"25.000" " By the way, your "gagh" has arrived." " My what?" "Oh, no." " lt's waiting for you in cargo bay 2." " Your "gagh?"" "Jadzia ordered it." "She was planning a party for Martok's birthday." " How much "gagh" did she order?" " 51 cases." " Each containing a different variety." " There are varieties?" "Oh, yes. I can remember what each one tastes like." "And the way they feel when you swallow them." "Torgud "gagh" wiggles." "Filden "gagh" squirms." "Meshta "gagh" jumps." "Are you all right?" " Are you all right?" " Me?" "You've barely said three words." "I just...can't wait to see Miles, that's all." "Let me guess." "You have a holosuite appointment?" " Defending the Alamo again?" " You know me too well." " When does he arrive?" " Half an hour." "Bithool "gagh" has feet." " Flush it out the airlock." "All of it." " Environmental regulations." " Why don't you give it to Martok?" " He'd insist on sharing it with me." "Wistan "gagh" is packed in "targ" blood." "I have to go now." "See you later." "I think I'd better go too." "Give my regards to Santa Anna." "Miles asked me not to say anything but I haven't heard from him and I think something might have happened to him." "He said he was visiting his father." "He may have implied that but he didn't actually say..." " Doctor, please." " Yes, sir." " So where is he?" " The last message I received said that he was following leads in New Sydney." "He's not a detective!" "He's my chief engineer and now he's missing!" "Who is this woman he's supposed to be looking for?" " She's the widow of Liam Bilby." " Bilby..." "Bilby..." "The man he befriended in that undercover operation?" "Yes." "Miles still feels responsible for his death." "He's kept in touch with his widow." "When she disappeared three weeks ago he decided to find her." "And now they're both missing." "He did try and go through the official channels but the authorities weren't cooperative and Starfleet doesn't have jurisdiction." "So he decided to turn into a one-man police force." "New Sydney." "It's in the Sappora System, right?" "I want a written report on this woman," "O'Brien's plan to find her, and anything else you neglected to mention." " May I ask what you're going to do?" " No." "I want that report on my desk within the hour." "As your family lives in the Sappora System, they might have contacts on New Sydney." "I'm sure they do." "My mother's an important business leader." "Your file says she owns the fifth largest pergium mining facility in the sector." "Sixth." "The Ferengi found a large deposit on Timor ll a few years ago." "My mother nearly died when she found out we were out of the top five." "Please." "Do you think she'd be willing to look into what happened to the Chief?" " l'm sure she would." " That's the best news I've had all day." "Something wrong?" "No." "Yes. I don't know." "I haven't talked to my mother in almost six months." "I last saw her just after I was joined." "She came to visit me on Trill." "I was still a little...confused." "She walked into my room, I put on a smile, looked her in the eye and said, "Hi, Mum, it's me" " Curzon!"" "Things went downhill from there." "I'm sure she understood what you were going through." "You weren't prepared to be joined." "She couldn't blame you for being confused." "She didn't." "Not really." "But she did want me to come home to recuperate." "We had a disagreement." " Not for the first time?" " No, not for the first time." "If there was any other way, I wouldn't ask you to do this." "No." "That's all right." "My problems aren't as important as finding the Chief." " l'll call my mother." " Thanks, old man." "Anytime." " We've been worried about you." " l'm all right." "Really." "And I'm a lot more sure of who I am than last time." "That's a relief." "I'd hate to have to call you Curzon." " l um..." "I've been promoted." " Oh?" "Lieutenant junior grade Ezri Dax at your service." "Ezri Dax." "The symbiont name always replaces the new host's name. lt's traditional." "Of course." "I haven't been away from Trill that long." "The important thing is you're doing well." "Mother, I'm calling because I need your help." "One of our officers, Miles O'Brien, went to New Sydney and now he's missing." " Captain Sisko was wondering if..." " l'll do everything I can." "Thank you." "Now." "When are you coming home?" "I'm not sure when I can get away." "You haven't been home in three years." "I know." "But with the war on and everything..." "Ezri Tigan..." "Dax." "Tell your commanding officer that I'm a difficult woman and I refuse to help look for Mr O'Brien unless you return home right away." "No." "Please, don't put me in this..." "Ezri, goodbye." "I'll see you when you get here." "Take 20 milligrams if you're spacesick." "If you don't, you'll regret it." "So will the other passengers." "Everything Starfleet knows on Bilby's widow." "Where's your report?" "It's the one with Sisko's boot