Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Young Adult Books #7: Gypsy World Read online

  Nog, somewhat reluctantly, followed. Ferengi are not a race that enjoys crawling around in small dark places if it can be avoided

  Whenever they reached a branch, Jake would make an instant decision as to which route to take. Nog began to accept that his human friend might know what he was doing after all. Jake, on the other hand, was going on gut instinct and hoping that at least they weren’t crawling around in circles.

  After what seemed like hours they arrived at a cargo bay. “This is it,” Jake whispered to Nog.

  They looked through the grill and saw that most of the cargo had already been unloaded. That was bad, since they would have very little cover. Several Fjori were working in the area and would spot them before they reached the open cargo doors. Nog was willing to give the odds a try.

  “No,” Jake answered. “It’s too far. They’d catch us. We need a diversion.”

  While he was trying to figure out what that might be, it came from an unexpected source.

  “Break time.” Jake peered through the grill and saw a Fjori entering the cargo hatch wheeling a food cart. The men paused in their work and ambled over to the cart. This was their chance—if they were fast enough.

  Jake tried to remove the grill, but it was stuck. “I’m going to kick it free,” he told Nog after several attempts that ended in failure. “The crew is at the other end of the cargo bay, so we’ll only have a few seconds to get through the doors.”

  “Stop talking and start kicking,” Nog replied impatiently.

  Jake slid back, took aim, and struck at the grill with both feet. There was a loud clang, but the grill was still in place. He heard surprised voices. He kicked again. This time the grill broke loose and clattered as it hit the floor.

  “What’s that?” someone yelled.

  Jake scrambled through the opening. Nog was so close behind that he tripped over Jake’s feet as he hit the deck.

  “Intruders! Grab them!”

  Jake pulled Nog to his feet and they ran. Half a dozen burly Fjori crewmen were now racing to catch them.

  It was close, but Jake and Nog managed to reach the open cargo doors ahead of their pursuers, and, without a thought as to what lay beyond, leaped through the opening into the wet, gray mist.

  They landed on hard ground and rolled with the impact. Unloaded cargo crates were stacked all around the area. Quickly Jake and Nog crawled behind one of the stacks as the men from inside the ship came out and looked around.

  They could hear the men arguing about which way to search. Fortunately, the morning mist was still thick enough to provide cover.

  Finally, they reached the perimeter of the landing area. The mist was burning off by now and they needed to find someplace safe to hide while they figured out their next move.

  “Jake.”

  He froze. It was Vija’s voice. He turned and looked up and saw her standing in front of him, silhouetted against the blood-red sun that was shining through the vanishing mist. “What are you doing here?”

  Before he could reply, a large dark shadow stepped in front of her and blotted out the sun. Jake squinted and recognized Captain Vardk. “That’s what I’d like to know.”

  CHAPTER 6

  My daughter asked what you’re doing here, Jake. I’d like to know the answer to that as well.” Vardk towered over the two boys like a giant. But he was curious, not angry—not yet.

  Vija came over to join them. Before Jake could explain, the crew that had been pursing them now appeared from all directions and surrounded them. One of them pointed at Jake and Nog. “They were hiding in the cargo bay.”

  “Stowaways,” added another. They moved toward Jake and Nog, but Vardk raised an arm and they stopped.

  “You were stowaways?” Captain Vardk asked Jake, obviously finding it difficult to believe.

  “Not exactly,” Jake replied, brushing the wet soil from his jacket. “We were—”

  “Kidnapped,” Nog interrupted.

  “Kidnapped? By who?”

  “By us, Captain.” Trax emerged from behind a stack of crates. Following him were several Fjori, including the youth Kala, who stared at Jake with obvious malice.

  “Why, Trax?” demanded Vardk. “These lads are citizens of the Federation. You’ve broken the law.”

  “No, Captain. With all due respect, it was you who broke Fjori law when you let them go back on Deep Space Nine.”

