish of the door as it closed behind Quark, leaving him alone with Ezri, knowing that he'd just been reprieved from Kira's previous order. Not a second passed before he felt himself crumble, and he practically collapsed into a chair a little ways away from the biobed. His greatest fear was soon to be reality; he was going to loose Dax in his Infirmary for the second time. ___________________________________________________________ NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.pas.earthlink.net!elnk-nf2-pas!newsfeed.earthlink.net!sjc1.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!nf3.bellglobal.com!nf1.bellglobal.com!nf2.bellglobal.com!news20.bellglobal.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Anna Peppard" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW DS9 The Lines of the Day 31/35 [pg 13] b/e Lines: 69 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Message-ID: <9Zefd.5422$rs5.352121@news20.bellglobal.com> Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:22:22 -0400 NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.209.185.163 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sympatico.ca X-Trace: news20.bellglobal.com 1098742725 216.209.185.163 (Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:18:45 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:18:45 EDT Organization: Bell Sympatico Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161217 X-Received-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:34:01 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) The Lines of the Day Part Three: Convergence Part 31/35 The promenade wasn't deserted, but it was hardly crowded, either. Ever since the Dominion war had begun to escalate, the station hadn't been quite the hub of civilian activity that it had once been. Even since the Federation's return nearly a year ago, things hadn't returned to their former vivacity. Now, it had become very much a military base, with most of the visitors generals or representatives of various alliances. As Julian walked the promenade beside Jadzia, he found himself missing those old days more than he'd realized. "According to the DNA scans I did this morning," he was saying as they walked. "the Neuvanian re-sequencing enzymes I gave you... appear to be working." He noticed Jadzia wringing her hands anxiously beside him. "You mean... Worf and I can have a baby." "Certainly looks that way," he looked directly at her, and smiled as he said it, because whatever else he was feeling, he was happy for her; he was happy that she was going to get something that would make her happy. "I must say, I didn't expect such positive results so early. It's quite amazing, actually." "Oh, Julian!" Rather unexpectedly, she leapt into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck. Although initially surprised, Julian returned the hug. "It's all part of being a doctor," he assured her modestly as she stepped out of his arms. "Oh, no, it's more than that," she said. "You're a good friend. You always have been." He returned her soft smile. "And I always will be." She looked away from him suddenly, her eyes lingering on her feet for a second, before again rising to meet his. "Well... I guess I better get back to work. But first I want to stop by the Bajoran shrine." "What for?" he asked, well aware of the fact that she'd never believed in the Prophets. "Kira said a prayer for me and Worf last night," she explained happily. "She told the Prophets how much we wanted a baby." "Well, it appears they've been listening," he said, not even sure himself whether he meant it as a joke, or not, but nonetheless feeling the need to diffuse the statement with, "That is, if you believe in the Prophets." "I do today!" she enthused with a toothy grin. She squeezed his shoulder gently as she walked past him. Julian stood for a moment, then turned and leaned his hands on the railing as he watched her departure. When she was almost at the edge of the expansive area, though, she paused, and turned back around towards him. Across the distance, their eyes met. For all his precise record-keeping abilities, Julian couldn't say how long it was. Maybe seconds, perhaps days. Her gaze seemed blank, her expression unreadable, but Julian found himself ascribing onto her the emotions he felt in himself, so strong was his desire to find them in her. Looking from that almost impossible distance into the depths of her blue gaze, Julian saw the memory of their time together, the memory of a touch never quite experienced, and a love never quite shared. He saw her regret, and her sorrow, and her strange, illogical emptiness at missing something that had never really been had to begin with. But, for all his imaginative capabilities, Julian couldn't delude himself into thinking he saw hope in her gaze, too thoroughly absent was it from visage. He blinked, confused by his sudden melancholy, and by the time he opened his eyes, he had lost her. Awareness of his surroundings returned, the mumbling voices and shuffling movements of the promenade's occupants once more flooding his senses. Julian allowed the shift to occur, yet at the back of his mind he knew that none it mattered, anyway; he'd already lost her a long time ago. It was exactly an hour later that he received the devastating emergency call that would forever change his life. ________________________________________________________________ NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.pas.earthlink.net!elnk-nf2-pas!newsfeed.earthlink.net!sjc1.