CHAPTER 26

“EMISSARY,” KIRA SAID, “are you absolutely sure this is what you want to do?”

Sisko stood on the Promenade, outside the entrance to the Bajoran Temple. In each hand he carried a simple cloth bag. And in each bag was a Red Orb of Jalbador.

Less than twenty-six hours after his dramatic rescue on Jeraddo, Deep Space 9 was nearly back to normal, if not yet fully recovered. There was still a slight slant to the deck, but O'Brien had been released from the Infirmary and was now leading the gravity-repair teams himself.

While most automated computer systems were still off-line, Jadzia, with an unexpected assist from Garak, had finally located the long-hidden Cardassian override programs Terrell had activated, and was replacing all the individual isolinear rods on which they had been encoded. Nog was fully recovered from his run-in with the holographic forcefield and was in Ops with Jadiza and Garak, helping them with their restoration efforts.

Of Terrell's fate no one knew. There was no record of a Sagittarian cruiser breaking orbit of Jeraddo. The Bajoran Lunar Power Commission had searched its records and had found sensor traces of the ship's arrival. But preliminary evidence seemed to indicate a gravity disturbance might have pulled it into a deadly descent.

Sisko had told Quark, Odo, and Garak what Terrell had told him about what had happened to them on the Day of Withdrawal. Garak and Odo flatly refused to believe her account. But Quark had started talking to Jake about collaborating on a novel based on the incident—Marauder Mo and the Treasure of Jalbador Quark wanted to call it. Jake had already warned Quark there might be some copyright problems with his main character.

The Defiant was safely in dock again, after fielding the massive search party that had led to his discovery at the very last moment. Sisko had since learned that more than forty Starfleet personnel had taken part in the intensive search of the abandoned village.

Moreover, Sisko reflected thankfully, in the time since the Defiant's return, Commander Arla Rees hadn't engaged him in a single discussion about Bajoran religion. Nor had she taken him up on his dinner invitation to meet Kasidy Yates. And Prylar Obanak and his followers appeared to have disappeared just as thoroughly as Terrell had managed to vanish over the clouds of Jeraddo. Though no doubt the group of monks had gone back to ground on Bajor.

“I'm sure,” Sisko now said to Kira, satisfied that he was doing the right thing. “It's time to end it.”

“We still don't know who killed Dal Nortron.”

“Or who hid the Orb on Jeraddo,” Sisko agreed. He lifted the bags. “But with these in safe hands, we'll have time to sort it all out at our leisure. The important thing is, the Orbs won't be in Cardassian hands.”

“I'd still feel better if Vash were off the station.”

“And Satr and Leen. And Base. But Odo's dealing with them. When it comes down to it, those four scoundrels are just petty thieves, led astray by what these Orbs represent.”

Kira suddenly looked serious. “What do they represent?”

Sisko smiled at her. “Let's leave that to the experts.” He entered the Temple, once again marveling at how each time he stepped through the doorway, it felt like the first time.

Kai Winn was there to greet him, and she bowed her head much too graciously. “Welcome, Emissary. It is always a pleasure to receive your summons and put aside all that I am doing to come and see you here. I find the long ride from Bajor to be an especially productive time for meditation and prayer.”

Every once in a while, Sisko was sorely tempted to just tell the Kai to stow it, but he let her play out her little game.

“And you, my child,” Kai Winn said ingratiatingly to Kira, “how fulfilled you must be to stand at the Emissary's side during these important events, watching all that he does.”

“Very fulfilled,” Kira replied, not a trace of conviction within her voice.

“And these are the artifacts?” the Kai asked, looking at the bags.

Sisko carefully pulled the Orbs from their wrappings and placed them on a small table. The steady glow they had developed on Jeraddo had now become a gentle pulsing, slowly dimming, slowly brightening, three times each minute.

“Oh, my,” the Kai said, “they are clever, aren't they? I could see how many people might think they are somehow related to the Orbs of the Prophets.”

“I beg your pardon?” Sisko said. “These are the Red Orbs of Jalbador.”

The Kai smiled beatifically at Sisko. “Oh, Emissary, I know you are new to our ancient traditions. Indeed, sometimes I wonder if anyone not born on Bajor could ever come to grasp the rich complexities of our beliefs. But I am not here to discuss the wisdom of the Prophets. Still, these . . . Red Orbs of Jalbador, they are but a legend from a troubled time in our past.” She shook her head. “And since they do not exist, I do not believe that I, as a humble servant of the people of Bajor, can accept them. It might lend an unwanted credence to their existence, and to other unfortunate legends best left in children's storybooks.”

Kira was outraged. “Kai Winn, you knew why we asked you up here. These are the Orbs. Look at the way they're glowing.”

“Child, though my ways are simple and I am certainly not as worldly as some who look to me for guidance, I am no stranger to the wonders of our age. I have seen many things glow, from phaser beams to a child's glitterball. I am sure that as much as you and the Emissary might want to believe in the tales of Jalbador, a few days of study would reveal the secret of these objects to be nothing more than some novel chemical reaction.”

