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CAUGHT IN THE ACT

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In quite a number of universes, the Founders captured Garak and Odo along with Tain, after the combined Obsidian Order-Tal Shiar attack on their homeworld, and imprisoned them together in the Jem’Hadar cell. In more than a few universes, the shapeshifters caught Bashir and the unwilling O’Brien while the doctor was trying to free the renegade group of Jem’Hadar from addiction to ketracel white. In a few interesting universes, those two events coincided, resulting in the two humans being incarcerated with the first three. And in just one fascinating universe, an even more volatile element was added: a rather begrudging Dukat and his equally disgruntled sidekick Damar, having reluctantly been dispatched by Cardassian High Command to lend support to the attack, were also imprisoned with that same group.

 

 

Already quite vexed with Bashir for his attempts to assist the group of Jem’Hadar, and appalled at Tain’s coldly pragmatic admission of his having required Garak’s torture of Odo, O’Brien found it easy to deeply resent the concern that the doctor exhibited for Garak’s well-being upon the instant of their imprisonment among the Cardassians and the constable. His mood was not helped by the brunette’s cordial exchange of greetings with the notorious Tain as well.

The latter, clearly a shrewd observer, immediately noticed the blond’s thinly veiled mistrust, contempt, and skittishness toward him. He observed Bashir bemusedly, and wondered aloud what the doctor had said to the Irishman about his brief previous encounter with the head of the Order.

Surprised, having missed O’Brien’s sullen regard, Bashir said, “I only told Miles that you were a gracious host and a gentleman.”

The engineer retorted peevishly, “You know, Julian while you are my friend, you’re not my only source of hearsay.” To the chief’s chagrin, Bashir appeared comfortable with those two Cardassians, whereas he himself remained leery, determined to maintain his distance, and didn’t even want to risk sitting in their presence. He felt that it would render him even more vulnerable at a time that he considered it essential to remain very much on his guard. This major psychological disadvantage jangled his jittery nerves all the more, and for that, he either rationally or irrationally blamed Bashir. “There are times when I envy your naïveté, but this is not one of them.”

Dukat evidently saw an opportunity to enjoy toying with the more ill-at-ease human and took it. “Yes, you’re not entirely comfortable with our species, are you?” He stalked slightly suggestively toward the mammalian with hands on hips and shoulders back arrogantly.

None too kindly, Garak offered, “I should say not. Among his own kind, he’s referred to as ‘the hero of Setlek 3.’”

“Garak!” O’Brien was alarmed, not only by the reckless statement, but also by the expressions on the faces of all of the Cardassians around him in response to the damning information, especially that of Tain.

Rather ruthlessly, Tain admonished Garak, “Granted that O’Brien was working against us; at least his efforts were for his own people; Bashir here was just now trying to help our common enemy, the Jem’Hadar. I must admit that that is a bit perturbing.”

Garak’s and Bashir’s eyes met. “Not that I don’t have a few choice words for my friend at this only his latest bit of silliness, but I’m still not really surprised at what he’s done. It is consistent with both his idealistic personality and his profession,” Garak remarked.

O’Brien cleared his throat uneasily. “Garak, in the name of our long association, I’d like to be able to rely on your support, too.”

“Then you’re a fool,” Odo told him bluntly.

“Constable, look, with all due respect, I know that you’re trying to help, or offer good advice, or whatever. I accept that your motives are decent. But I still trust Garak more than I do any of the others of his people. I honestly don’t believe that he would hurt me without an awfully good reason, and I don’t think that he thinks that he has one yet.”

Garak regarded the blond curiously, obviously mildly amused by the charmingly-awkward-but-desperately-hopeful wording, perhaps even a bit moved by the painfully-naïve semi-trust exhibited toward him by the human. O’Brien eyed him uncertainly in turn, hoping that he was correct in his assessment of the enigmatic “tailor’s” intentions.

Presently, Garak agreed, “I’ll take care of him,” clearly revealing a lack of clarity as to his meaning.

O’Brien swallowed rather hard, but nodded continued faith, and even thanked him. Odo emitted a decidedly rude harrumphing noise.

Bashir blinked at their resident shapeshifter. “I’m surprised, Odo; I wouldn’t’ve expected you to be the grudge-holding type.”

Peevishly, Odo responded, “Ordinarily, I’m not, Doctor: ‘ordinary’ being defined as ‘back where we belong again’ on DS9: at that point, I would be able to leisurely, rationally assess how I’m going to react to Garak in the future. But we’re most certainly not where we belong, and I don’t have any such luxury as yet. I don’t plan to let down my guard with any of these potential enemies until we are.”

