Free The Long Night by Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Kathryn Rusch Page B

was trying to trick her, to force her to tell him that Commander Sisko was gone.
    "You are free to speak with me, but your commander is not?"
    Kira smiled her most charming smile, thankful that she had had a few hours to read about the Nibix before this contact. "I had thought that your communication had something to do with Deep Space Nine business. The Federation takes a dim view of any discussion about your lost ship. They are quite protective of it. Any type of communiqué about it must be referred to them. Commander Sisko could tell you no more than I could. I'm merely trying, as you say, to cut through the official red tape and save you some time."
    "Thank you, Major." Kidath smiled back at her. "I appreciate your help-and your surprisingly deep knowledge of my people's greatest tragedy and greatest hope."
    His image winked off her screen. She clenched her fists and then opened them again, biting back a curse. She hadn't fooled him at all. He had made that clear from his last remark. He knew that Commander Sisko had taken the Defiant in search of the Nibix. She would have to let Odo know there was a leak somewhere.
    She reached for her comm badge when the computer screen filled, letting her know that a special security-coded message was coming in from Starfleet.
    She responded to the hail with the proper code, and Admiral Wolfe's face appeared.
    "Major Kira," he said without preamble, "I understand that Commander Sisko has taken the Defiant on a mission to find the Nibix. Is that so?"
    Kira felt like a child caught with her hands in someone else's mess. "Yes, sir," she said.
    "His timing couldn't be worse," the admiral said, looking at someone beyond the screen.
    "Commander Sisko believed that he had to act before anyone else did," Kira said slowly.
    "I am not questioning his decision," the admiral said, "although I do wish this had waited a year or two. What are his chances of success?"
    "I know little about the Nibix, sir," Kira said, "except what I learned this afternoon. However, the commander and Lieutenant Dax have a great deal of knowledge about the ship, and they are convinced-"
    "That's enough, Major. You've answered me. Have Commander Sisko contact me when he returns and not before. We can't even trust secured channels on this thing."
    Clearly, Kira thought. "Admiral, a moment before I received your communiqué, Jiber Kidath, a member of the Jibetian High Council, contacted me. He wanted to know if Commander Sisko was searching for the Nibix. I did not answer him, sir, but he took the fact that I had any knowledge at all about the Nibix as an affirmative."
    Admiral Wolfe nodded. "He would with the information I'm sure he has."
    "To be honest, sir," Kira said, "I have no idea how he or you even knew to ask the question. Commander Sisko and I thought we had this mission under wraps."
    "You obviously have a security breach, Major. I suggest you find it."
    "Yes, sir," Kira said.
    "We are sending three starships to your area. They are to be used as you and Commander Sisko see fit. Lock down the station and be prepared for anything. Understood?"
    "Yes, sir," Kira said.
    "And one more thing," the admiral said. "If you have not contacted the Defiant since they arrived at their destination, do not do so now unless absolutely needed. No point in taking any undue chances."
    Kira nodded. "Understood."
    "Good luck," the admiral said. "There is a lot riding on the outcome of this."
    The screen blinked out, and then the files on the Nibix returned. Kira took her hands off the desk. Wet palm prints marred the surface. The leading edge of the storm had just hit. She had no idea how the news got out, but it had. It was time to get prepared. If the admiral ordered her to lock down the station, then she'd lock it down tighter than it had ever been locked.
    She stood and went through the door into Ops on a run, shouting orders as she went.

CHAPTER
8
    JULIAN BASHIR never expected to find himself in the commander's chair of a