prints all over it." "I'm sure you'll be out of the doghouse by the time I get back." "As someone who isn't especially close to his parents, I sympathise." "I'm about to present my family with a whole new Ezri." "And they didn't know what to make of the old one." "But thanks for trying, Julian. I'll let you know when I find out anything." "Have a safe trip." " Zee!" " Norvo!" "I cannot believe you're really here." "Neither can I." " You cut your hair." " Oh, yeah. lt kept getting in my eyes." " Do you like it?" " lt'll take some getting used to." "I think you've just summed up my entire visit." " ls this yours?" " Mum insisted on hanging it. I hate it." " Why?" " The composition is puerile, the colours childish and the technique laughable." " But other than that..." " lt's perfect." "Welcome home, little girl." "Hi, Janel." "Do I have to take a sonic shower before I get a hug?" " lt's good to see you." " You too." " What happened here?" " She cut it." "I think it gives her more of a classic look." "It's cute." "Mum said to give you the police report on your friend." " Have they found out anything?" " Not yet." "But they have a few leads." "I hope you appreciate all the trouble she's going to." "She called in a lot of favours." "Of course I appreciate it." " How long are you staying?" " l'm not sure yet." "She's not going to be here a minute longer than she has to." "We're in the middle of a war." "I have responsibilities." "There's always something." " Hello, Mother." " l hate your hair." " Have you eaten?" " No, not yet." "Good. I've got Korella working on a very special dinner." " Have you taken care of Lorkin?" " l was about to." "I want him paid and gone before dinner." "And that third quarter review I asked for?" " l'm still working on it." " lt's been a week." "I miscalculated some of the revenues." "I have to redo them." "I know you don't like bookkeeping but I really need that review." "Good. I want to show you the new solarium." "I had the tiles brought in from Andoria and then hand-painted by a charming old man I met..." "Have Mr Lorkin report to the main house." "Why are you getting rid of Lorkin?" "That broken waveguide is going to cost us 1,000 bars of latinum a day." "Mother thinks it's sloppy maintenance." " What do you think?" " Brand new waveguides don't break." "You mean Bokar was behind it?" "It's a message." "The Orion Syndicate doesn't take no for an answer." " Maybe we should tell Mother." " No. I can deal with Bokar." "I don't know." "Relax." "Everything's going to be all right." "Jadzia considered Kira one of her best friends." "I'm starting to think of her the same way." "She didn't have any trouble adjusting to having a new Dax in her life?" "No more than anyone else." "None of them were expecting another Dax in their lives." "Did any of them wonder if you..." "What happened to the man you were interested in?" "Lieutenant...something?" "Brinner Finok." "He was an ensign." "I did talk to him after I was joined...once." "I don't think we're right for each other now." "He reminds me too much of my son Gran. it makes me uncomfortable." "Sorry." "Audrid's son Gran." "I'm still sorting out my pronouns." " l'm sure all joined Trills go through it." " No, just me." "Nothing's simple for Ezri." "The computer asks me to identify myself and I have to think." "I wake up and I don't know if I'm a man or a woman until I pull back the covers!" "I also have an unfortunate tendency to ramble." "Don't be embarrassed." "It's not your fault." "You should've gone through years of training." "It wasn't fair of them to join you to Dax." "It's no surprise you're having trouble sorting out eight lifetimes' of memories." "It can be a little overwhelming at times." "I'm sure." "But don't you worry." "We'll take care of you." "Won't we?" " Absolutely." " Of course." "That's nice to know." "But I think I've got things under control." "Ezri, you always were too proud for your own good." "Come in, Zee." " How did you know it was me?" " No one else uses the chime." "Hm. I see some things never change." "Here." "Have a seat." " How many of these are yours?" " All the bad ones." "When did you become such a harsh critic?" "Just being realistic. lt's amateurish." "I know that. lt says so right there." " Saurian brandy?" " Sure." " l should probably get a clean one." " l don't care." " Norvo, this doesn't mean..." " To my sister." "A shining angel in a dark sky." "The Andorian Academy rejected your application." "That doesn't mean your work is amateurish." " There are other art schools." " lt's the best." "You shouldn't just quit." "I'm not very good, Zee. I never was." "All this is an indulgence." "Just like my other hobbies - poetry, music... I can't concentrate." "My mind wanders." "I don't have the discipline to succeed." "Those are Mother's words." "I know because I've heard them too." "She's wrong about both of us." "I'm fine with the way things