“I’ll tell you what amazes me,” offered O’Brien. “That the Founders have put you in the cell with us.”

“I’m not surprised in the least,” Odo replied flatly. “I’ve proven myself their enemy. I was in the company of their attackers, and I’ve refused to return home before; why should they trust me?” An odd look passed momentarily between the constable and Garak, but O’Brien had no hope of deciphering it.

Tain mildly teased O’Brien that he wouldn’t interrogate him while under certain surveillance. “I know what you fear. But there are too many ears for me to assign Garak to your case at this time,” he said smoothly.

Dukat agreed promptly. “We mustn’t risk revealing any secrets to the Dominion: neither yours nor ours.”

Damar readily nodded in support of his commander. “As long as we’re prisoners, we mustn’t discuss matters of any consequence.”

“Wonderful. Now I have to pin my hopes on not being rescued.” The chief was both sarcastic and bitter.

Tain eyed O’Brien predatorily, but whether seriously contemplating some form of foul play at some later time, or simply to torment him was unclear. O’Brien was wary of Dukat and Damar as well, despite their selfishly-motivated support, and carefully kept his distance from all of the Cardassians the best that he could.

 

Much later, O’Brien couldn’t even say how they’d done it. He’d finally gotten to where he could actually fall into a fitful sleep for a few hours at a time, despite being locked in a cell with the living embodiments of his worst nightmares. All that he’d known was that, following some number of days of tense incarceration, he’d abruptly awakened to a brutally violent mayhem and massacre. He’d curled into a defensive ball as blood erupted in all directions. And when at last it was over, Jem’Hadar littered the floor, and only Cardassians were left standing.

“I’m not going with you,” the Irishman decided instantly, emphatically shaking his head.

“Miles, you can’t be serious!” challenged Bashir. “We can’t just leave you here!”

“Yes, you can and you will. All that the Jem’Hadar will do is kill me. I know what Tain, and possibly all of the other Cardassians have in mind, and I won’t let them get me alone. Think of it as self-sacrifice to protect Federation secrets, if you like. And if you’re as smart as I hope you are, you’ll do the same.”

But it was Odo, not Bashir, who persuaded O’Brien to accompany them, and not with words, but with a right-cross.

 

Upon reawakening, and seeing in whose company he still was, although the location had changed, O’Brien swallowed hard. Garak sat to his left, and Tain was standing uncomfortably close to them, wearing a quizzical expression.

“Now, Chief, let’s hear about all of those Federation secrets that you were so eager to protect,” said the head of the Order.

O’Brien was shaking his head before Tain’s demand was halfway complete. “I wasn’t thinking of anything specific, really; I was just trying to convince Julian to feel able to leave me.”

Tain was undaunted. “You’ll think of something, I’m sure, if you give it enough thought for a moment.”

He was still shaking his head. “They don’t give strategic information to non-line personnel, those who’ll never be officers.”

“Technological data, then.”

The Irishman glanced quickly to Dukat where he casually leaned against the wall with his arms folded not far from them. “You once told Sisko that your ships’ designs are more advanced than ours, and that you-all have nothing to learn from us.”

Dukat shrugged. “Perhaps I was mistaken. Or perhaps I was simply trying to lull Sisko into a less suspicious frame of mind.”

“Or perhaps Dukat was correct,” put in Tain. “We’ll make that determination after you give us your specifications so that we can make such comparisons.”

O’Brien turned his appeal to the man on his left. “All right, Garak. You promised to watch out for me. Now I’m counting on you.”

“That’s not exactly what I said.”

“But it’s exactly what I need.” Not seeing what he sought in Garak’s eyes, O’Brien turned accusationally to Odo. “And Constable, how could you, of all people, set me up for this, after what he just did to you???”

“First things first, Chief: keeping you alive. I decided that we would worry about the details after that.” Odo defended his choice, but did indeed appear to be second-guessing his own former wisdom.

“If there is an ‘after that.’ At least, one worth having.” The human eyed him in wounded betrayal. “Well, then help me. Don’t let them….” He trailed off as he saw the shapeshifter sag in reluctance and regret.

“I can’t,” said Odo dismally. “They’ve turned on that infernal machine again.”

“Not to hurt Odo this time,” clarified Tain. “Merely to keep him from shapeshifting and attacking us. We’ll allow you to regenerate when you need to do so,” he added over his shoulder to the changeling.

“How generous,” Odo replied ruefully.