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!nf3.bellglobal.com!nf1.bellglobal.com!nf2.bellglobal.com!news20.bellglobal.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Anna Peppard" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW DS9 The Lines of the Day 32/35 [pg 13] b/e Lines: 95 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Message-ID: Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:24:18 -0400 NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.209.185.163 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sympatico.ca X-Trace: news20.bellglobal.com 1098742841 216.209.185.163 (Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:20:41 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:20:41 EDT Organization: Bell Sympatico Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161218 X-Received-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:36:01 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) The Lines of the Day Part Three: Convergence Part 32/35 Julian's whole body felt frozen in place. He couldn't move. What's more, he didn't want to move. Maybe if he just stayed perfectly still, time would follow suit. Of course, he knew he was being foolish. He knew there was nothing that could stop what was to come. It was inevitable. Every time it looked as though things just might work out for him, something inevitably happened to ruin it. He was so smart, he had seen so much, and yet he still knew so very little about the universe. The whole situation maddeningly reminded him of a time when he was just fifteen years old, and had found out that his parents had had him genetically enhanced. The pain, the unreality, and the anger were strikingly similar to both instances. Julian found himself annoyed to think that he was really still so similar to the long-ago adolescent he'd once been. Surely, it was about time for him to grow out of his infancy. But the more he thought about it, it wasn't really the emotional struggle that made him feel suddenly so young. It was his utter helplessness towards the situation at hand. Not since he was very, very young had he ever felt as helpless as he did then. And it frightened him. Why love and fear always seemed so synonymous where he was concerned, Julian wasn't sure. All he knew was that he didn't want to loose Ezri. He loved her, and he didn't want to have to go on, leave the station, and start a new life without her. "Ezri..." He placed one hand on the side of the biobed beside her, and with the other hand he reached over her, and gently touched her face. His fingertips barely even brushing against the smooth surface of her cheek, he used his thumb to push a small strand of short, dark hair off her brow. She was so perfect. So beautiful. "Ezri," he spoke softly, scared of hearing the sound of his voice echoing off the walls of the still room. "Ezri... you have to wake up... please... don't do this to me. Not here... not again..." There was no response. Julian was angry at the desperate tone of his voice, angry at the silence. "I miss you," he whispered. Removing his hand from her face, he instead used it to take her hand. He gripped her fingers, first gingerly, then with increasing intensity, almost begging a response from her limp body. "Please, Ezri... please wake up. If you can hear me, if there's any small, subconscious part of you that can comprehend what I'm saying, please..." Predictably, there was no response from the comatose Trill, but that didn't make Julian let go of her hand. Instead, he brought her small, pale fingers up towards him. He cradled the hand in both of his, treasuring it so carefully that he seemed to think the delicate appendage might be in danger of shattering in his grip. "Ezri..." He brought the hand slowly, and patiently up to his face. For moments, he closed his eyes, savoring whatever of her usual smell remained imprinted on her pristine knuckles. Running feather-light massages over her hand with his fingertips, he then brought it down slightly, his lips brushing against her cool skin. He remembered another time, but tried to push it back into the recesses of his frustratingly perfect memory. It was this moment that counted, and he wouldn't waste it remembering a woman who no longer existed. Deliberately, he finally lowered her hand, replacing it where it hand been on the biobed beside her. Reluctantly, he released her, watching as her fingers curled just slightly over in the usual relaxed state of sleep. "I miss you so much..." He remembered his final exchange with Jadzia, remembered his skepticism towards the Prophets. And yet, when he'd examined Jadzia's readings... was it something that he could explain away? And what about the captain? Could that also be explained? His mind screaming out against the injustice of the chaotic universe