~*~

ACT V

(SYCORAX is still sitting in the clearing where we left her. OPHIDIA crashes through the underbrush)

OPHIDIA: Sycorax!

SYCORAX: Here.

OPHIDIA: How's the wing?

SYCORAX: Better. Thank you.

OPHIDIA: I found my friends. They're going to help get your child back if you'll show us where the stranger is.

SYCORAX: I will take you...as far...as...I cannot go into the tower. There is a charm against me.

OPHIDIA: You find us the tower, we'll take it from there.

SYCORAX: Where are they?

OPHIDIA: Oh, my friends? They've gone to meet the other party at the stream. If you think you're well enough to travel we should go and find them there.

SYCORAX: I think I am. (Stands up) I cannot fly.

OPHIDIA: We'll walk. Take your time. (They begin crossing the clearing)

SYCORAX: Why?

OPHIDIA: Why what?

SYCORAX: Why help me?

OPHIDIA: Well...because you're helping us. We need to find the stranger. We think he has some of our people too, that he's keeping from us.

SYCORAX: Children?

OPHIDIA: No, lovers and...well...I guess you could call Quark a friend. 

* * *

(Back at the stream, DUKAT and STEBAN are waiting.)

STEBAN: We can still do it. When Sparat finds out that Garak can't help him he'll have to cut a deal with us. He lets us use the island as an operations base and when we come to power, we pardon him. What choice does
he have? The present command will never overturn his conviction.

DUKAT: I doubt Garak will go along with this.

STEBAN: Garak will be underground. I thought we'd settled that. (DUKAT shakes his head) He ought to be dead already. If Tain hadn't protected him, he would have gotten a death sentence. The kind of treason he was guilty of--

DUKAT: Will you listen to yourself? Treason? What are we doing right now if not plotting treason against the state?

STEBAN: We're plotting to save the state. We all know someone has to.

DUKAT: Maybe he thought he was saving the state. Maybe he was right. (ODO and GARAK appear; DUKAT and STEBAN separate guiltily as they approach)

GARAK: Let me guess. You made it half a kilometer upstream and then lost the riverbank and had to turn back.

DUKAT: If you have better news, tailor, let's have it.

GARAK: As a matter of fact, we have discovered an indigenous inhabitant who knows where Sparat's compound is and is willing to take us there.

DUKAT: I didn't know there were indigenous inhabitants.

ODO: Yes, it's usually in your best interests not to look too hard for them when you're planning a colony. (DUKAT and STEBAN look at him, worried)  They're going to meet us here in a minute, and then we'll go--(Q appears, waves a hand at them, and freezes them all in the positions they're holding.)

Q: Yes, you will pay a call on my master eventually, but on his own time and his own terms. (OPHIDIA and SYCORAX appear in the distance. Q waves a hand again and DUKAT, STEBAN, GARAK and ODO vanish) I hate this part. I get all the worst lines. (Vanishes, leaving OPHIDIA and SYCORAX rather bemused)

OPHIDIA: Well. This is a new development.

SYCORAX: It is his...spirit.

OPHIDIA: Wonderful.

SYCORAX: I will show you. Come. Go.

OPHIDIA: Lead on, MacDuff.

* * *

(We now see the inside of BASHIR's cell, where he is singing to himself to pass the time, not especially tunefully.)

BASHIR: Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more...Men were deceivers ever...one foot in sea, and one on shore...(There is a noise at the door. He stops and looks up as GARAK enters, carrying the same set of keys that "OPHIDIA" had.) GARAK!

GARAK: Doctor! (He runs over and they embrace as best they can what with the chains)

BASHIR: (melting with joy and relief) Oh my God, you're all right. (GARAK kisses him. BASHIR shakes the chains) Quick, get me out of these and let's get out of here.

GARAK: I've got a better idea.

BASHIR: What do you mean by--(As GARAK puts his hands on BASHIR's chest he comprehends) NO! No, Garak, this is not a better idea! (GARAK has now got his hands under BASHIR's shirt) I know I said I'd think about it, but I really don't think this is the right time to explore this particular aspect of our erotic--

GARAK: Relax, Doctor. We have plenty of time. (GARAK continues; BASHIR watches him for a moment, then comes to a decision. HE seizes one of GARAK's wrists in each hand and holds them out away from him in a tight grip. GARAK winces) Doctor, you're hurting me.

