THE BIG GAME by Sandy Schofield

Author:Sandy Schofield [Schofield, Sandy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 0-7434-1223-0
Published: 2010-08-07T14:17:52.176000+00:00

CHAPTER 18

KIRA’S HANDS WERE SHAKING. Her body was humming. She felt as if she had to keep moving or she would wilt with exhaustion. Yet at the same time, she was braced for another problem—any problem.

She focused on the communications console, making sure that O’Brien’s repairs had everything on-line. She still couldn’t tell if long-range communications were working. But she sent an encoded message to Starfleet, explaining the situation, and putting in a request for help.

Then she paused. Commander Sisko was gone from the bridge. O’Brien was swearing over the engineering console. Dax’s fingers danced on the science console’s pad, as she ran diagnostic after diagnostic. Carter pushed hair out of her face as she frowned at the operations table.

The commander had told Kira to contact Litna, but Kira had put it off. Captain Litna had commanded a wing of Bajoran freedom fighters for years, conducting successful raids on the Cardassian strongholds. When Kira was a child, she had met Litna near the fountains and had been in awe of her ever since. Commander Sisko’s handling of Litna made Kira want to crawl under the communications board. Sometimes the man didn’t understand the fine points of Bajoran diplomacy.

Kira took a deep breath and hailed Litna’s ship. At first no one responded. Kira bit her lower lip. Had something happened? Had the Cardassians hurt Litna? Was Litna correct? Was this all a plot?

At the second hail, Litna appeared on the main viewing screen. All activity in Ops stopped. Dax looked at Kira with a measuring gaze. Kira felt her cheeks get hot. She left the communications board and walked to Sisko’s usual position in front of the operations table.

“You hailed me, Major?” Litna’s tone had a trace of sarcasm, emphasis on the word Major.

Kira swallowed. “Yes, Captain. Commander Sisko wanted me to clarify a few things—”

“Smart man,” Litna said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Did he want you to speak woman to woman or Bajoran to Bajoran?”

Kira let out the breath she had been holding. “Captain, I asked to talk to you, since you didn’t listen to him. You persist in believing that the Cardassians are attacking Bajor. They’re not.”

“Really, Major? Then what have we been experiencing?”

“Look,” Kira said, clasping her hands behind her back. She had never encountered anyone so stubborn. “There is some subspace activity going on that is affecting us, you, the Cardassians, and anything else in the area. A Ferengi ship broke up yesterday afternoon under the strength of this—”

“And you do not know what this phenomenon is.” Litna crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Could it, in fact, be a Cardassian ploy?”

“You think they would destroy their own fleet?”

“My equipment does not show a destroyed fleet. A few ships are having problems, perhaps, but that’s common.” Litna leaned closer to the screen. “Tell me, Major, what is wrong with the Galor-class warship I see in Bajoran space?”

“Nothing, but—”

“You’re wrong, Major.” Again, Litna had a cold smile. “What is wrong is that the Cardassian warship is in Bajoran space.

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