turned out." "Really." "Besides, they need me here." "To do the family bookkeeping?" "Norvo, you could do so much more." "I'm not trying to make you feel bad." "I just want you to know that I believe in you." "Thanks." " Good night." " Night." "I hope you're satisfied." "Have you seen Norvo today?" " No." " Well, maybe you should." "He's in bed with a hangover." "When I woke up this morning he was passed out in the entry room." "Evidently he spent most of the night doing this." "You think it's funny?" "I think it's funny you think he did this because of me." " He's not happy here, Mother." " That's nonsense." "He's defacing his own work, which you displayed after he objected." "I'm trying to encourage him." "But you've made him feel trapped and powerless." "You've barely spent one night in this house and you think you can analyse our entire family?" "You don't know your brother." "He's a fragile young man who needs care." "He's a grown man who needs freedom." "You're smothering him." "You're telling me how to be a mother?" "What do you know about children?" "I have three, no, four lifetimes' worth of memories about raising children." "I have worked and sacrificed for each one of you for over 30 years." " Not now!" " Sorry to interrupt, but..." " Miles!" " Ezri?" "What're you doing here?" "This is my home." "This is where l live." "My mother." "I'm pleased to meet you, Mr O'Brien." "Can you...?" " He was unfriendly when we found him." " So were you." "If you'll excuse me, we're having a problem with a drill down in 24-B." " Did you do this?" " Just the one on the jaw." "The rest he got from the Orion Syndicate." " Did you find anything on Bilby's wife?" " l found her." "She's dead." "Thanks." "The DNA scan confirmed that the body was Morica's." "She'd been dead at least six weeks." " Do you know the cause of death?" " No." "It was the Orion Syndicate." "There's no evidence of that." "It could've been an accident." "She accidentally hit herself in the head and threw herself in the river." "We pull dozens of bodies out of the river." "You think they're all murders?" "If they're anything like this, yes." "If you hadn't interfered, I'd have proof." "If we hadn't interfered, you'd be dead." "We knew that a Starfleet operative was trying to infiltrate the Syndicate." "It didn't take long to realise it was your friend." "We found him being beaten up by a pair of Nausicaans." " They were just trying to scare me." " Why?" "Exactly!" "Why were they trying to scare me?" "Because I found Morica Bilby's body and could trace her murder to them." "They'd never kill an operative's widow." "The thing holding them together is the loyalty they show to operatives." "They may not be as loyal as you think." "Mrs Tigan, please contact us if there's anything else we can do." "Thank you. I will." "Ezri, show Mr O'Brien to a guest room." "Let him clean up and have something to eat." "Thanks." "So that tip led me to the river." "I searched the south bank for three hours before I found her." "The solvents in the water had partially decomposed her body." "But it was her." "I'm sorry, Chief. I wish there was something more I could do." "Maybe you could put in a good word for me with Captain Sisko." "It may take a lot of good words." "But I'll talk to him." "Mr O'Brien, how are you feeling?" "Fine, thank you." "I've eaten enough for a week." "Good. I understand you're an engineer." " That's right." " He's not a mining engineer." "We have a problem with a drill that no one seems capable of fixing." "I would be grateful if you would take a look at it." "Now?" "Mother, he needs some rest." " How much rest do you require?" " Actually, I feel fine." "Thank you. I'll see you at dinner." "I'm sorry about this." "Our mother is a force of nature." "It's all right. lt'll be good to get my hands on a problem I can solve." "Lead on." " Good morning." " Good afternoon." "Mother is not going to be happy." "You're out of the line of fire for the moment." " She's busy torturing Janel and Miles." " Miles?" " Oh, they found him?" " He's fine." "Great." "That's great, Zee." " Does that mean you're leaving?" " Not right away." "Let's talk about you." "More specifically, about what you did last night." "What can I say?" "I get drunk, I become an art critic." "Do you regret what you did?" "Not really." "I never liked those pieces anyway." "So what are you feeling?" "I'm feeling like I don't want to be analysed by my sister." "Sorry. lt's what I do." "The situation is not that complex, Zee." "I'm wallowing in self-pity and acting out my frustrations by throwing tantrums." "All right, Dr Norvo. lf that's your diagnosis, what's your prescription?" "Mother disapproves of suicide." " All that blood on the carpets." " Not funny." "Best I can do with a hangover." "Norvo, what would happen if you left with me tomorrow?" "What do you mean?" "What would happen if you went back to DS9 with me?" " Mother would