into which he'd been unwilling thrust, he wanted to believe in the Prophets. He wanted to believe that somehow, somewhere, beyond the reaches of even his intellect, there was something recognizably fair amid the seemingly inherent cruelty. There was no control. There never had been, really. Instead, he was an innocent bystander to the epic being scripted around him, his brief brushings with the players made bittersweet by their sudden inadequacy. He'd never really known any of them. But perhaps there was some tragic solace in the fact that they'd known him even less. He didn't understand, but in ignorance, there was hope. And Julian needed hope. He couldn't loose faith, because the more he thought about it, the more he realized that loosing her would be to loose his only stable foothold in the sea of unexplainable. He needed her, more than he'd ever needed anyone. He needed to feel the centering of mind and body that she offered him, the complete relaxation of his whole self that he'd never had with anyone else before her. To loose her as his foothold would be to plunge himself back into the darkness, except this time, it would be a far more complete darkness than he'd ever previously known. A shudder ran through his body as he remembered himself as a fifteen year old, right after he'd found out he was genetically enhanced, regarding his naked body in front of the bathroom mirror and wondering how much of what he saw was really him, and how much was the result of some scientist's idea of perfection. Although its emotional sting had been dulled by the years, the memory of that time stayed with him still, and was a definite factor in his never truly feeling comfortable with a woman. Until Ezri. With Ezri, he could finally be himself. He closed his eyes, and could feel the single drop of liquid that slipped down his face. He opened his eyes just as the tear made it down to his chin, and dropped off, colliding with the exposed skin of Ezri's arm. And it was in that moment, that one, single, fraction of a second, that everything changed. NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.pas.earthlink.net!elnk-nf2-pas!newsfeed.earthlink.net!newshub.sdsu.edu!border1.nntp.dca.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!newsfeed.cwix.com!news-in.mts.net!nf1.bellglobal.com!nf2.bellglobal.com!news20.bellglobal.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Anna Peppard" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW DS9 The Lines of the Day 33/35 [pg 13] b/e Lines: 112 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Message-ID: Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:25:05 -0400 NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.209.185.163 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sympatico.ca X-Trace: news20.bellglobal.com 1098742887 216.209.185.163 (Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:21:27 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:21:27 EDT Organization: Bell Sympatico Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161211 X-Received-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:28:44 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) The Lines of the Day Part Three: Convergence Part 33/35 When Julian opened his eyes, he found himself still in the patient ward, but knowing, somehow, that it was wrong. As he looked down at the body in front of him, his suspicions were confirmed. It was Jadzia, lying there looking just the same as she had, exactly one year ago. It was wrong; the situation was wrong, he knew that. But... it was so real. Too real. The feelings running through his mind, the nausea deep in the pit of his stomach- this wasn't a dream. This was real, and the crew of the Defiant would be returning shortly, he knew, with Worf no doubt wanting to see Jadzia. Whatever brief time he had left before they returned would probably be the last chance he would get to look at her, his last chance to see any life at all in her perfect features. Gently, he placed one hand on the side of the biobed, careful not to disturb Jadzia's unconscious form. He looked down at her. She was so beautiful. Ever since the first moment he'd seen her, she'd taken his breath away, and even now, as she lay on her deathbed, she still had that effect. His eyes ran up her neck, following the delicate pattern of her brown spots. Her long, dark hair, hair that he'd always wanted to run his fingers through, was loose, splaying out around her head where it rested on the bed's pillow. Her face, her beautiful, gorgeous face, was pale, almost white, causing the continuing line of spots that circled her face to seem even darker. Also pale were her full, round lips, as they remained loosely closed, her slowed breathing coming only through her nose. Julian then looked at her closed eyelids, and the gentle fringe of dark eyelashes that surrounded them. He wished her eyes were open, so that he could look, for a last time, into their blue depths. But he knew it wasn't going to happen. Not now, and certainly not for him. His lips began moving, seemingly of their own accord, and the deja-vu swept over him even more powerfully. He remembered the words