  Vardk turned on Trax and his comrades and seemed about to explode with pent-up anger, then his stances softened, but his look and his voice were still hard as Klingon steel. “I’ll decide your punishment later, Trax. For now I want a scout ship ready to return these two through the wormhole within the hour.”

  “We can’t do that, Captain.” Trax paused, then continued before Vardk could respond. “You no longer have the authority to order us.”

  Jake leaned over to Vija. “What’s he talking about? Your father’s the captain. He’s in command.”

  “That’s true in space,” Vija said. “But when you stepped onto the planet’s surface, the captain is no longer the supreme authority that he is on the ship.”

  “They wanted us to escape,” Nog realized. “It’s the kind of trick a Ferengi would play.” Frightened as he was, there was a hint of admiration in his voice.

  Trax walked over to Jake and Nog. He pointed at them while he addressed his words to the captain. “They have broken Fjori law. And by Fjori law, they must be punished.”

  “That is not for you to decide, Trax.”

  “No, Captain. But neither is it your decision to make.” Trax looked beyond the captain into the faces of the Fjori who had gathered to see what all the commotion was about. “I demand trial by council.”

  Captain Vardk looked at Trax and his fellows for a long moment, then the hardness in his face vanished into resignation. “That is your right, Trax. I will call upon the Council of Elders to decide this at first light on the morrow.”

  “We will abide by their rule,” Trax said. “Until then we leave the offworlders in your custody.”

  Trax walked away and his companions followed. Kala lingered for a moment. He stared at Jake and seemed about to say something, then glanced at Vija and held his tongue, turned and left. Slowly, like leaves carried away by the wind, the rest of the Fjori departed. Finally there was only Jake, Nog, Captain Vardk, and Vija.

  “Find Jake and Nog a place to stay,” Vardk told Vija. “Explain to them about our ways so that they can understand what is happening.” Then he looked at Jake. “With your permission, young Sisko, I will speak for you at tomorrow’s trial.”

  “Thank you,” Jake replied. “Nog and I accept.”

  Vardk nodded, then walked away toward the ship.

  “What can I do for you, Jake?” Vija asked when her father was gone.

  “One thing,” Jake replied. “Tell me how Nog and I can get home.”

  Halfway across the galaxy, sitting alone in his darkened quarters, Benjamin Sisko was having a similar thought. So lost in his thoughts was he that the door buzzed three times before he heard it.

  “Enter.”

  The door slid open and Jadzia Dax, the Trill Science Officer who had been Sisko’s good friend through two human hosts, came inside. She looked over at the table and the untouched evening meal. “You need to eat something.”

  “I wasn’t hungry.”

  “Yes, you were, or you wouldn’t have ordered from the replicator.” She looked closer. “Two settings?”

  “Force of habit, I guess.”

  She sat down next to Sisko and gently touched his hand. “I want him back, too, Benjamin. Almost as much as you do.”

  “It’s just that I—feel so helpless, Dax.” He looked into her eyes and the wisdom from numerous lifetimes they contained, and was grateful that there was one person on Deep Space Nine with whom he could drop his role of commander and just be himself. “My son’s been taken from me.” He tried to put his troubled thoughts into words. “And there’s nothing I can do to get him back.
”

  “You’re doing what you can, Benjamin. That’s all you can do.”

  “Maybe I should be out there in Gamma Quadrant—searching.”

  “You know that’s nonsense. That’s a huge ocean out there, and you’d be looking for a rowboat. Finding it would be a miracle.”

  “But at least I’d be doing something more than putting out diplomatic inquiries. I’m tossing bottles into the sea and hoping they make it to the opposite shore.”

  “Perhaps they will. And remember that there’s someone out there who is doing what you would do because that’s how you’ve taught him.” She looked at him with quiet reassurance as she added, “Trust Jake to find a way home again.”

  It was sunset on the planet Eden. Jake sat with Vija and Nog on a small bluff that overlooked the sprawling village. Eden was a desert world, and the twilight air was cool and sweet as the native cactus flowers released their fragrance. It was, Jake thought, quite a beautiful world, and reminded him of the high country of New Mexico on Earth where his father had once taken him camping.

