Not A goodbye

Chapter 5

'CHIEF, UPPER PYLON ONE has broken down again.'

Chief Miles O'Brien uttered a sigh. 'You've got to be kidding me, I've repaired that thing just last week!' He grunted and dropped his interphasic coil spanner in his tool box, picking the box up. 'Please finish this up Ensign', he beamed, after stepping away from the open wall panel and the mess of wires.

'Yes sir', the Junior Engineer said, after which O'Brien left the room.

'I swear, if that bloody pylon breaks down one more time this month, I'm gonna kill someone', the Chief muttered to himself while getting on a turbolift to Upper Pylon One. There were these weeks when everything seemed to go wrong on the station. Murder, the station breaking down; it could not get any better.

When he reached the pylon, O'Brien opened up a Jefferies tube and immediately saw the problem.

'The entire ODN system has shut down, that's bloody near impossible.' O'Brien murmured, again to himself. He opened his tool box, took his ODN recoupler and unsealed some of the Jefferies tube's plating.

His heart skipped a beat.

---

Fujita stared at the dead body. She drew a deep breath and turned toward Commander Sisko.

'That was ensign Erbur Franklin, wasn't he?'

'Did you know him?' Sisko asked in surprise.

'Not well, I served with him on the Akagi, but he was reassigned shortly after I was first posted there.'

Major Kira walked in, with Constable Odo following in her footsteps.

'Do we have any idea what happened?' Odo grumbled.

Doctor Bashir – who had been kneeling next to the body of the dead Ensign – stood up and turned toward the Constable. 'It seems that he has been stabbed with a knife.' Bashir shook his head. 'Again, no traces of DNA or anything.'

'No suspects?' Odo continued.

'Still none', Kira responded, after which she sighed. 'I really hoped this would stay between the Vreoi.'

Fujita looked down, her mind running a hundred miles an hour. 'There has to be some clue, we're just missing it.' She stepped forward and examined the lifeless body of the Ensign closer. She looked at his pale face with the messy brown hair – a face that had once been quite handsome – and she noticed that the man's eyes had been respectfully closed. She presumed that that was Doctor Bashir's doing. However, his mouth was twisted in a silent scream, and the look in his now shut eyes had undoubtably been one of terror.

Fujita's eyes then hovered over the wound in Franklin's chest. It looked like a normal stabbing wound, made by a dagger of some kind, or any small knife. It had torn through the Ensign's clothes – which were covered in brown, dried up blood – with ease.

Suddenly, Fujita realized that the knife lay beside the corpse. Her breath faltered slightly, and she muttered: 'I knew it.' Then she turned around, ready to walk away.

'You know what?' Sisko said in a tone that was filled with both curiosity and some darker dread.

Fujita turned back toward the Commander, her eyes bright with new gained hope and the hint of a smirk dancing around the corner of her mouth. 'I told you that there would be clues.'

---

Fujita strode toward the cargo bay that held the Vreoi that could not be fitted in the station's quarters – the station really was overpopulated right now. The Admiral was followed by Commander Sisko, Major Kira and Constable Odo, all of whom were quite puzzled by the situation.

'Admiral, would you tell us what's going on?' Sisko beamed at the woman.

Fujita responded, without even looking around: 'The knife.'

'Yes?'

'That knife, I've seen it before with one of the Vreoi.'

'You have?' Sisko responded, at the same time that Kira said: 'With who?'

The Human Admiral did not respond, but stopped in front of the cargo bay doors, which slit open.

The Vreoi in the cargo bay fell silent, looking expectantly at the group of officers that entered the room. Fujita scanned their faces one by one, searching for that one face that she had to find. After a minute, her face turned dark.

'He's not here', she chimed grimly.

'Are you sure?' Sisko asked.

Fujita turned toward him. 'I never forget a face.'

'What now?' Kira said desperately.

'Now, we wait.'

'What?' Kira was visibly even more confused than she had been when she had come into the cargo bay.

'I figure that whoever is doing it, isn't doing it just for the killing. A Vreoi killing another Vreoi could have been one guy having a grudge against another. However, none of the Vreoi even know any of the Starfleet officers besides us. Neither could Franklin have posed a threat to the killer of the first Vreoi being exposed, because Franklin has never even been near the Vreoi. I suspect that the murderer is seeking attention, for whatever reason that might be. If we just wait long enough, he'll attack again.'

Odo produces a scoffing sound. 'And then we'll have another dead body.'

Fujita threw him a glance, then rolled her eyes with a smirk and drew a deep breath. 'We're not gonna let him kill anyone, we'll catch him before he succeeds.'

'And how where you planning on doing that?' Odo's low voice rumbled.

'Well... presumably, our guy is looking for attention. He has now killed one of his own people and one of ours. He's obviously looking for victims that will make us pay more and more attention to him. So, what's the next logical target? That's right, the Commander.' She looked at Sisko.

'You want me to play bait?' Sisko asked, pulling up his eyebrows.

'If you don't mind, sir.' The 'sir' hid a hint of humour – Fujita did not frequently use the word "sir", she preferred names – but not in a disrespectful way. The woman really never seemed worried, she was able find the humour behind every situation.

---

Night had returned, leaving darkness in its trace. Coldness crept round and filled every empty corner. Silence drenched the heavy air. The ghosts of everything that was and everything that never will be, came to life to wander the great hallways, stealing every soul that came too close. No sane being dared itself outside – except Quark, who was closing the bar; but who ever said Quark was sane. Fear the dark, for no one knows what it hides. Night had returned.

---

The door opened silently, revealing the silhouette of a man, just visible against the slight illumination from the hallway. The man stepped forward, his shoes making hollow sounds against the metal floor plating, the thudding muted by the soft material which the shoes were made of.

When the man reached the bed, he stood still and drew a deep breath. His tunic rustled slightly when he threw back his dark shirt and took a knife from his pocket. The metal blinked when it was hit by the light from the hallway, but the room stayed dark still. A threatening darkness. The man took another breath, and if the expression on his face had been visible, it had been one of amusement.

Then he flashed forward, the hand holding his knife was outstretched, his body stiff with force. His breath caught as his body filled with pleasure, and the silhouetted man could barely contain a chuckle.

However, when the knife hit the covers of the bed, his heart skipped a beat. Suddenly, a presence emerged from behind the man, and a voice rumbled: 'Maybe you should first check if your victim is where you need them to be, before you attack.' Then the man's mind went dark.