The rest of the time spent at Mungin was uneventful and the repetitive shift work helped mask the passage of time. They found themselves retreating to the holosuite more and more often as their tour wound down. To everyone’s relief, the next shift of analysts arrived at Antros III on schedule. Jamie’s team briefed the newcomers and boarded a tramp freighter with their gear, all under the watchful eyes of Zarinth’s people.

Their flight back into Federation space was quiet. In fact, a little too quiet. The only member of the crew they saw was the steward who brought them their meals. The freighter’s captain had restricted them to their quarters, which didn’t even have their own replicators, stating his ship was too cramped for a bunch of passengers to be wandering about, interfering with his crew’s work. Bart and the others were too excited to care about their accommodations as long as they were leaving the ice-covered moon that had been their home for the past six months.

Once they were deep in Federation space, the freighter rendezvoused with an Excelsior-class Federation starship. After a quick exchange of information on the communicator screen, they were beamed aboard the starship. Instead of materializing in the ship’s transporter room however, they found themselves in an isolation ward in the ship’s sickbay.

“All right, this is starting to get ridiculous.” Bart tested the door to find it sealed.

Jamie paced around the room like a caged tiger. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think we were under house arrest.”

“But why? What’s going on? If we’re under arrest, why are we here and not in the brig?” Priya asked.

“I do not believe we are officially ‘under arrest,’ ” Sabran said, looking at Priya. “If I have begun to understand Mr. Cruz’s dialectal use of language, I believe he means we’re being kept away from the crew for some unknown reason rather than being held for criminal matters.”

“Either way, this stinks. If we’ve done something wrong, they should just come out and tell us.” The frustration of the situation pushed Bart’s words out like an explosion.

Before he could continue with his rant, Priya broke in, “Has anyone seen or heard anything from Zarinth? Do we even know if he left on the freighter when we did?”

“I saw some of Zarinth’s security personnel when we were boarding the freighter, but I had no way to ascertain whether or not they actually boarded once we were in our quarters,” Sabran said, sitting down on one of the examination tables.

Bart started to ask the Vulcan if he knew how to answer a question with a simple yes or no, but managed to rein in the sharp reply. Sabran was not the enemy and this was not the time to make him one. He went over to the communications terminal and activated it.

“Nurse Orisaka,” came a feminine voice over the intercom. “How may I help you?”

“You could let us out.” Bart knew what the response would be, but felt he had to try.

“I’m sorry. We’ve been ordered to keep you in the isolation ward until we reach our destination. We can’t risk the possibility of infection,” came the sympathetic reply.

“Infection? What infection?” Jamie’s voice broke in over Bart’s intended question. “There has to have been some mistake here.”

“Again, I’m sorry. Our orders stated we were to pick you up from that freighter and transport you. You’ll have to ask Dr. MacDonald for more information. I thought you knew why we’d been sent to retrieve you.”

“Could you please summon Dr. MacDonald for us? We’d like to speak to him as soon as possible,” Bart asked, shushing Jamie with his left hand.

“I’ll have him come to your ward so you can speak to him personally,” Nurse Orisaka said. “If you’re hungry or thirsty, there is a replicator in the ward set up for your needs.”

Bart turned off the intercom. “Well, they’ve thought of everything. A nice little gilded cage we find ourselves in.”

“I’m not certain what’s going on, but there’s nothing we can do until Dr. MacDonald arrives,” Priya said. “I recommend relaxing and enjoying the trip. After all the things we’ve been through the past six months, some enforced inactivity is not the worst that could have happened to us.”

Bart and Jamie looked at each other, and took seats at the one table in the room with little grace. Bart had just gotten up to get a cup of coffee when Dr. MacDonald appeared at the door. They rose as one to move toward the door, but he casually waved them back to their seats. He pulled up a chair outside their door and hit the communications button beside it.

“The communication system in the isolation ward is set up so that we can hear you wherever you’re resting. There’s no need to crowd around the companel,” he said, a slight accent coloring his voice. He brought his long fingers up in front of his face, forming an inverted V with his hands as he looked them over. Bart felt the gaze from his green eyes boring into him and knew, without a doubt, what a specimen felt like beneath a microscope.

Jamie recovered first. “We’d like to know what’s going on, Doctor.”

The tall, lanky figure on the other side of the door slowly turned his head to look at Jamie. “Mr. Cruz, we received orders from Starfleet to rendevous with the S.S. Kristen’s Luck to assume responsibility for transporting three Starfleet members and one Bajoran officer for medical attention.” He paused, looking at a padd before continuing. “According to the information we received, you were examining alien artifacts when the containment field failed. Each of you had been contaminated in the incident. Your last station had been unable to isolate the cause of the illness, so you needed transportation for further medical examination. I am not to enter, nor examine you for fear of contaminating this ship. Is this not correct?”