  Below them the rambling village of sandstone huts appeared almost medieval. The houses clustered along an ambling river that cut a wide green swath through the red-brown earth. Like the planet, the village was an oasis in the midst of a harsh landscape.

  “This is were you grew up?” Jake asked Vija.

  “No. I was born on the Orak. That is my world. Eden is only the place where the Fjori gather. The ship is my home. For the Fjori, our ships are our only real home.”

  “But someone lives here,” Nog said.

  Vija smiled. “The elders and those who are assigned to work here.”

  Jake looked out at the spaceport that spread across a dry lake beyond the village. Besides the Orak, there were five other starships reflecting the light of the amber sky. “How many Fjori are there?”

  “I don’t know if even Great-Grandmother knows the answer to that. We are the Fjori, our families are scattered across the starways like grains carried by the starstreams.”

  Nog pointed at the starships docked into landing grids on the planet’s surface, a sight he was unaccustomed to seeing. “Don’t you have transporters on your ships?”

  Vija laughed. “Of course we do. But this is Eden. Here we use the old ways, even when it comes to unloading cargo. It may not be as efficient, but it is our tradition.”

  “And what does your tradition say will happen to us?” Jake asked.

  For a long moment Vija was silent. “Once a very long time ago there was another planet that was also called Eden. It, too, was the home of the Fjori. But an outsider discovered the secret location of that Eden. A great space armada came and demanded the treasure that was rumored to be hidden there. But there was no treasure.”

  “What happened?”

  “They took out their anger on Eden for denying them what we did not have. Every building on the planet was destroyed. Those of the families that were not murdered were sold into slavery.”

  Vija lowered her head. The incident she spoke of had happened long before she was born, long before any Fjori now living had been born. It was only a distant memory but it clearly still burned bright in the consciousness of every Fjori.

  “Less than a hundred of our ships escaped. In the centuries since, we have rebuilt the fleet.” Vija looked at Jake, her eyes cold as Rjoran ice. “But the Fjori have never forgotten. We have vowed that no one who is not of the family can ever be in a position to reveal the secret of this Eden.”

  “Does that mean what I think it does?” asked Nog.

  “It means that under Fjori law, neither of you can ever leave Eden.”

  The next morning as the first light from the blood-red sun that warmed Eden broke over the peaks of the distant blue mountains, Jake and Nog emerged from the hut where they had spent a restless night. There were no guards, and Nog suggested that they try to escape. Jake replied that the reason the Fjori didn’t need to guard them was that there was nowhere for them to run. Beyond the quiet tranquility of the village, there was only burning desert and hostile mountains

  “We wouldn’t have a chance out there,” Jake concluded. Nog had to nod in agreement.

  As Vija led them to the place where their trial would take place, Jake noticed that the Fjori they passed were neither friendly nor unfriendly. In fact they ignored the two offworlders as though they did not exist.

  “You are gajo in their eyes,” Vija explained.

  “What exactly does gajo mean?” Jake asked.

  “It means that you are considered something not quite human. The Fjori treat all outsiders as gajo, as someone not worthy.”

  “That attitude’s not going to earn you a lot of friends.”

  “No. The Fjori have learned over the years not to trust anyone. We have been betrayed too often.”

  “But until you learn to have trust in something, the Fjori are always going to be isolated.”

  Vija looked at Jake. “You are right. And there are those among us, mostly the young, who believe it may be time for the Fjori to reach out to other races.”

  Their conversation was interrupted as they reached their destination at the edge of the village, where a large open amphitheater cut into the hard ground.

  Jake saw a group of people he assumed to be the Council of Elders sitting silently in a semicircle in the center of the arena as Vija ushered them down the steps. He noticed only about two dozen Fjori seated around the perimeter. “We don’t seem to be attracting too much attention,” Jake commented.