BASHIR: What do you think you're doing to me?

GARAK: Doctor, let go! It's me, Garak!

BASHIR: (Tightening his grip) Not only are you not Garak, you don't even do a very good impression of him.

GARAK: I don't understand what you--

BASHIR: Give it up, Miranda! ("GARAK" stares at BASHIR in horror, then morphs back into MIRANDA. And any of you who didn't see that coming, drop and give me fifty.)

* * *

(Inside the tower observation room, SPARAT has just finished changing into his old Cardassian military dress uniform, which is laden with medals. He stands on the dais.)

SPARAT: Approach, Ariel! Come! (Q appears)

Q: What now?

SPARAT: Where are they?

Q: In the great beyond, at the moment. Do you want them?

SPARAT: Yes. Bring them here. (Q waves a hand; they appear, still frozen, grouped around the viewing well) They do look pitiful, don't they?

Q: I'd be moved, almost, if I were a human.

SPARAT: You think so.

Q: I was a human once, you know, for a very short time. It was a horrible experience, I try to forget about it but of course I can't, being omniscient. You know how it is. I was so frightened, all the time! There are so many things that can go wrong. Unconsciousness, starvation, lower back pain...

SPARAT: Indeed.

Q: In a way, I think that's what makes them more sympathetic to others. (Leans on GARAK's shoulder as he delivers his disquisition) Compassion is not something we have in the Continuum. We have ethics, at least everyone but me does, but it's an intellectual contract, kind of a dry, abstract sense of right and wrong. That's why I broke it so often. There's nothing real about it at a gut level. We don't have guts.

SPARAT: Are you finished?

Q: Oh, let me pontificate, Picard always looked like he was having so much fun. (Sighs) I really miss him.

SPARAT: Where is Cabalan?

Q: He and the Ferengi should have worked their way through Sporting Goods and into Lingerie by now. What they'll make of the concept of lingerie would be interesting to see, but I really can't be bothered.

SPARAT: Release these.

Q: Where was I? Oh! Gut reality. That's why humans are so personal about ethics, why they can never really believe that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Their morals are in their guts, in their
understanding of pain. (Looks at GARAK) I like this one the best, he's amusing. What are planning to do to him?

SPARAT: I make no promises. Release them!

Q: All right, all right! Touchy touchy. (Waves at them. They come back to life, somewhat disoriented until GARAK spots SPARAT)

GARAK: Sparat!  What a surprise. You're looking well.

SPARAT: I'm afraid I can't say the same for you, Garak. Dukat, Steban, and I see you've brought the shapeshifter. Good. We're all here. (Descends from the dais and walks among them) You know, these are the first Cardassian faces I've seen in  along time. It's a shame that they should be yours. I've dreamed often about going back among my kind, seeing friends, colleagues...and now instead I get traitors and murderers.

STEBAN: We acted on orders. You were found guilty of--

GARAK: (finally losing patience with STEBAN) Oh, shut  up, Steban.

STEBAN: Listen here, heldek--

DUKAT: Shut up, Steban. (STEBAN shuts up) Not murderers, at least, since you still have your health.

SPARAT: If that storm had been a touch more severe than it was, my blood would be on your hands.

DUKAT: What we have done we have done. It's past curing.

SPARAT: Well, what I have done, I have done. And that is past curing as well. (He nods to Q, who waves a hand and creates a large, glowing, transparent bubble in the center of the room, inside which BASHIR and
MIRANDA are visible. BASHIR still has MIRANDA by the wrists)

GARAK: JULIAN! (He moves forward)

Q: Uh uh uh! (Taps the bubble) Forcefield. Besides, they can't hear or see you. They think they're still in the cell. (The bubble dissolves, but BASHIR and MIRANDA continue to act as if they're still alone in the dungeon)

SPARAT: As you can see, your mate and my daughter have become very good friends. (DUKAT and STEBAN look at each other, disturbed) I hope, by encouraging their tender affections, that in time--(BASHIR throws MIRANDA away from him)

BASHIR: Because you don't know the first thing about love! Do you even understand how cruel you've been to me?