Bart started to open his mouth when Jamie quickly stopped him. “You have to understand, Doctor, it’s just we were surprised about the transfer. When we left, we thought the freighter was going to take us all the way.”

“Understandable, given the current situation and all. However, we were already headed back to Jupiter Station. Diverting to meet the Kristen only took us a few hours off course. We’ll be able to make up the lost time, now that you’re safely aboard.”

“Do you have an estimate of when we’ll arrive?” Priya asked in a small voice.

“It shouldn’t take more than a couple of days. We received some damage in our last battle and can’t quite make maximum warp. As long as we maintain this speed though, we should be all right. The captain wanted me to reassure you we’ll do everything in our power to get you there in plenty of time.”

“Just one moment, Doctor, I want to make certain everyone is feeling all right.” Pulling the others into a tight huddle, the Alpha Centaurian whispered as he made a show of checking pulses and foreheads, “I don’t know what’s going on, but we still have to maintain operational security. At least, we know where we’re headed now. Just play along and let’s see where this leads.”

“Is everyone all right in there, Mr. Cruz?” Dr. MacDonald asked, brushing a lock of his red hair out of his eyes. “I do not like the idea of not being allowed to examine you. Just seems very inappropriate, but my orders were very clear.”

“I’m not a doctor, sir, but I’m certain if Starfleet sent out those orders, they must have a very good reason for doing so. We certainly appreciate your concern, though.”

They chatted with the doctor for a bit longer, letting him talk about the ship and its crew, and some of the battles they’d been in. Dr. MacDonald was a likeable person and they felt bad about having to make up a story about what they’d been doing and the artifact they’d found. He excused himself after a short while to make his rounds, promising to check back with them once in a while.

After they were certain he was gone, Jamie had everyone search the isolation ward for transmitters. After a thorough search, they were unable to find anything, so they had to assume they could speak freely. Jamie called them together and whispered, “I don’t know why we’re going to Jupiter Station and not back to Starbase 375. Something is very strange here. Everyone hang loose, keep your thoughts to yourself and enjoy the ride.”

Three days after their transfer, they arrived at Jupiter Station and were beamed into a security center. They were allowed to clean up and change clothes before being escorted to a large conference room. They meandered through the ornate room toward the large podium in the front and Bart noticed everyone was keeping their thoughts to themselves. He could tell by the way everyone moved they were all as nervous as he was.

They’d been there for a few minutes when Jamie broke the silence. “I wonder what’s keeping them. I wonder if Commander Mwakwere will be here to debrief us?”

“I don’t know, but I want to know how badly we beat that Jem’Hadar fleet. I’ll wager we didn’t let a single one get away,” Priya said, a small sharklike grin crossing her face.

Just then, a whistle rang out in the room, and the door at the far end slid open. “Attention on deck!” a security officer called out as two officers and a master chief petty officer came into the room. Bart looked in amazement as he realized Admiral Marta Batanides, the commander of Starfleet Intelligence herself was the first one in the door. As the officers took their seats, the master chief motioned for the four to sit down also. Bart and the others quickly complied.

Admiral Batanides looked them over, her elfin features making it appear she was ready to break into a smile at any moment. Finally she began, “Let me start by saying the Federation owes the four of you an incredible debt of gratitude. Your efforts were invaluable in helping to turn the tide against the threat from the Dominion.”

She paused for a second, pouring herself a glass of water from the silver pitcher sitting on the table. “The Vorta have been very generous in letting the Breen ambassador use their circuit to transmit information back to his government. He’s proven to be quite a talented observer and has gone to great lengths to inform his countrymen about the size, composition and strengths of the Dominion forces he’s observed. He’s also made heavy use of that encryption system you identified.” She took another sip from her glass and continued. “When the Breen entered the war, I have to admit the ferocity of their attacks caught us off guard. However, we were able to maneuver our forces to meet their counterattacks and as the Dominion withdrew even farther into Cardassian space, the ambassador was quick to keep his government informed with the latest news from the front.”

“Begging the admiral’s pardon,” Jamie said, as she paused. “When the Breen entered the war? Wasn’t Starfleet able to stop the Jem’Hadar fleet from attacking Starbase 11? There must have been time to put together a flotilla to stop them.”

“Yes, Mr. Cruz, when the Breen entered the war. Once we started getting the field reports from the Breen ambassador, it was determined that the value of the information was too great to lose. There’s no question we could have intercepted the Jem’Hadar forces. However, there was no way we could have done so without having exposed Mungin and the fact that we were listening in on the ambassador’s private network.”

“But, the people on Starbase 11…?” Bart’s soft voice broke the ugly silence.

