Strange New Worlds 8 by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General, Fiction, Short Stories, Adventure, Science Fiction, Space Opera, Science fiction; American, Interplanetary voyages, Space ships, Star Trek fiction
ISBN: 9781416503453
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2005-07-15T23:00:00+00:00

"You knew all this time..."

"Guilty."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Would you have believed me?"

"No." Kira wrinkled her already wrinkly nose, and laughed. "Not until recently, anyway."

"That's what I thought." Odo sighed. "She asked me not to tell anyone, of course. More like swore me to secrecy. So I'd come here every year, to help her give these poor children some brief moments of happiness, and we were just Odo and Adami. If not friends, then allies with a common cause. The rest of the year, when our paths crossed, constable and kai made no acknowledgment that we shared a secret."

"What do you think it means?"

"Means? Nerys, I'd be as likely to unravel the mysteries of the Celestial Temple as to ever understand that woman. Though I knew a side of her that few saw, I also knew the ugly, self-serving creature who schemed and manipulated everyone and everything that got in the way of her voracious ambition. Which was the real person? Both. Of that much I'm certain. She was to be admired... and pitied. A bittersweet legacy, at best."

"Don't forget that it's because of her that you were able to convince some of your people to come this time." Kira shook her head slightly, remembering the gentle animals the children had so enjoyed.

"Yes. There is that."

His already snug embrace tightened just a little more. They had talked and talked, and then joined together into the shimmering unity that was like nothing either could ever experience apart. Night had fallen upon them, but their own light had been all they needed.

Now they sat quietly talking by moonlight. Each moment was a treasure. A gift. Soon it would be over, but for now it seemed as if there would never be enough words.

"I made the right choice, Nerys."

"I know." It came out as a mere breath.

"That doesn't mean there are no regrets."

"I know that too." She thought for a moment. "Quark was right."

He pressed the back of a hand to her forehead. "Funny, you don't feel feverish."

"I'm not, even if admitting that does make my head feel as if it's going to explode."

"I can imagine." Odo chuckled, his hand slipping downward to caress her features. "What was he right about?"

"He said there's always a price. Something about the Rules of Acquisition."

"It's always about the Rules of Acquisition with a Ferengi."

"Yes, but he was right, which is a scary thought. It was almost profound, for him. On the surface he was talking about business, but he also said I should know better than most."

Odo made that growling grunt of a noise he seemed to reserve solely for Quark. "Sounds like you had quite a conversation."

"Not really. He was just giving me a hard time about getting in to see Vic."

"Vic?"

"So I could find out what he wanted. Turned out all he'd do was give me these coordinates, hand me a picnic basket, and pretty much beg me to come here."

"Vic?"

"Yes, Vic. You're repeating yourself, Odo. That's not like you."

"Perhaps not, but it's very like Quark to weasel out of the only favor I've ever asked of him.

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