DUKAT: (to GARAK) If this is how he treats his friends, it must be very dangerous to be his lover. (SPARAT watches in dismay)

MIRANDA: I did what would make you happy. I can make you happy.

SPARAT: Ariel, remove them.

Q: Oh, not yet. This is fascinating.

MIRANDA: I can be whatever you want!

DUKAT: (sotto voce to GARAK) That cannot possibly be his daughter.

GARAK: I know.

BASHIR: No you can't, Miranda!

SPARAT: Ariel! (Q motions him to shush and leans closer)

BASHIR: What I want is Garak.

MIRANDA: I can be Garak!

BASHIR: (approaching the breaking point) No you can't! I want Garak. The actual, individual Garak, not his body, not his shape, not you pretending to be him (MIRANDA tries to interrupt; he cuts her off) and I
don't care how good you get at it because the more like him you are the more excruciating it will be for me to be so close and still not have him! Love means there is no point in having a substitute! Love means--

SPARAT: Ariel, take them away!

Q: Wait, I want to hear what love means.

BASHIR: Love means I wake up in the middle of every night wishing I were dead because I don't think I can stand another second of his not being there! Love means--(GARAK runs toward him, but is thrown backwards by the forcefield around them)

Q: Love means slamming yourslf into a forcefield even though you know it's there?

GARAK: (Getting up slowly and painfully) That is exactly what love means.

BASHIR: (Worn out now, and almost crying) Love means...

SPARAT: Ariel! Ariel! (Q ignores him) Q! (Q suddenly is all attention)

Q: You rang?

SPARAT: Q, please, put them back in the cell.

Q: But of course. (He waves; they go bye-bye. GARAK works on pulling himself together)

ODO: I'm sorry--I don't think I quite understand exactly how that works into your plan. Were you expecting something different to happen?

SPARAT: It is still up to me whether you ever see him again, Garak. Or whether you see your son again, Dukat, or whether you see another morning, Steban. You are all in my power, as I was in yours.

GARAK: Yes. We are. So tell me, Sparat, what is it that you want from me?

SPARAT: You extracted the confession that ruined me. You have the power to declare it invalid. And if you ever want to see your doctor again, that's what you'll have to do. What I want from you is to go home.

GARAK: Well, I do hate to disappoint, Sparat, but I cannot take you home.

SPARAT: Yes you can.

GARAK: Sparat, I have been in exile on Bajor for the last seven years! (SPARAT blinks) Yes, incidentally Bajor is no longer part of the Cardassian empire. Also, Tain is dead, the Order is in total disarray, and your daughter Miranda is twenty-five years old and mated to Gul Deran! (SPARAT sits down in shock)

SPARAT: She doesn't know she is not my child.

GARAK: I think she does, Sparat. (SPARAT shakes his head)

Q: He told her that all Cardassians have the power to shape-shift.

SPARAT: She was on the island. I had with me a hologram of my daughter...She thinks she is mine. I know she isn't. I want to see my own daughter. I want to go home.

DUKAT: No one can overturn your sentence, Sparat. The state has declared Garak legally dead. Your confession is a permanent fact of law. (SPARAT pauses, then leaps to his feet)

SPARAT: If there is no redress for me, there will be none for you! You will never see your loved ones again!

ODO: Perhaps we could work out a compromise--

SPARAT: No! No mercy! What mercy did you show me? I have been suffering here for fifteen years--it is my right, as an innocent man wronged, to do my revenge! (There is a clattering noise on the stairwell and OPHIDIA
bursts in, redfaced and panting, and leans in the doorway catching her breath)

OPHIDIA: Wait, go back, I missed the middle part. What was that you were saying about being innocent?

SPARAT: I have done nothing to warrant my exile! You have committed crimes--why should I give you a fraction less suffering than you deserve?

OPHIDIA: Let me think, I know there's an answer to this...Oh! I know! Because if you take that approach, then you've got a huge heapin' helpin' of your own suffering coming right up for you on a hot plate for what you've done to Sycorax.

SPARAT: Who is Sycorax, and who the hell are you?

OPHIDIA: My name is Ophidia, although I'm thinking of having it legally changed to Deus Ex Machina. And by Sycorax I mean--Q, you know who I mean, will you do me a favor and bring her in? (Q shrugs; waves; Sycorax appears. SPARAT is stunned)

SYCORAX: I have come for my child.