“Then perform that study,” Sisko said. “In fact, I hope you do. Nothing could make me feel better than to know that these are some ingenious forgery.”

“Emissary, again I think you overestimate my abilities. Which is not to say I am not flattered by your high esteem. But really, I believe it is here, on Deep Space 9, in a temple of secular science as it were, that the objects should be studied.”

Sisko took a breath to calm himself. “Kai Winn, I am asking for your help.”

The Kai was barely able to look at Sisko, as if she were embarrassed beyond words. “Emissary, you do me an honor for which I know I am not worthy. But in this matter, I truly have no help to give.” She glanced disapprovingly at Kira. “May we speak in private?”

“Major Kira has my full confidence and trust.”

The Kai's false smile became exceptionally brittle. “Very well. I only wish to point out that many people look up to the Emissary as a role model, a person who sets an example which can help them find their own paths to the Prophets. And, with all humility, Emissary, to express your belief in the legends of Jalbador, and in these so-called Orbs, well, that is not an example right-thinking Bajoran people would want their children to follow.”

“I would think,” Kira said angrily, “that the best role model for Bajoran children would be one who encouraged the search for truth.”

The Kai blessed Kira with another blindingly insincere smile. “Why, yes, my child, that is what you'd think.”

“Kai Winn,” Sisko said before Kira could escalate the confrontation, “I'll make this simple. Take these Orbs to Bajor and subject them to examination, or I will find some other religious leader who will. And if these prove to have any connection to the Prophets, I promise I will make the Bajoran people know that you tried to stand in the Prophets' way.”

That was the end of any pretence on the part of the Kai. She drew herself up, the perpetual smile gone. “Your acceptance of those objects as the Orbs of Jalbador marks your first step on the path to heresy. Do you understand? Do you think you can remain Emissary with half the population of Bajor believing you've become a religious fanatic?”

But Sisko knew this was an argument he couldn't lose. “You forget, Kai, I wasn't elected Emissary. For whatever reason, the Prophets chose me. And as their Emissary, I'm saying you don't have a choice. Take the Orbs.”

The Kai's chin lifted in defiance. “Very well, if you are so certain these are the legendary Orbs, prove it. Find the third.”

“It took sixty years to find these two. I have better things to do.”

“But it cannot be difficult, Emissary. Look how they're pulsating with the fabled light of Jalbador.”

Sisko wasn't sure what she meant and he could see that she knew it.

The Kai's cruel smile was predatory. “You mean you claim these are the Red Orbs—without knowing the whole legend?”

“Enlighten me,” Sisko said.

The Kai clapped her hands together in delight, almost laughing at him. “Two Orbs glow when coming close to each other. But three Orbs pulse. It has been years since I read the legends, Emissary, but I would say that from the behavior of these . . . Orbs, the third one is quite nearby.”

Sisko looked at Kira. “The one Terrell lost.”

Kira couldn't resist adding, “You mean, the one Terrell thought Quark had stolen.”

Sisko looked back at Kai Winn. “So if we find the third Orb, you will take them back to Bajor for study?”

The Kai's ingratiating smile returned in full force. “Oh, that will hardly be necessary, because you will be able to prove they are real right away. You see, when the three Red Orbs are brought together, the doors to Jalbador open freely, and then . . . well, it is all in the legends, Emissary.”

“And then what, Kai?”

“Why then . . . the world comes to an end.” This time the Kai really did laugh at him. “So you can see where a great deal of study would not be necessary. Either the objects are frauds, or they are real. And if they are real, Emissary, you will have the singular pleasure of knowing you have brought on the apocalypse.” She sighed with pleasure. “Now you know why the stories of the Red Orbs are so popular with children and the unenlightened. They are quite . . . lurid, wouldn't you say?”

“I'm sure you'd know better than we would,” Kira said. She gave Sisko a conspiratorial wink. “What do you say? Shall we go on a wild Orb hunt?”

“You're not worried about the end of the world?” Sisko asked with a smile, accepting the Bajoran major's challenge.

Kira looked directly at the Kai. “Somehow, I don't think the Prophets would spend twenty thousand years trying to teach us about the universe and our place in it, and at the same time leave a big ‘off’ switch lying around.”

Sisko picked up a Red Orb in each hand. “Kai Winn, we'll be back.”

“Of course you will be, Emissary. Because there are no such things as the Red Orbs of Jalbador.”

A few moments later, Sisko was standing on the slanted deck of the Promenade, slowly moving the Orbs back and forth.

“That direction,” Kira said, pointing spinward toward Quark's. “The pulsing seemed to speed up a bit.”

“Why, Major, I think you're enjoying this.”

“What I'm going to really enjoy is helping the Kai carry three of these things onto her shuttle.”

Then it was Sisko's turn to laugh as he walked up the center of the Promenade, swinging the Orbs to the left and to the right.

And he didn't need Kira to tell him that the pulsing increased the closer they got to Quark's.

Kira looked at Sisko. “Do you think he really did steal the third one?”

“Only one way to find out,” Sisko said lightly, and he carried the Red Orbs of Jalbador into Quark's, where they proceeded to pulse faster than Sisko's suddenly racing heart.