Path: newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!prodigy.com!news.glorb.com!border1.nntp.dca.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!ngpeer.news.aol.com!feed3.newsreader.com!newsreader.com!yellow.newsread.com!bad-news.newsread.com!news-toy.newsread.com!netaxs.com!newsread.com!POSTED.monger.newsread.com!not-for-mail Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated Approved: ascem@earthlink.net Organization: Better Living Thru TrekSmut Sender: ascem@earthlink.net Message-ID: From: "Elizabeth Helena" MIME-Version: 1.0 Mailing-List: list ASCEML@yahoogroups.com; contact ASCEML-owner@yahoogroups.com Subject: NEW DS9 "Choice" Stephen's challenges (G/B implied) [PG-13] 1/1 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 112 Date: Tue, 07 Sep 2004 04:55:22 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 209.198.142.218 X-Complaints-To: Abuse Role , We Care X-Trace: monger.newsread.com 1094532922 209.198.142.218 (Tue, 07 Sep 2004 00:55:22 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 07 Sep 2004 00:55:22 EDT Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated:84007 X-Received-Date: Mon, 06 Sep 2004 21:55:27 PDT (newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net) Title: Choice Author: Elizabeth Helena Series: DS9 Codes: G/B implied, multiple challenge response. Rating: PG-13 because this whole DS9 Angel of Death thing has clearly gone to my head. Warning: Lots and lots of character deaths! Woohoo! Ahem, just remember kiddies, don't try this at home. Spoilers: This vignette takes place during the season ender of season 4, so anything up to and including "Broken Link" is vulnerable to my depredations. Lexicon Alert: A Jefferies tube junction is a place where more than one Jefferies tube meets. Re-routing controls for various ship systems can be located there, as well as NC-17 parties :-). The surfaces of Earth-like planets are composed of tectonic plates, which float on a layer of magma and generally make a nuisance of themselves by pulling apart or crashing into each other. An area where two plates collide, forcing one under the other, is known as a subduction zone. I think. After all, I'm a trek mass-murderer, not a volcanologist! Summary: Call of Duty and Mea Culpa Challenge combined: Garak has a Disclaimer: 'Never Say Die S9' characters and settings are not mine, but then neither are the 'I don't give a TOS' characters either. Well, other than the Spock poster I used to snog - I mean admire - when I was a teeny-bopper. Dedication: To Allison Culp, who has been an absolute 'Cardassian on fire' during this challenge round. I am duly impressed and very grateful. Feedback: Other than pointing out that this story ignores facts established in "The Die is Cast," feedback is welcome. I'm working with canon here, after all :-). I can be reached plotting the demise of Damar, Dukat, Kai Winn, Rom and any other DS9 character I've missed so far at elizabeth loves her thesaurus @ hotmail.com (no spaces) or on the list. Archiving: As long as you include my other two bits of murderous mayhem "Accidental Homicide" and "Targ Meat," I'm not likely to add you to the list of victims - I mean, object to your archive. A quote, because they're not just for pussies anymore: "Conscientious people are apt to see their duty in that which is the most painful course." George Eliot Choice Garak could hear the phaser rifles, but he knew that Security would never break through the forcefields in time. As the Cardassian finished rerouting the controls for the quantum torpedoes, he ignored the presence of Worf's corpse in the Jefferies tube junction. Garak hadn't enjoyed killing the Klingon, but regrets seemed pointless, as no one on the Defiant would survive the consequences of his actions. The situation was unfortunate, Elim mused as he commandeered the phaser controls, but this was not a matter of choice but of duty. He could see no other way to protect Cardassia from the female Changeling's promise of revenge. After ensuring that the crew would be unable to interfere with the weapons or break orbit, Garak aimed the Defiant's entire firepower at a massive tectonic subduction zone on the Founders' new home world. To his surprise, Elim hesitated before engaging the initial firing sequence. *** "Julian." Bashir tapped his badge, "Garak?" The Doctor was puzzled both by the Cardassian contacting him planet-side and addressing him by his first name. "I'm terribly sorry, my love." Bashir turned horrified eyes towards Sisko who, frowning, began to stand up. "Elim!" Julian managed to cry out before the world around them became molten. *** Although Garak and Bashir died almost twenty minutes apart, both were thinking the same thoughts. How, in Cardassian literature, the protagonist has no choice but to kill the one they love in order to preserve the state. - end - ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ASCEM messages are copied to a mailing list. 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