Star Trek DS9 - 02 The Siege by Peter David

Author:Peter David [Peter David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, General, Science Fiction, Media Tie-In, Space Opera
ISBN: 9780743412216
Publisher: Star Trek
Published: 2014-01-13T16:00:00+00:00

Odo took a seat behind his desk and placed his hands flat on the desktop. “I’m willing to keep this matter between us, Doctor . . . but I do not need you making my job any harder than it already is. And it’s pretty miserable right now.” He shook his head. “I’ve got every available man combing every inch of this station—talking to people, running scans on inanimate objects to see if they have life readings, trying to detect the small expenditure of energy that might accompany sudden shapeshifting, in the same manner that I do . . . ”He paused, and then repeated bitterly, “In the same manner . . . ”

Bashir looked at him, full of curiosity. “Do you really think that this shapeshifter is just like you? I mean . . . one of your people?”

Odo leaned forward, propping his elbows on the desk. “What do you know about me, Doctor?”

“Only what I’ve read in the files—how you were found, how you don’t have any idea where you come from, that sort of thing.”

“It is a rare occasion,” said Odo, “when you can read someone’s file and learn just as much about him from them as he knows about himself. That’s my whole life right there, Doctor. The facts in that file . . . and the duties of this job.” He looked despondent. “It would have to happen this way, wouldn’t it?”

“Wouldn’t what?”

Clearly Odo weighed answering the doctor. He wasn’t automatically inclined to, but he felt the need to vent his spleen to somebody. Kira was too hardened by a difficult life to be all that sympathetic, despite the occasional efforts she made. Sisko he still didn’t trust. Dax was a puzzle. O’Brien had been getting on his nerves lately. And Quark . . .

“Don’t make me laugh,” he said bitterly. “What?”

“Nothing.” He shook his head. “It’s just that . . . well, it’s just my luck that I should finally encounter a creature that might be one of my own kind. I don’t know for sure that it is. There are other shapeshifting species in the galaxy. Perhaps it’s an offshoot from my people—presuming I have a people. As I said, I don’t know. But of all things, this possible first relative of mine turns out to be a psychopathic random killer. And I have absolutely no idea where to start looking for him. This station has thirty-five levels, Doctor. Its diameter is about one-point-four kilometers. And hidden somewhere in this maze is a being who—if it’s just like me—could be disguised as a stick of furniture or a discarded hatch . . . anything.”

Bashir nodded sympathetically. “It must be a very difficult situation to be in. Very frustrating.”

“Yes, it is.”

“Almost like . . . oh . . . Bashir made a tremendous show of giving it a great deal of thought. “Almost like, say . . . watching a boy die when you know that you could help him.”

Odo didn’t look remotely amused. “Some of us, Doctor, are able to put aside our personal feelings and do our jobs.

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