Not A goodbye

Chapter 6

FUJITA SIGHED. OF COURSE she was happy to have solved the mystery, but what the murderer – they never did found out his name – had told them, was more than just a little bit alarming. 'The Dominion has not forgotten you', the man had said upon awakening. And then: 'I might just be an unimportant Pawn in the chess game of the Founders, but the Queen is on the move and Checkmate is nearing. This is not a goodbye.' Then he had died. He had ingested some kind of poison which he had hidden in a fake tooth, according to Doctor Bashir. A precautionary measure in case he was caught. It was clear that this man had not worked alone, that had been part of a bigger plan, a bigger organization. Maybe he really had been sent by the Dominion, as he claimed. There was no way for them to know for sure.

'There you are.'

Fujita was startled out of her thoughts when she heard Kira's voice.

'I've been looking for you. Sisko wants to thank you for helping out.'

'It's my job', Fujita said, after which she turned around to face the Bajoran who had just entered Quark's.

'You say that a lot.'

Fujita glanced down uncomfortably but quickly faced Kira again. 'Did Bashir find anything more?'

'No', Kira answered. 'And I doubt he will.' She threw Fujita a quick smile. 'It's over. We caught him, we're safe.'

'It's never over', Fujita stated. 'The Dominion won't back down any time soon. It's only just beginning.'

Now Kira sighed too. 'Let's talk about something lighter.'

Fujita smirked 'Sure.'

'I never heard why you're actually here.'

'Well', Fujita started, 'I'm really just passing by. I arranged to meet my friend Kathryn Janeway – you know, the one that got me on the Enterprise – but they'll only arrive here in two, three weeks, and the Enterprise couldn't drop me off any later. I didn't mind though, I was actually quite curious to see how Deep Space 9 turned out. I'd never been near Bajor since the Occupation.'

'Oh yes, I heard that Voyager would be docked here before leaving for the Badlands. Are you going with them on that mission?'

Fujita fumbled with her drink. 'Might be, don't know yet, actually.'

Kira noticed Fujita's slightly uncomfortable tone, and asked: 'Are you alright?'

Fujita smiled. Of course she smiled. Whenever someone asked her about her feeling, she always just smiled and shrugged it off. 'I'm fine.' She knew that Kira knew she was not fine. The two women might only have known each other for less than two weeks, but they had always had a strange kind of close emotional connection.

'Fujita-' Kira began, but the Admiral cut her off.

'I really don't want to talk about it.' She said it with so much force – almost aggressively – that Kira shut her mouth and just looked at Fujita, a hint if worry in her eyes. Fujita knew she should not have said that, but she really did not want to talk about it. Some things were better if they were left to yourself.

Kira decided to change the subject again. 'You've said several times that what you did at Karahna Prison Camp broke every Starfleet regulation, but I never really got that. I understand that it broke the Prime Directive – you weren't allowed to help us in any way – but you didn't kill anyone. You just saved a few innocent people. Why is it that bad?'

'The problem is, that I couldn't have known what the effects of my actions would be.' Fujita took a sip of her drink.

'What do you mean by that?'