go insane." " Forget about her for now." "I can't just pick up and leave." "It doesn't have to be a permanent move." "Think of it as a vacation, a break from all this." "Some time to clear your head." "I can't leave all this on Janel's shoulders." " Janel can handle it." " lt's not that simple." "There are complicated things going on." " Like what?" " Things with the company." "No offence but you're not exactly holding the company together." "Mother can pay a real accountant." " l don't know, Zee." " Think about it." "You're right." "The problem's in the secondary input transtator." " But it checks out perfectly." " l'm sure it does." " But it's the wrong type for this drill." " What?" "You need a 52-J." "This is a 52-L." " lt says 52-J." " l know." "But it's definitely an L." " Accidentally mislabelled?" " Or deliberately." "Another equipment failure?" "If you hadn't dismissed Lorkin, it wouldn't have happened." "He was dismissed on my mother's order." "Then we'll have to change her mind, won't we?" "Who's your new mechanic?" "This is Mr O'Brien." "He's a friend of the family." " Would that be Chief O'Brien?" " How did you know that?" "I have friends in the New Sydney Police." "I heard they rescued a chief named O'Brien from an unpleasant situation." "That's me. I don't believe I caught your name." "Thadial Bokar." "I'm a commodities broker, attempting to establish ties with the Tigan family." "Will you excuse us, Chief?" "Mr Bokar and I have some business to discuss." "Thank you. I'll have a new transtator installed." "Glad to do it." "Sabotage won't convince me to do more business with the Syndicate." "We'll argue about that later." "We have more immediate concerns." " O'Brien is with Starfleet Intelligence." " No, he isn't." "He works on Deep Space 9." "So he wants you to think." "But why did he try to infiltrate the Syndicate?" " He was looking for some woman." " "Some woman."" " Do you know her name?" " No." "I do." "Her name was Morica Bilby." "What?" "I haven't heard from Morica Bilby in quite some time." "Rumour has it that she's dead but I wouldn't know about that." "What I do know is that Chief O'Brien should leave this System... before something happens to him." "So you're not leaving until tomorrow?" " Probably. it really depends on Ezri." " Why?" "She's my superior officer." "I go when she goes." "Besides, I'm not looking forward to seeing Captain Sisko." "He has a boot with my name on it." "This is a bad time for guests." "There's work to do." "The quicker you're on your way, the better." "Your brother's eager to get rid of us." "He's been under a lot of pressure." "Do you know Thadial Bokar?" "Says he's a commodities broker." "No. I make it a point to know as little as possible about the family business." "Why?" "He came to talk with Janel while I was working on the drill." "He reminded me of when I was working with the Orion Syndicate." "Something about how they dealt with civilians." "You think he's a member of the Syndicate?" "It's just a feeling." "A pretty strong feeling." "We should tell Janel." "I think Janel knows." "I know I'm not offering you any hard evidence, but Janel seems like a man who's being pressured by the Syndicate." "He's experiencing sudden equipment breakdowns, work stoppages, mysterious accidents." "That's the way the Syndicate extorts money." ""Do business with us or we'll ruin you."" "Janel is not easily intimidated." "My mother would destroy this place before she'd deal with the Syndicate." "There's one way to find out." "Do you have access to the company's financial records?" " What would you do on DS9?" " Take a vacation." " Clear my head." " Clear it of what?" " l don't know." " Then why do you need a vacation?" "I guess I don't." "But it would be nice to spend some time with Ezri." "You're spending time with her right now." " We're ready to open 25-Beta." " l'll be right there." "This is a bad time for you to take a vacation." "We have too much work." " Have you finished the review?" " Almost." " Then maybe you should get to it." " Yes, ma'am." "Let's go." "I remember why I never went into the business." "Contracts and invoices, balance sheets and shipping orders." "I feel like I'm trapped in a Ferengi nightmare." "What?" " What is it?" " l don't know." " What's going on here?" " What do you mean?" "Did you come here to find me or to prevent me finding out the truth?" "I don't know what you're talking about, Chief." "The connection between the Syndicate and your family is Morica Bilby." "She was on the company's payroll when she died." " Did you know about this?" " No." "Of course not." "Someone in your family did." "And they obviously don't want us to know." " Are you suggesting...?" " l'm not suggesting anything." "But it's possible that somebody in your family was involved in her death." "There." "Nine months ago," "Morica Bilby shows up on the payroll as a shipping consultant." "Five bars of