as though he'd only spoken them yesterday. Suddenly, though, Julian became unsure of when yesterday was, or if there even was a yesterday. This was reality; he was here, now. Tomorrow, yesterday-none of it was of any consequence. All that mattered was Jadzia, and the fact that, as he struggled with inconsequential, nagging doubts, she was dying in his Infirmary, and if he didn't hurry, he was going to miss his chance to say goodbye. "I don't know if you can hear me," he spoke softly over her. "But I want to say this anyway..." __________________________________________________________ It seemed as if it had been going on forever, as though she were living her whole past life of Jadzia all over again. Except instead of the cloudiness of memory, everything was vivid, strong, and real. It all seemed so real. And yet, the prolonged feeling through everything, the sense that somehow she had been there before, said those same things before, still ate at the back of her mind. Despite whatever doubts she might have had, though, she couldn't stop the events that happened, any more than she could stop herself from saying or doing the things that she knew she had already done once before. When she opened her eyes, she still sensed it; she had been here before. In many ways, it felt as though she had never left this place. She found herself looking out through blue eyes that she somehow knew were not her own, into the bright, white overhead lights of the Infirmary. The body which was also not hers was unresponsive, as were her attempts to open her eyes any wider. All of her senses felt dulled, and she found herself only vaguely aware of whatever was happening around her. Her heavy lids drooped shut, then forced themselves groggily open again, as she found herself looking up into a very familiar worried face. His chocolate eyes were wide, yet dim, but undeniably pleading. Seized by the sudden urge to reach out and touch his dark face, she was frustrated when her body refused to respond. "I don't know if you can hear me," he began softly, his accent blurred by her senses and his own concern. "but I want to say this anyway." Briefly, she became aware of the feather sweep of fingers across the back of her hand. "Jadzia... I'm sorry... I just don't know what else to do... Don't die, Jadzia... Please... I can't live without you and... I love you..." She had heard the words before, so many times. They were as familiar to her as anything else she knew, and she also knew what would come next. She'd seen it all before. She was so certain in her knowledge that what unexpectedly followed seemed even more surreal. He stopped himself, and shook his head slowly. "Listen to me... I don't even know what I'm saying. I think I would say anything right now, just to keep you with us. I don't know if I love you or not, and I don't know what you feel for me, but... maybe it could have been love. If things had been different... but you love him, and he loves you, and, at this point, that's all that really matters. I just... want to say goodbye, now. You're my friend, Jadzia, and that's more than I could have ever hoped for." His face grew larger in her field of vision, until it completely consumed her. Scared that if she did so she wouldn't be able to open them again, Jadzia forcibly kept her eyes open, as she felt the soft lips that pressed themselves gently, so gently, against her forehead. This hadn't happened before. After a moment, his face pulled away from her again, and again she was able to look into his eyes. "For everything that might have been, and everything that never could... goodbye, Jadzia. I'll miss you." Her eyes were growing heavy, and she blinked lazily. When she regained her vision, Julian's brown eyes were no longer focused in on her. He was looking up, across the room, at something in the doorway. Without so much as a final glance, he turned, and left her side... Ezri closed Jadzia's eyes, and then... "Benjamin?" "Hello, Old Man." "How..?" Benjamin Sisko smiled at her, displaying his full, white teeth. He looked exactly the same as he had just before he'd left Deep Space Nine for the last time. "You have to forgive yourself, Old Man." Ezri followed his gaze over to the other side of the patient ward, where she saw Julian, bent over... her. "He's... crying..." she said, her voice sounding strangely flat. "He loves you," Benjamin said softly. "And he's loosing you. Why shouldn't he cry?" "I..." Ezri was tongue tied. She couldn't take her eyes off Julian, and his tear-stained cheek. He had strong emotions, she knew that. But never, ever, over a period of 7 years, had she ever seen him cry. NewMessage: ath: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!in.100proofnews.com!in.100proofnews.com!snoopy.risq.qc.ca!nf3.bellglobal.com!nf1.bellglobal.com!nf2.bellglobal.com!news20.bellglobal.