OPHIDIA: You know. The one you took away from her and raised to be your slave? What do you call him? Probably something close to Caliban--

SYCORAX: You should have left him with me. You do not love him.

SPARAT: I wanted to educate him. So that he would be civilized.

SYCORAX: (angry) So not like me! You hate me in him!

SPARAT: (troubled but still defensive) He was difficult. I had to be strict.

OPHIDIA: You came here as a stranger to a land already populated. You seduced--I give you the benefit of the doubt here, we don't know what really happened--an indigenous inhabitant and when you saw that you had
created a child that you hated because it was partly alien you refused to acknowledge it.

SPARAT: I did my best to teach him--

OPHIDIA: You kept him close so that he could not fight against you. You kept his mother away from him so that he would not know his history or his people. You taught him that you were his master and you raised him to be
your slave. Congratulations.

SYCORAX: I have followed. I have watched.

OPHIDIA: So. Justice, Sparat. A child for a child. (He stands and approaches SYCORAX, agitated) Nobody's hands are clean, Sparat. Nobody can afford to be merciless.

SPARAT: What will you have from me?

SYCORAX: I want my child. (SPARAT nods to Q. Q produces CABALAN, QUARK and ROM. QUARK and ROM have obviously been transported in the act of trying on the lingerie products that Q spoke of earlier. ROM is crushed; QUARK tries to carry it off)

QUARK: If you ask me, these things are wasted on females. (Poses) What do you think, Garak? Could we develop a line of menswear? As a joint venture.

GARAK: Talk to me when we're home. We'll do lunch. (SYCORAX rushes to CABALAN and speaks to him in her own language)

CABALAN: I...(looks at her; a memory surfaces) Mother? (SYCORAX sings. CABALAN looks at SPARAT)

SPARAT: She is your mother.

CABALAN: You told me she was dead.

SPARAT: There's a lot I told you that isn't true.

CABALAN: Yes. (Looks at SYCORAX) I never learned your language. I cannot speak to you.

SYCORAX: I will teach you.

CABALAN: I will learn.

ODO: Perhaps now, Sparat, we can begin the negotiations?

SPARAT: I...yes. Let us--

DUKAT: Just a moment, Odo. Before we talk, I want the hostage released. (GARAK looks at him) You have myself and Steban still in your power, and we're the ones who can help you. Dr. Bashir is no use to you.

SPARAT: Ariel, bring them here. (They materialize in the middle of the room, surrounded by the others. MIRANDA looks around in surprise and delight. BASHIR's eyes are still not adjusted to the light and he is too
disoriented at first to see who's in the room.)

MIRANDA: How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, that has such creatures in it!

SPARAT: 'Tis new to thee.

BASHIR: (still confused) Don't you believe it. (He looks at SYCORAX, who is still fussing over CABALAN) That's the clumsiest splint job I've ever seen.

 OPHIDIA: I'm a singer, not a doctor. (BASHIR turns to look at her and finally sees GARAK, who has been standing there all this time motionless and watching him with a huge smile on his face)

BASHIR: GARAK! (GARAK glances to indicate the others. There is a moment of nonverbal communication between them, and BASHIR smiles. Walking forward casually) It's about time you got here. Any longer and I would have had to rescue myself.

GARAK: I had the utmost confidence in your ability to do so, Doctor. Otherwise I would have been here long ago.

BASHIR: And what have you been doing with yourself while I was away? (As BASHIR gets closer GARAK realizes he won't be able to keep this up very much longer)

GARAK: Step outside with me and I'll tell you all about it. (To the others) If you'll excuse us.

DUKAT: Of course. (They cross the room toward the door, nonchalantly at first but involuntarily picking up speed as they approach it. The camera follows them out the door and onto the stairwell. GARAK shuts the door. As soon as it closes they seize each other and hold on, without speaking, for a long time)

BASHIR: It's really you.

GARAK: Yes.

BASHIR: Thank God.

GARAK: Or whatever. (After a few more minutes, they pull back far enough to look at each other)

BASHIR: I would never have thought just seeing someone's face could make me this happy.

GARAK: Yes, well, this has been a learning experience for me too. (Takes BASHIR's head in his hands and brings it closer to his) Take care of yourself. If you ever go missing again--well, I won't even say what might
happen, it would probably frighten you.