“We gave them as much warning as we could,” she admitted, letting her emotions show through for a second, running a hand through her still dark brunette hair before she reimposed her professional demeanor. “Once the Jem’Hadar fleet attacked, we sent out a fleet we had pre-positioned and drove them off before they could complete the attack. Unfortunately, the Breen then announced their new alliance with the Dominion by attacking Earth.”

Bart swallowed. He no longer had any family on Earth—or much of anywhere, truth be known—but he had friends there.

“You seem to be using the word ‘unfortunately’ an awful lot here, Admiral,” Jamie said, a hostile tone creeping into his voice.

“Mr. Cruz, you more than anyone else here should understand the need to protect the source,” she replied sharply, then caught herself. “Yes, the attack on Earth was unexpected. We had no indication of that on any of the messages we intercepted. And the loss of life at Starbase 11 and in the reserve fleet was higher than anticipated. However, there is no question the information we’ve been getting directly from the Breen ambassador ever since has shortened this war, saving the lives of hundreds of millions.”

Bart and the others exchanged looks as the admiral softened her expression and continued. “In the twentieth century, there was a rumor that during their second World War, a Terran leader was faced with a terrible decision. His intelligence people had informed him his enemy was going to bomb one of his cities in the middle of the night. However, the enemy was communicating with what they believed was an unbreakable encryption device.”

She let that sink in for a second and then continued. “If he evacuated the city, he would without a doubt save hundreds of lives, and if he maneuvered his dwindling air support, he could shoot down a number of the enemy’s bombers before they could flee. But, if he did that, there was no doubt he would tip off the enemy that his intelligence people were listening in on those ‘undecipherable’ networks and they would change to a new system. Loss of this information would endanger a proposed invasion and prolong the war by an unknown number of years. What do you think happened?”

After a short pause, Sabran looked up. “He had to let the enemy bombers go through. Logically, it is the only answer. The needs of the many exceed the needs of the few.”

“Yes, Chief Sabran, that’s exactly what happened, except the rumors weren’t quite accurate. The truth was there were five possible targets that night and his intelligence people couldn’t identify which city was the target until it was too late to intercept the bombers. The city of Coventry was almost obliterated in the attack. However, we have reason to believe that even if he had known, he wouldn’t have compromised the fate of the war to save a city.”

“We regret the loss of life on Earth and at Starbase 11, but if their sacrifice brings the war to a close one day sooner, then it was worth it,” her aide spoke up for the first time. “If the Breen or the Dominion had changed that cipher system, we might have lost thousands more lives than we have taking the fight to the Cardassian homeworlds.”

Admiral Batanides brushed her hair back and gave them a sad look. “Believe me, these decisions were not made without a lot of sleepless nights. There hasn’t been a night that I haven’t questioned myself, wondering if there was another way to do what we did. However, that’s why we brought you directly here. I wanted to be the one who informed you about Starbase 11. Also, I wanted to be the first to thank you for what you did at Mungin. Your efforts were in the highest tradition of Starfleet and SI.”

Her face turned sober as she continued, the chill evident in her voice. “However, I have to once again inform you that what happened while you were on this temporary assignment is highly classified. Under no circumstances are you ever to talk about Mungin, what you did, where you were, nor who you were with during this time period. This prohibition extends even beyond your service in Starfleet. This program is not likely to be declassified during your lifetimes and therefore must be protected. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, sir,” the four of them answered in unison.

“Very well. There is a reception in your honor being set up in the room next door.” She motioned toward her aide. “Captain Abundez will be your point of contact here on Jupiter Station. He will be working with you to get your next assignment set up as well. As of 2400 tonight, you begin thirty days admin leave. Enjoy, go home, relax, and report back here in one month for reassignment.”

The others sprang to attention as she stood up. “At ease. You’re the honored guests here. If you’ll please accompany me…” she said, motioning them toward a side door. As they passed through, they found a group of senior Starfleet officers and nearly the entire command of SI waiting for them. The master chief led them down to their seats on the front row as the admiral and her aide moved up to the dais in the front of the room.

A smattering of applause from the assembled staff officers and senior enlisted caused Bart and the others to exchange embarrassed looks. After a short pause, the admiral began, “Thank you all for coming. We’re assembled today to honor the four members of Project Mungin for their invaluable contribution to the security of the Federation. Without their dedication and commitment to this cause, there is no doubt the Federation would be in truly dire circumstances.”

The rest of the evening was a blur to Bart. He shook hands with more people than he knew were assigned to SI and made small talk with some who promised great things were ahead for him. All he could think about was Starbase 11 and Earth and the fact that for all his work and all his brilliance and all his ingenuity, they were still as dead as if he’d never solved the problem. All he really remembered about that night was getting stupid drunk with Jamie as quickly as possible before being given two stimtabs and being poured into a shuttlecraft to take him on his “well-deserved” leave.