“Wait.” Bashir surged forward in O’Brien’s defense. “I can give you something far more valuable than the mere off-chance of an ever-so-slight technological advantage.”

“Now what would that be?” quipped Damar skeptically. “The cure for foot-fungus?”

The doctor ignored him. “I learned quite a great deal about the physiology of the Jem’Hadar while I was trying to cure them of their ketracel white addiction. There might easily be information that you can use against them.”

Tain’s brows rose. “And you offer this valuable data to us in order to protect the other human? You are indeed a loyal friend.”

“Yes, I do, but it’s more than that. You see, I want to give you this information. I’m eager to do so.”

All of the Cardassians stared at him.

“We humans have an expression: ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend.’ The more that we pool our knowledge of our common enemy, the Dominion, the better are the chances that we all will survive, and defeat them.”

“You never fail to amaze me, Doctor,” remarked Tain. “Proceed. Tell us.”

Bashir launched into a lengthy, informative lecture, and Tain listened as well as recorded with a tiny device. All of the Cardassians were suitably impressed by the genetically-enhanced human’s perfect memory. His discourse was indeed so long that at some point, O’Brien even managed to drift into a fitful sleep.

Soon after Bashir had finished, Odo tentatively, politely put in a request regarding his imminent need to regenerate. Dukat and Damar promptly drew their disruptors on him.

Tain said, “Very well, Odo, but once we turn off our device, you will immediately liquefy, at which point we will turn it back on for the duration of your regenerative cycle, maintaining you in that state. If you make any attempt to defy us, not only will you be shot, but your two human friends will also suffer the consequences of your ill-advised behavior. Do you understand?”

“Quite well.” Odo eyed the two weapons aimed in his direction, and then offered a reassuring glance at Bashir that he would not endanger the doctor and his sleeping friend.

“You’re taking no chances,” Bashir commented to Tain.

“Neither would you, if our roles were reversed.”

“Probably not,” the brunette human admitted.

The changeling’s liquefaction proceeded without incident.

Bashir regarded the puddle that was Odo and the exhaustedly sleeping O’Brien and sighed. “I must confess that I am also nearly too tired to remain awake.”

“Then by all means, sleep,” invited Tain.

“Don’t you-all ever need sleep?” the human inquired, even as he stretched out on the other side of O’Brien.

“We’ve done so, on occasion. But as I imagine that you’ve noticed, never all at once.”

“I’ve noticed. You don’t trust us?” Bashir indicated O’Brien and Odo along with him.

“I trust no one,” Tain responded bluntly.

Bashir looked regretful. “What an abysmal scenario for an entire lifetime.”

“Ah, but then I get to have an entire lifetime. Sleep well, Doctor.”

 

Some time later, O’Brien was the first to awaken. He gasped and sat up abruptly. The Cardassians gazed back at him placidly.

Vaguely embarrassed, O’Brien explained, “Sorry. I was dreaming. I forgot where I was.”

“And with whom,” Garak added playfully.

“Yeah, that, too.” Then the human saw Bashir insensate beside him, as well as the puddle of Odo, and gasped again. “Are they all right?”

“Quite so. Merely resting, as you were.”

The blond nodded, and then endured an awkward silence, which grew increasingly uncomfortable as it lengthened. Finally, unable to further tolerate the suspense, O’Brien fairly growled, “I have to know. Are you threatening me?? Or has Julian successfully ‘purchased’ my reprieve?” He regarded each Cardassian in turn apprehensively.

They observed him back tranquilly. Then, Tain admitted, “We discussed it while all three of you were oblivious. We’ve decided that, our intelligence network being what it is, and Federation secrecy frankly being what it isn’t, there really is not a great deal that you could tell us that we don’t already know, with just one exception: something which you personally are in a unique position to provide.”

O’Brien waited tensely.

Damar clarified, “We would be very interested to know just how you managed to jury-rig smoothly-functioning connections between our Cardassian technology on Terok Nor and your own Federation equipment.”

O’Brien actually smiled, and confided, “I didn’t always. Do it smoothly, I mean. There were a fair number of mishaps, but also many successes. And yes, I’ll be happy to share them with you.” He proceeded to do so, warming to his topic, and even somewhat to his audience, as he went.

So much so that when Bashir awoke, he found his Cardassian-shy friend in pleasant conversation with those same aliens. O’Brien turned casually, and caught sight of the former smiling at him.

“Why, Miles, I didn’t know you had it in you.”

“It’s my turn to lecture now. Go back to sleep.”