Part 21 (1/2)

”Brother,” Rom said. ”Gul Dukat would like a vodtini twisted.”

”A what?” Quark asked, turning toward his brother. ”A vodtini twisted.” ”And what is that?” Quark asked.

”A hu-man drink, suggested by the good doctor. Apparently she said that generations of hu-mans drank it after their workday was over to relax.” ”A vodka martini with a twist?” Quark asked. ”That's it!” Rom said.

Quark looked over his brothefts head at Gul Dukat. He was sitting at a center table, looking exhausted, but he was managing to laugh with a few of the guards. ”Does he know what vodka does to Carda.s.sians?” Quark asked. ”How should I know?” Rom asked.

”Tell him that if he wants to drink it, he has to take it outside. Tell Zhim that the fumes are too much for my other patrons.” Quark shook his head. ”Who'd have figured the hu-man was a practical jokester”

Rom frowned. ”Jokes, brother?”

Quark nodded. ”Vodka and Carda.s.sians,” he said. ”If they've never had it before, it turns them green.”

”That doesn't seem very funny to me,” Rom said, and went back to Gul Dukat's table.

Quark watched him. What he didn't want to explain to his idiot brother was that sometimes the point of practical jokes wasn't humor. Sometimes the point was to teach someone a lesson.

Apparently the lady doctor believed Gul Dukat had some lessons to learn.

How many times would she have to say good-bye to the Enterprise? Pulaski leaned back in her chair in the captain's ready room. The fish were swimming in their aquarium, and Captain Jean-Luc Picard had a clear gla.s.s on his desk filled with perfectly brewed Earl Grey tea. The faintly flowery smell of the liquid permeated the room.

Picard was standing behind his desk, looking out the portholes to the stars. The s.h.i.+p was heading back to Deep s.p.a.ce Five at full warp. Apparently someone there had a new a.s.signment for Pulaski and wanted her to arrive on the double.

Just what she needed. More work.

Beverly Crusher sat beside her, nursing an old-fas.h.i.+oned cup of coffee. Pulaski was having one as well. It wasn't Carda.s.sian or Bajoran. It was an Earth beverage, with a taste of home.

She couldn't believe she was leaving. Even when she, Ogawa, Governo, and Marvig had boarded a Carda.s.sian transport s.h.i.+p she hadn't believed she was going home. The trip to the Enterprise had been very different from the trip bringing them to Terok Nor. They were being treated like royalty, each with large cabins even though they weren't staying long enough to sleep in them, and the captain was treating them to a lengthy meal filled with things Pulaski had never seen before.

It all made her feel vaguely guilty about her parting recommendation to Gul Dukat. Even Kellec had given her a funny look when she gave it.

And it all sounded so innocent: a vodka martini with a twist. But she had done so because Dukat had annoyed-no, perhaps the correct term was angered-her, with his insistence on quotas and returning the station to normal. She had overheard him ordering double s.h.i.+fts and punishment for any Bajoran who still claimed weakness from the illness. He had also ordered harsh measures for the prisoners who had instigated the fighting.

He was putting Terok Nor back together the old way, ignoring Kellec's contribution and refusing to see that Bajorans were people, just like Carda.s.sians.

It had riled her temper. And so she had sweetly told Dukat of a way he could rest at the end of his day.

At least she could be sure he wouldn't get sleep for one night. Maybe more. And if she ever saw him again, she could claim ignorance of vodka's effects on Carda.s.sians.

”Are you sure you've told us everything?” Crusher was saying, her tone sympathetic. She had been through one of these plagues too and she had said, when Pulaski got off the transporter pad, that she would be there any time Pulaski needed to talk. ”You have a strange expression on your face.”

Pulaski smiled just a little. She wouldn't admit to the vodka remark, not in front of Captain Picard, but she did say, ”I guess I am a bit surprised by the level of hatred between the Carda.s.sians and the Bajorans.”

”I think I can understand the Bajorans' reaction,” Picard said, returning to his chair. ”After all, the Carda.s.sians have been occupying their planet for some time now.”