  “There is no reason for them to be curious. Fjori law is very clear on this situation,” Vija said. “The verdict is certain.”

  “Then why bother with a trial?” asked Nog.

  “Tradition,” answered Vija. “Besides, Great-Grandmother is head of the council. She is wise and may find a way for you to return home.” Vija’s eyes scanned the members of the council. “Except that she is not here.”

  “Grandmother is on retreat.” Captain Vardk joined them as they approached the council. “We will not have the advantage of her wisdom on the council this day.”

  That doesn’t sound like a very good beginning, Jake thought to himself.

  A short time later Jake’s unspoken prophecy came true. Even with Captain Vardk arguing that their “crime” was one of youth and misjudgment, there was no appeal from the rigid rules of the Fjori. The six members of the Council of Elders listened to the facts and made their decision after only a few minutes of hushed deliberation.

  Jake was not surprised that neither he nor Nog were asked to testify. Apparently what a gajo had to say, even on his own behalf, was considered irrelevant.

  “It has been decided,” the leader of the council said, “that the two offworlders have violated Fjori laws and must serve the appropriate sentence. They will remain on this planet for the rest of their natural lives. By the steel of the ship and the fire of the planet, I declare this council closed.” As one body the six council members stood and prepared to make their exit.

  Captain Vardk put his hand on Jake’s shoulder and whispered in his ear, “I’m sorry, Jake. I was afraid it would turn out like this.”

  “Isn’t there any way you can contact my father?” Jake asked. “He’d know what to do.”

  “The law forbids me to do that.” Vardk lowered his head. “It may not be right or just, but it is our way. It is our law.”

  Jake glanced over to the side of the arena and saw the Fjori youth, Kala, smiling at him. It was a taunting smile, and Jake was certain that Kala would do everything in his power to make sure that Jake and Nog did not enjoy their stay on Eden.

  “If only Great-Grandmother were here,” Vija said. “She might have found a way.”

  “Perhaps she would,” Vardk agreed. “But she is not scheduled to return from retreat for another six moons. By then the council’s decision will be final and there can be no arguments.”

  “You mean,” Jake interrupted, “the decision isn’t final yet?” />
  “It requires three full moons before any decision is closed. During that time the defendants can still argue for another finding.”

  “Then let’s argue,” said Nog, the gears in his Ferengi mind already grinding.

  “I’m sorry, Nog,” Vardk said. “You are gajo and cannot argue before the council.”

  Nog’s oversized ears appeared to droop at the captain’s statement. He knew every Ferengi rule of acquisition by heart, and yet there would be no opportunity to use them. It wasn’t fair.

  “It isn’t fair.” Vija’s words echoed Nog’s unspoken thought. Suddenly she rose and intercepted the council, who were about to leave the arena.

  “Wise elders,” she called to them. “I speak as the Fjori voice of those who have no voice.” She pointed at Jake and Nog. “I would demand that these two have the right to cleanse themselves of their misdeeds through the Rite of Passage.”

  CHAPTER 7

  No!” The yell came from Kala, who was standing near the exit and heard Vija’s words. He ran forward. “They are not Fjori. They cannot take the Rite of Passage.”

  “It is not forbidden,” argued Vija.

  The leader of the council thought about this for almost a minute before he answered. “No. It is seldom done, but it is not against our law.”

  Kala seemed to want to shout in angry protest, yet he remained dutifully silent in the presence of the council.

  The council elder walked over to where Jake and Nog stood next to Vardk. His first words were to the captain. “Your daughter pleads that these two take the Fjori Rite of Passage. Are they worthy?”

  Without hesitation, Vardk replied, “They are worthy.”

  “And how are they worthy?” the elder inquired.

  “In their own space both are princes. Jake is the son of the commander of the guardian of the wormhole they call Deep Space Nine.” That’s pretty close to the truth, Jake thought.

  “Nog is the heir to the great Ferengi trading empire of Quark.” That was a bit more of a stretch, but it had enough truth to be acceptable.