BASHIR: Not any more than being apart. (BASHIR moves his arms down GARAK's back and his mouth next to GARAK's ear) I promise not to get lost. (As he presses closer, GARAK's breathing becomes more erratic. BASHIR looks at him and laughs)

GARAK: What?

BASHIR: It's good to have you back. (Kissing him, he moves them across the landing toward the opposite wall. GARAK, while carried away, makes an effort to think practically about this)

GARAK: Maybe we should get down the steps first, it's kind of narrow.

BASHIR: To get down the steps we'd have to let go of each other.

GARAK: Of course. What was I thinking. (As things progress, we move away from them into the tower room, where DUKAT, STEBAN, ODO, and SPARAT are sitting around the viewing well negotiating. SYCORAX and CABALAN are in a corner and SYCORAX is trying to teach him her language. MIRANDA is watching. OPHIDIA is helping ROM disentangle himself from the two corsets that he has managed to put on one on top of the other. Q is lounging against a wall looking infinitely bored.)

DUKAT: I'm afraid, things being as they are, the best we can offer you is a more comfortable exile. You were supposed to go to Gentra Prime; maybe--

SPARAT: Gentra Prime is even farther away than this place.

ODO: But at least it's possible to land on it. Your wife and daughter could go there to see you.

DUKAT: It would be tricky to get papers for them, but I might be able to do it. I have more influence now, and nobody is really paying attention to much over there.

SPARAT: But to start over, after fifteen years, in a new place... 

STEBAN: There's another solution. (DUKAT looks at him) Bring this planet into the Empire. With the dortite deposits I've seen on this island alone it would greatly increase Cardassia's strength. With that kind of incentive I think Central Command could be persuaded to lose your file during the restructuring. (OPHIDIA catches this and comes over to the table)

OPHIDIA: Oh no, gentlemen. The Empire stops here.

STEBAN: They'll discover it eventually. And this stuff is too valuable to leave alone. Cardassia will be here within a year whether you invite them or not. If you're the one to make them the offer, they'll reward you for
it. (SPARAT looks at SYCORAX)

SPARAT: It would change things...

DUKAT: It's the only thing I can think of that would persuade them to let you come back.

SPARAT: I suppose...(OPHIDIA, aghast, looks at ODO.)

ODO: Are you sure you even want to go home, Sparat?

SPARAT: I beg your pardon?

ODO: These fifteen years won't disappear. Your daughter has built a new life without you; so has your wife. Cardassia isn't what it was when you left it. And your old job and your old colleagues are gone forever. You'll
be an exile, no matter where you live. (Looks at Miranda) Exile is never like home, I know that. But after Cardassia, you're rooted here. You have a place to live, your books, your memories, and two children. I know they're both alien but they're still yours, and they will be whether you leave here or not.

DUKAT: Cardassia does not forgive easily, Sparat. Even if they publicly clear you it won't be like before.

ODO: Home is where your responsibilities are. Yours are here.

SPARAT: I couldn't bring Miranda to Cardassia, could I? My Miranda.

DUKAT: She could pass. But she'd never really become a Cardassian.

SPARAT: But never to see another Cardassian face...

DUKAT: Perhaps we could establish some kind of comm link. A protected, scrambled channel that would allow you contact with your family. I'm sure I could get Command to authorize that much.

 SPARAT: But if they learn about the dortite, they'll come here and develop it. The biggest deposits are by the cliffs, where Sycorax's people live.

OPHIDIA: Then don't tell them. Let the storms keep them out and make them believe the place is barren.

SPARAT: (to DUKAT) What about your report?

DUKAT: I don't think Central Command needs to know about everything that's happened here.

ODO: Or Starfleet either, for that matter.

STEBAN: I think they do.

DUKAT: Do they need to know that you were inciting me to treason against the state?

STEBAN: You're implicated too.

DUKAT: But if I tell them I pretended to go along with it in order to let you incriminate yourself they'll believe me. I outrank you and I don't make enemies.

SPARAT: (Looking again at SYCORAX) All right.

DUKAT: (Rising) Let's go figure out what we're not going to tell Central Command. (DUKAT, STEBAN and SPARAT move off to an inner room. ODO and OPHIDIA walk back toward QUARK and ROM. As they pass the closed door to the stairwell, they hear a muffled cry and what can only be the sound of BASHIR
and GARAK falling down the spiral staircase. They look at each other)

OPHIDIA: Should we help? (From a little further down the stairwell they hear laughter)

ODO: (after a pause) Bashir's a doctor; I'm sure they'll be fine. (OPHIDIA nods. They reach QUARK and ROM, who are now in their usual garments) I'm glad to see you're safe, Quark. I'm not ready for early retirement.

QUARK: It certainly is a relief to know that nothing's happened to you, Odo. I thought you'd been lost in the storm.

ODO: I'm sure you were heartbroken.

QUARK: I was! Starfleet doesn't understand me, Odo. Your loss would be a great inconvenience. (ODO growls.)

* * *

(The clearing outside the tower. SPARAT and MIRANDA stand facing DUKAT, STEBAN, GARAK, BASHIR, ODO, QUARK, ROM, and OPHIDIA, who are grouped in beamout formation.)

SPARAT: I am sorry to have caused whatever pain you felt.

GARAK: We all have regrets, Sparat.

MIRANDA: (to BASHIR) I never meant to hurt you.

BASHIR: I'm sure you didn't.

MIRANDA: I have been thinking about what you said. I do not think I love you.

BASHIR: That's just as well.

MIRANDA: I wish you well.

BASHIR: Goodbye, Miranda. (Q appears, dressed like Captain Steubing)

Q: The Love Boat sails in fifteen minutes.

SPARAT: As soon as you are aboard safely, contact me. (To Q) When I hear that they have passed out of the storm's range, I will set you free.

Q: All aboard! (The group disappears.)

* * *

(Back on the shuttle, GARAK and BASHIR are sitting toward the back while  ODO pilots it and OPHIDIA watches. DUKAT and STEBAN sit with QUARK and ROM, who are apparently trying to get them interested in some tulaberry wine.)

GARAK: My goodness. How did you know it wasn't me?

BASHIR: I knew there was something wrong as soon as she wouldn't let me out of the chains. But you know--you do expect that if someone looks like Garak and sounds like Garak that it is Garak.

GARAK: So what happened?

BASHIR: Well...(smiles) What made up my mind for me was that she didn't...shall we say...respond like Garak. (GARAK comprehends and looks down modestly)

GARAK: I would blush if I could, Doctor. (BASHIR laughs)

BASHIR: Garak, I've been meaning to ask you this all along. Is your entire body an erogenous zone?

GARAK: (In the same tone of scientific curiosity) It never used to be. I've been thinking about this myself and I believe it has to do with the warmth.

BASHIR: Warmth.

GARAK: Yes. I've never been with a warm-blood before. You can't understand, having your own body heat, what it's like to always be slightly colder than you want to be. We like to be warm. Cardassia is a very hot place and Deep Space 9 is very cold.

BASHIR: Ah. So it's body heat.

GARAK: That's my hypothesis.

BASHIR: And my otherworldly beauty and consummate skill have nothing to do with it.

GARAK: Well of course those are variables, Doctor. (They laugh. We move back to the cockpit)

ODO: And this here is the proximity indicator. That's what tells you how close you are to obstacles.

OPHIDIA: This is insane. How do you keep all this straight?

ODO: It takes a lot of practice, but I'm sure you could learn the basics fairly quickly. (OPHIDIA shakes her head)

OPHIDIA: As soon as this is over I'm going home. I've been away too long already.

ODO: I'm sorry to hear that.

OPHIDIA: Well, I'm not saying I'll never come back. But I've got a lot of work to do, and I miss my sweetie. The summer's already half over. It's time to break the staff and drown the book. (Looks back at GARAK and
BASHIR, who are laughing together) I'm glad they're happy. (To ODO) You wouldn't maybe like one about you and Kira? The good comedy's already taken, but I think you'd work well in Twelfth Night, maybe...

ODO: No thank you.

OPHIDIA: Just as well; I don't have time. (Pats his shoulder; he tenses) I'm sure the others'll take care of you.

ODO: (alarmed) There are others? (OPHIDIA laughs) How many? (OPHIDIA laughs and snaps her fingers. Blackout.)

THE END