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Anna Peppard" Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: NEW DS9 The Lines of the Day 34/35 [pg 13] b/e Lines: 91 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Message-ID: Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:26:01 -0400 NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.209.185.163 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sympatico.ca X-Trace: news20.bellglobal.com 1098742943 216.209.185.163 (Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:22:23 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:22:23 EDT Organization: Bell Sympatico Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative:161219 X-Received-Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 15:37:32 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) The Lines of the Day Part Three: Comvergence Part 34/35 With an effort, she tore her gaze away, and looked back at Benjamin. "Why was it different?" she asked him, her voice firm. "Why wasn't it the same as before?" "Because that was how it was supposed to be," he told her. Ezri's eyes darted across the room to Julian, then back to Benjamin. "You mean... he never got the chance to finish before." Benjamin nodded. "That's right." She looked at Julian, saw the way he cradled her one hand in his. "He really does love me, doesn't he? More than he ever loved her." "Yes," Benjamin confirmed. "But then... you knew that already... didn't you?" Ezri didn't reply to his question. "Why are you doing this, Ben?" "Me?" She looked at him. "What are you, Ben? Are you..." Benjamin shook his head, a slight smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "I'm with the Prophets, Old Man. They'll take care of me." Her eyes not leaving him, she nodded slowly. "I know. I just... miss you." His dark eyes stared back at her. "And there's someone else back on the station who misses you. It's time for you to wake up." Ezri broke her gaze, looking instead down at her Starfleet issue shoes. "Yes," she said. "I suppose it is." She looked back up at him quickly, before he left. "Bajor's been accepted into the Federation, Benjamin." "I know," he said, smiling. "Congratulations." Ezri smiled. "Thanks... And Benjamin?" He looked at her. "Hurry back." Her eyes blinked shut on his smiling face, and when they fluttered open, she saw Julian looking down over her. "Julian?" His face lit up. For an instant, she was reminded of the first time she'd seen him on the shuttlecraft to Deep Space Nine. "Ezri..." For once, his immediate reaction was not to check the medical readouts, or run a tricorder over her body. All he seemed concerned with was staying at her side, and making sure he didn't miss a single moment. "It's okay now, Julian," she assured him. "I'm back." His light chocolate eyes flickered over his face, more awake than ever, despite his otherwise disheveled appearance. His face was flecked with stubble, his hair rumpled, and reverting to its natural, curled state. In seven long and wonderful lifetimes of experience, Ezri had never seen a more beautiful sight. "Don't you have anything to say?" she asked him innocently. In one fluid motion, Julian took her hand, and pulled her into a sitting position towards him. His other hand he wrapped around the back of her neck, and kissed her, as deeply as she could ever remember being kissed. Given that she'd just woken up from a comatose sleep, the sensation was a little overwhelming, but Ezri didn't dare back away, not from something that felt so good. When his lips finally released her, his breath was coming in uneven bursts through his open mouth. Ezri noted that she was no less exhausted, and she put her hands on his shoulders to steady herself. "So I guess... you're glad to see me," she managed. Julian smiled, then grinned, and finally broke down into an all-out laugh. The laugh was so relieved, and so happy, it seemed as though Julian were having trouble containing his joy. "My God..." he said, shaking his head. "I thought I'd lost you..." "Like you lost Jadzia?" Julian stopped. His smile fell, and his eyes drilled into her. "Do you remember... what happened? I mean... before..." Ezri shook her head. "I don't know what it was," she said softly. "Julian... I saw Benjamin." Julian's eyes widened, if that was possible. "Was this some kind of... orb experience?" Again, she shook her head. "I don't think so. When I was... asleep... I was living out my-Jadzia's-memories. All of them. I remembered... everything." His eyes searched her. "And?" "And I'm sorry," she breathed against his face, which was still mere centimeters from hers. "I never got the chance to say goodbye to her," he said. "Worf came in before I had a chance to finish. But this time..." "I know," she agreed. "It was the same for me." "But what..." his quiet voice trailed off. "What caused all of this?" "I did," she said, no longer afraid of the admission. Julian swallowed. "Why?" "Because... I thought you loved her." "Oh, Gods, Ezri..." he pulled her towards him again, holding her upper body tightly against him. Ezri hugged him back, wrapping her arms gratefully around his neck. "I'm so sorry, Ezri," he was saying. "I'm so sorry..." "I love you, Julian," she whispered, gripping him tighter as she said it. "I love you," he whispered back. "... Ezri." She smiled, and felt herself relax, really relax; it felt like she hadn't done that in a very long time. ____________________________________________________________ NewMessage: