The Mist by Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Kathryn Rusch Page A

fact.
    "Check it out," I said.
    Bashir nodded and quickly left the bridge.
    "There's going to be a crowd waiting for us," Dax said.
    I could see what she meant. At least twenty Mist colonist ships surrounded the station. Among them were twenty or so vessels in normal space that had been docked to the station or in orbit around the station when it vanished.
    On top of that, a half-dozen unaligned Cardassian ships, privateers not part of their regular fleet, were approaching and would arrive at the station just minutes before we did. Attacking the station was going to take running an obstacle course first.

    "You could have warned us, Sisko," Sotugh said. "Obstacle course indeed. More like a gauntlet of pain and dizziness. Do you know what happens to Klingons when they get dizzy?"
    "I bet it improves their disposition," Prrghh said sweetly.
    "So you and the Klingons went through that obstacle course?" the Quilli asked, resting its paws on the top of its chair.
    Sisko smiled at it. When it got its story, it was actually quite a charming creature. "We did," Sisko said. "But Sotugh has jumped a bit ahead of our story."
    "Don't get that warthog mad at me again," Sotugh said. "I didn't do anything wrong this time." He rubbed his left buttock absently as he spoke.
    "Ah, that's right," the Quilli said. "The Madison isn't there yet."
    Sisko nodded. "But it was just a half second later that Dax reported ..."

    "The Madison has shifted and joined us." She bent over her console, fingers working rapidly. "We'll be at the station in five minutes."
    "Sir!" Nog said. "Captain Higginbotham is hailing us."
    "Put him on screen," I said.
    Captain Higginbotham's serious face filled the screen. "What an amazing place you found here, Ben."
    "It is startling, isn't it?" I said.
    "What's your plan?"
    "We're going in to take Ops first."
    "It's going to get crowded in there," Higginbotham said. "Fighting in such close quarters is not going to be easy."
    "Granted," I said. "Avoid passing through a ship in real space."
    "You can do that?"
    I nodded. "And it's not pleasant. Most of the colonists' ships are supposedly unarmed, but I don't trust that information. The biggest problem we have is we can't let any of the ships escape, and unless they fire on us, we can't destroy them, either."
    "That's unusual," Higginbotham said. "What's the idea behind that?"
    "It's complicated, Paul," I said. "But in abbreviated terms, we think we need the colonist ships with the transfer equipment to shift the station back, or it's stuck here, invisible, forever."
    "Does that affect us as well?" he asked.
    "Yes," I said, and told him about Victor's ship.
    "Got it," Higginbotham said. "We'll back you up and keep as many of the Mist ships rounded up as we can."
    "Thanks," I said, and had Nog cut the communication.
    "Captain Victor's ship is dropping back," Dax said. "And being joined by half a dozen other Mist ships."
    "I did not expect to see more Mist ships," Worf said.
    "Me, either," Nog said.
    "He mentioned them," O'Brien said uncertainly.
    "Are they joining us?" I asked Dax.
    Dax shook her head. "We're out here alone, Benjamin. It's just the three Klingon ships, the Madison, and us."
    "I don't like this," O'Brien said to himself.
    Right at that moment, I completely agreed. Something felt wrong. Very wrong.

Eleven
    MY HEART WAS pounding as I leaned forward in my chair. It seemed as if I had already been in battle, judging by my body's reaction. I knew that I had to be prepared, and already I was on alert.
    "Worf," I said, "I need to know the status of the station as soon as you can give it to me."
    "Aye, sir," he said.
    "We'll be in scanning range within one minute," Dax said. "The Madison and one Klingon ship are taking positions between the station and the colonists' home planets."
    "Are the station's shields up?" I asked as we dropped out of warp.
    "Shields are down, sir," Worf said. "Cardassian ships, led by Gul Dukat, have stationed themselves near the wormhole."
    I