latinum a week for services rendered." "What services?" "There's no indication of what she was doing for the company." "She must have been good." "Her salary increases to ten bars a week, then 20, then 30." "The last payment entry was six weeks ago." "The day before she was killed." " Who's in charge of the payroll?" " My mother, ultimately." "But she's turned over most day-to-day operations to Janel." "And Norvo's been doing the bookkeeping." "Any one of them could know about Morica's payments." "Or all of them." "We have to show this to the authorities." "Not yet." "Not until I find out what's happened." "That's an order." "Yes, sir." "Why was this woman on our payroll?" " We were returning a favour." " To whom?" " To the Orion Syndicate." " And what favour did they do for us?" "When the Ferengis opened up the Timor ll mine the price of pergium dropped." "That came at a bad moment." "We were overextended on some loans, our cash reserves were depleted and a Jem'Hadar raid destroyed a shipment before it reached the refinery." " So you turned to the Syndicate?" " They came to me!" "They offered us a way out and I took it." "I did what I had to do." "You didn't question it when our cash problems were resolved overnight." "Because I trusted you." "Obviously it was a mistake." "What about Morica?" "A month after Bokar arranged the loan, he said it was time to return the favour." "A woman needed a job with a salary but without any actual work involved." "She was the widow of their associate and they needed to take care of her." "I didn't feel like I was in a position to say no." "So I started making the payments." "No one would've known if Norvo had altered the payroll records." "You dragged your brother into this?" "You say nothing's more important than the company." "That's all I was thinking about." "You dumped it in my lap and I saved it." "So don't complain now." " lf it weren't for me..." " Don't rationalise what you've done." "All right!" "We can discuss who saved what later." "Now we have to concentrate on what happened to Morica." "There was a steady increase in her payments." "Why?" "She wasn't happy with her salary." "The Syndicate promised a comfortable living and she wasn't comfortable." " How did she die?" " l don't know." "Janel, if you have anything to do with this, now is the time to speak." "What are you saying?" " That I had her killed?" " l'm asking." " He wouldn't have killed her!" " Stay out of this." "Listen to me. I will get you the best solicitor in New Sydney but you must tell me the truth." "I didn't kill her." "Janel, why don't I believe you?" "This woman just happened to die at the exact moment she was pressuring you?" "Listen to him." "He didn't do it!" "I may not have shed any tears when I heard she was dead, but I didn't kill her." "Norvo, you don't know what happened to Morica, do you?" "I'm the idiot brother." "How would I know?" "Tell me you don't know anything about this." "I tried to reason with her but she was very angry." "Angry at the Syndicate." "Angry at us." "Angry at her husband for getting killed." "I didn't go there to kill her, Zee." "I really didn't." "But she wouldn't listen to me." "She started yelling." "Said our family was just as bad as the Syndicate." "That we were all liars and cheats." "Then suddenly I realised that if she were dead all of our problems would go away." "Oh, Norvo." "I took care of it." "You always said I was too weak to handle the tough ones." "I'm not. I proved it." "I handled a problem that you couldn't." "I handled it." "I need to inspect the ore samples from 53-C." "We have to make a decision on whether to open up a new..." "Janel." "Forget about the mine." "It doesn't matter." "I want you to listen to me." "After Norvo's trial is over, you need to go." " Go where?" " lt doesn't matter." "Just go." "Find another life for yourself." "Trust me." "You'll be happier." "They've taken Norvo." "I'm going to stay on New Sydney for the trial then head back to DS9." "This isn't my fault, is it Ezri?" "I didn't do this, did I?" "Mind if I join you?" " When did you get back?" " Last night." "Norvo was sentenced to 30 years." "I wish I could say I was sorry but considering what he did he got off easy." "I understand why you feel that way." "But you didn't know him." "Norvo was very gifted." "He had so much potential." "Norvo was the one we all thought would be something special." "I don't know what happened. I don't know how my brother turned into... I spent so many years dreaming of getting out of that house that I didn't see what was really going on inside, what was happening to Norvo." "The endless humiliation, the constant drumbeat of criticism, the way his heart was carved up into little pieces." "I should've seen it." "I should've tried to stop it." "You can't blame yourself." "You're not responsible for that." "But I am." "Don't you see?" "I should've gone home a long time ago."