“Kubus has officially gone on record as stating that the Cardassian troops on Bajor are ‘peacekeepers,’” Nechayev continued. “He says they were invited in to help bring stability to the planet.”
“No one will believe that!”
“It doesn’t matter,” she replied. “The Federation cannot legally become involved in something that has been given official sanction by the Bajoran government.”
“Kubus Oak isn’t the Bajoran government!” Darrah snapped. “He’s a Cardassian puppet!” He was going to say more, but then he saw new footage unfolding on the screen: images from the rebuilding site at the Kendra Monastery. There was Vedek Arin, calling for calm across the planet and endorsing Kubus’s stance; but Darrah couldn’t look away from the concerned, faithful expression on the man at his side. Vedek Gar’s head bobbed in agreement with everything that Arin said.
Syjin’s words came back in a rush. They knew where to find us! They must be tracking you, or me—
“Or someone told them,” he whispered. The import of that thought, that Gar Osen could be a traitor, made him feel sick. He performed my wedding ceremony. He blessed my children. We are…friends.
And with the thought of Osen, Mace thought of Syjin, the laughing, wild fool torn apart in a welter of blood. He thought of Proka and Myda, still back there on Bajor. Were they still alive? Had they been gunned down in some back alley, named as terrorists after the fact? He held on to the table, feeling dizzy. With a trembling hand, he reached out and sipped at the unpleasant tea.
After a long moment, Nechayev spoke in a low voice. “We can’t do anything for your planet now. But there are operations in place. Other people—this ship, even—are taking steps to oppose the Cardassians.”
“And what can I do?” he asked in a dead voice. “A lawman without law to enforce. A man without a world.”
“You can take asylum within the Federation if you want, like you said,” offered Jones. “Or somewhere else.”
He nodded woodenly. “Yes. I’ll tell you where you can take me.”
Jameson wouldn’t let Jones accompany them down to the surface of Valo II, so they said their good-byes in the Gettysburg’s transporter room. As Darrah and Nechayev materialized in the square of the main settlement, Mace still had Gwen’s D’jarraearring in his hand, the one she’d used during the mission. The gift was all she had to give him, she explained, a small piece of Bajor for him to carry.
Darrah glanced at the Starfleet officer. “I can take it from here.” A group of Bajorans were approaching them.
Nechayev nodded, hesitating with her hand over her communicator badge. “For the record, I wanted to tell you this. The Federation was wrong to let Bajor slip away. We had a chance to intervene and we didn’t. Now the Cardassians have a grip there, and they’ll coil around it like snakes with prey.” She leaned closer, and her voice became conspiratorial. “I will do whatever I can to help your people resist them. Someone has to.”
With a nod, the woman stepped away from him, and in a moment he was alone. Darrah glanced around. He’d never visited Valo II, but he knew the place from images and newsfeeds. A small colony on a temperate world, farms and resorts, the kind of place a man might retire to.
None of that applied to the planet he saw around him now. The settlement was overloaded with people, the adobe buildings crowded out by the sprawls of shantytown shacks made from cargo pods and scavenged metals. It was the mirror of the Oralian encampment outside Korto, but here the people peering warily from the flaps of makeshift tents were all Bajorans.
He recognized the man at the head of the greeting party. “Minister Keeve.”
Darrah got a shake of the head in return. “Not for a long time. I’m just Keeve Falor now. And we know you, Darrah Mace. We know you well enough.”
They shook hands. Mace frowned. “Jekko Tybe was killed,” he told the other man, eliciting gasps from some of Keeve’s men. “He saved lives by giving up his own.”
Keeve was silent for a moment, then nodded. “He spent it well, then. That’s like him. A good man. He’ll be missed.” He beckoned Darrah after him. “Come on, this way. Valo’s not the jewel it once was, but there’s still room here. Still room for Bajorans.”
They walked. Darrah was curious to see that the place was open, without the divides between D’jarracastes he had expected. Keeve saw the question in his eyes and nodded. “We’re all Bajorans now, Darrah. Soldier, priest, lawman, minister. We need to look to what’s common to us, not what sets us apart from one another.”
He halted near a shallow river where ragged children were playing and women worked. Even among all this, there was life and community. For what seemed like the first time in years, Darrah felt hope bloom at the sight of the simple ordinariness of it, the sight of life going on despite all the darkness that threatened it. “What can we do?” he husked, turning to face the other man.
“Resist,”said Keeve. “Fight the Cardassians at every turn, gather our strength and weaken theirs. Fight for Bajor.”
Darrah nodded slowly. “We turned out backs, and look what it brought us. We turned our backs and they took our world from us.”
Keeve smiled and pointed. “Not all of it.” Three figures were racing up the riverbank toward them: a teenage boy with long hair and wide eyes, a younger girl who was crying with joy, and behind them a woman who made Darrah’s heart lift.
His face split in a smile, and for that moment everything he had lost was returned to him.
THE TEROK NOR SAGA
CONTINUES IN
NIGHT OF THE WOLVES
Appendices
The following is a guide to the specific characters, places, and related material in Day of the Vipers.Where such an item was mentioned or appeared previously in a movie, episode, or other work of Star Trekfiction, its first appearance is cited.
APPENDIX I: BAJOR
Characters
Arin(male) priest, aide to Kai Meressa
Coldri Senn(male) a high-ranking Militia officer
Cotor(male) a senior vedek at the Kendra Monastery
Darrah Bajin(male) eldest child of Darrah Mace and Darrah Karys
Darrah Karys(female) wife of Darrah Mace
Darrah Mace(male) officer of the Korto City Watch
Darrah Nell(female) youngest child of Darrah Mace and Darrah Karys
Els Renora(female) public defender for Korto Justice Department (DS9/“Dax”)
Gar Osen(male) priest, resident of Korto District
Jarel(male) an artist, cousin of Darrah Karys
Jaro Essa(male) Militia officer (DS9/“Homecoming”)
Jas Holza(male) Korto District administrator and member of the Chamber of Ministers (TNG/“Ensign Ro”)
Jekko Tybe(male) adjutant for Minister Keeve Falor, former partner of Darrah Mace
Kalem Apren(male) member of the Chamber of Ministers (DS9/“Shakaar”)
Keeve Falor(male) member of the Chamber of Ministers(TNG/“Ensign Ro”)
Kored(male) junior officer aboard the Militia Space Guard vessel Clarion
Kubus Oak(male) member of the Chamber of Ministers (DS9/“The Collaborator”)
Lale Usbor(male) First Minister of Bajor, succeeding Verin Kolek