Chapter 7:  Fishing for Answers

 

Chief Newstreak hated Cardassians. She had lost her eldest brother in the war with the Cardies, and she would have been more than happy to never see another one of those spoonheads again. And for many years, she didn’t. Which is why she was so shocked when she walked down the Commons one morning. Passing a shop that had been empty the day before, she vaguely noticed that it seemed to have been made into some sort of clothing shop. She wouldn’t have given this a second thought, except that as she passed by the door, a reptilian man came into view.

Newstreak turned sharply on her heel and stared into the shop. As though he felt her eyes burning into him, the Cardassian man looked up at her. He glanced behind him, as though thinking that her hateful glare couldn’t possibly be aimed at him.

“Anna!” Newstreak looked behind her to see Dr. Bashir approaching. She groaned quietly. She liked the man well enough, but he never shut up. For the life of her, Newstreak could not understand why the Romulan security chief willingly dined with him. “Have you met Garak, yet?” he asked, looking from her to the spoonhead in the shop.

“No, nor do I desire to,” Newstreak responded coldly. “Why is he even on the station?”

Newstreak noticed Bashir seemed to grow very uncomfortable at this question. She guessed this was because of her harsh tone. “To open a tailor’s shop, I suppose. He really is a good tailor.”

“You met him before?” Newstreak assumed.

Bashir nodded. “He was aboard DS9 while I was stationed there.” Newstreak looked at the Cardassian again with suspicion. “Have you met him before?”

Newstreak was slightly surprised by the question. “No. Why would I have?”

“You just seem…well…”

“My brother was killed fighting Cardassians, Doctor.” A look of understanding came over Bashir’s face.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. For once he seemed unable to find his voice.

“It was a long time ago, Doctor. I just don’t want to meet him.” With that, Newstreak walked away and entered a turbolift. Just before the doors closed, she saw Bashir head into the Cardassian’s shop, a place she would never set foot in. “Ops.”

* * *

“Who was that lovely yet seemingly ill-tempered woman you were speaking with?” Garak asked as soon as Julian walked in.

“Chief Anna Newstreak,” Julian answered. “She, uh…”

“Hates my kind,” Garak finished slowly.

“She lost a brother in the war,” Julian said quietly. Garak nodded slightly in understanding. “If you’re not busy, I was wondering if you wanted to have some breakfast with me.”

Garak looked at the PADD in his hand and slipped it into a drawer in his desk. “Nothing important, Doctor. I’d be delighted.”

“What do you think of Romulan cuisine?” Julian asked as they walked down the Commons. Garak was getting many odd looks from the Romulan residents, but Garak ignored them.

“I don’t have much of a taste for it, I admit. Their food leaves much to be desired.”

“If you don’t mind replicated food, I’m sure you can get Cardassian cuisine at the Jolan,” Julian suggested. “I’m friends with the cook, so you needn’t worry about getting poison with your meal,” Julian joked. He then coughed uncomfortably, remembering his lunch conversation with Vena.

“Something the matter, Doctor?” Garak asked, appearing more suspicious than concerned.

“Nothing,” Julian said quickly as they approached the counter. The Romulan owner promptly appeared from the kitchen. “Good morning, Rianna!” Julian said, greeting her enthusiastically.

“Good morning, Julian.” Rianna looked at Garak, and Julian silently prayed that her reaction would be better than all the other women so far on DS13. “Who’s your friend?” she asked with a sincere smile.

“This is Garak, the man who opened the new tailor shop a few doors down.” Julian was very thankful that someone on DS13 did not respond to Garak’s presence with hatred. “Garak, this is Rianna.”

“A pleasure, Rianna,” Garak said with a nod.

“Likewise,” Rianna said with a smile, quickly wiping her hand on her apron before holding out her hand. “And yes, I am part Cardassian,” Rianna added when she noticed Garak’s eyes moving to the slight indentation on her forehead. Garak smiled as he let go of Rianna’s hand. “So, what would you two like for breakfast?”

The two sat down a few minutes later at the same table where Julian had first talked with Vena. Julian began drinking his raktajino as Garak took a sip of red leaf tea. “Rianna is very nice for a Romulan,” Garak commented. “Though I suppose that could be the Cardassian in her.”

Julian grinned and shook his head slightly. “You don’t like Romulans much, I take it?”

“Not to sound bigoted, Doctor, but most Romulans lack…color. They are quite a dull people.”

“And you learned this from your experience working at the Cardassian Embassy on Romulus, I take it,” Julian commented, spreading jam on his scone. Garak studied him for a few moments.

“Yes,” he stated simply.

“Ah,” Julian said, nodding. “I bet you were very pleased to meet Vena, then. She is certainly not lacking in…color.”

Garak grinned. “Fishing again, Doctor?”

The mischievous smile on Julian’s face faded. “Fishing…” he repeated quietly.

“I’ve used the phrase before, Doctor. Feigning ignorance of its meaning will not help you in discovering anything,” Garak said. “Assuming that there is something to discover, of course.”

“There’s always something to discover when it comes to you, Garak,” Julian said with a small smile. His smile was less than real, however, as he remembered Vena using the term “fishing” to describe Julian’s efforts to retrieve information when they had first met. In fact, she had been sitting in the very same chair that Garak was seated in now. Now that Julian thought on it, he realized that it was the best chair for viewing the Commons—one could see everyone outside the shops, and even watch the goings-on inside a few of the nearer ones. One in that particular corner would also likely go unnoticed. Interesting that a former spy would choose that seat…

And speaking of spies…

Garak was now intently watching someone or something over Julian’s left shoulder. Julian turned to see Vena and Rianna standing near the counter of the Jolan, speaking in low voices. At one point, Rianna looked over at the two and waved. Vena merely shot a glare at the two before continuing to speak to her friend. Rianna’s smile faded as Vena spoke, disappearing completely by the time Vena picked up a raktajino from the counter and walked to her office. Rianna bit her lip, glancing at Julian and Garak again before going back toward the kitchen.

“I wonder what they were talking about,” Julian said, turning back to Garak.

“Us, apparently.”

Julian looked up from his food in surprise. “You sound very sure.”

“It was rather obvious, Doctor,” Garak said, sounding slightly disappointed that Julian hadn’t guessed it himself.

“What makes you think that they weren’t just talking about you?”

Garak said nothing, watching Rianna come from the kitchen and take someone’s order. “Rianna is close to Vena, I take it?”

Julian’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Yes. What does that matter to you?”

Garak smiled slightly and shook his head. “Doctor, it’s obvious. Vena despises me for reasons I cannot begin to fathom.” Julian rolled his eyes. “And if Rianna is her friend, than I should not allow myself to trust Rianna too much.”

Julian shook his head and sighed. “As if you would trust her anyway. You, dear Garak, are paranoid.”

“Someone who imagines threats against their life is paranoid. I have threats against my life,” Garak said, taking a sip of red leaf tea. “I believe we have gone over this before.”

“Has Vena made one?” Julian asked quickly.

“No,” Garak answered without hesitation. “As I have already told you, I do not know her well.”

“She seems to know you pretty well,” Julian commented casually, sipping his raktajino.

Garak studied him for a moment, and then he grinned. “A good effort, Doctor. Pretending to know more than you do so that I…what’s the phrase? ‘Slip up?’ I’m going to have to watch my tongue around you.”

Julian sighed in exasperation before he realized that Garak had indeed “slipped up.” Julian grinned. “So there is something about you two that you’re not telling me. Information that can be obtained…and not necessarily from you,” Julian said.

Garak’s grin faded when he realized that he had slipped. It was a tiny, insignificant piece of information, but it appeared to greatly affect him that Julian had picked up on it. “You are nothing like the naïve young man I met aboard DS9, are you?” He smiled grimly. “I suggest you avoid asking about Vena’s past, Doctor. I know enough about her to know that she won’t like it.”

“Especially if I mention you,” Julian added. Garak made no response, positive or negative, to that. They ate in silence for a minute. “I have tried to learn about her past,” Julian said slowly. “And I discovered that she is as tight-lipped as you. Possibly more so. She doesn’t even bother to come up with extravagant webs of lies.” This last comment caused Garak to chuckle. “She avoids anything personal completely. Except her political views.”

“And her political views tell you nothing?”

Julian shrugged. “Not much. I take it she doesn’t like the Romulan government, though.” Garak smirked slightly, but seemed completely unaware that Julian noticed. Julian’s brow furrowed, when he suddenly thought of something. It may be risky to mention to Garak, but it would likely have no meaning to him, and if it did, Julian needed to make sure his inquiry was as casual as possible so as not to arouse suspicion. “Garak, does the word ‘Sunsearcher’ mean anything to you?”

Garak froze in much the same manner Vena had when Julian had first mentioned Cardassians. “Where did you hear this word?” he asked, holding Julian’s gaze with an intense stare.

“I came across it in some literature,” Julian lied, meeting Garak’s eyes. Apparently the word did mean something to Garak.

Garak frowned as he thought, and then he leaned back in this chair. “There is a plant on Cardassia called an ‘Indigo Sunsearcher.’” Julian looked at him expectantly. Garak sighed a little and continued. “Desert regnars often create colonies near the sunsearcher’s roots.”

“Is the plant poisonous?” Julian asked when Garak fell silent once more. Garak shook his head. “You sure?”

“I was a gardener, Doctor, and a good one.”

Garak suddenly began asking about some old friends from DS9 and how they were doing. Julian answered to the best of his ability, seeing as he hadn’t seen many of them since before the Romulan War.

Julian later created a link with the nearest starbase and searched the Federation database for “indigo sunsearcher.” Much to his surprise, the plant existed and was exactly as Garak had said—regnars liked living next to the roots, and besides that the plant was nothing particularly special. So why had Vena asked the computer to recognize her as Sunsearcher? And why did Garak react so strongly when he heard the word? And why did his conversations with Garak always leave Julian with more questions than answers?