Captain Benjamin Sisko stood on the Promenade of Deep Space Nine and surveyed the activity. It was the usual scene. Faces... Hundreds of faces, Human, Klingon, Ferengi, Bajoran, and a sampling of a dozen other races from stars near and far. Sisko sighed and smiled. Tensions were as high as ever. The Dominion and Cardassians were still a very real threat. The Star Fleet was in near shambles from the Borg attack. Worse, his favorite baseball program was strangely missing from the holosuite computers. Quark had promised to remedy the situation but so far nothing has been done. But despite all of that life still continued on the station at its usual pace.
Constable Odo came up silently from behind and stood beside Sisko.
"Which one is he, Constable?" Sisko asked.
"The one in the blue cloak." Odo responded.
The man they were talking about was indeed dressed in a long cobalt blue cloak. He was human, or at least humanoid. Around 45, slight with a trace of a middle aged paunch forming around his middle. He was in deep conversation with a well dressed Ferengi and a pale looking Tangugan just outside of Quarks.
"What about him?" Sisko asked.
"His name is Duran, human, and he's been plying the space lanes in these parts in a old Bolian cargo vessel that was originally outfitted to haul bulk cargo and volatile liquids." Odo said. "At one time he was suspected of working for the Maquis, smuggling them weapons, supplies, that sort of thing. Nothing could be proven though."
"And lately?"
"After the Maquis were destroyed by the Jem'Hadar he all but disappeared. Contacts I have with Starfleet security inform me that he's been ranging far and wide hauling whatever cargo he can to keep his ship and crew up." Odo paused. "This is his third visit to the station in the last four months. Each time he fills his vessel full of food and medical supplies then sets a course for Sector 9021."
"Food and medical supplies?" Sisko asks. "Do you think he's working for the Maquis again?"
"Could be." Odo said. "He doesn't set a course for the badlands, but he could easily change course after he's out of our scanning range."
"No weapons?" Sisko asked.
"None that I've been able to detect." Odo replied. "He loads up with the food and medical supplies then departs, he doesn't stay a minute longer than he has to."
"Like there is someone waiting for it." Sisko said.
"Exactly what I was thinking." Odo responded.
"How does he make his purchases?" Sisko asked.
"The Tanguagan's name is Wer Komat, a dealer in Scrap Metals and Salvaged goods. The Ferengi is Rhudar, he sells, among other things, the food and medical supplies." Odo explained. "Each time he shows up he contacts Komat and sells him a load of scrap metal and salvage, mostly Juradide and Duranium, and now and then what is listed as old, disabled Ion Engines."
"Ion engines?" Sisko asked visibly surprised.
"Ion engines. Komat scraps the whole lot and then credits an account with Rhudar from which he allows food and medicine purchases to be charged."
They watched in silence until the blue robed man concluded his conversation and moved off towards the docking ring.
"It's no crime to be in the possession of food and medicine Constable." Sisko said.
"No." Odo agreed. "But the Federation has never restricted access to food and medical supplies in the past. Why pay for something when it's free for the asking?"
"Because he doesn't want Starfleet to know he's asking for it..." Sisko thought aloud.
"My thoughts exactly..."
"If it's the Maquis do you think they might be planning something?" Sisko asked.
"They might." Odo said. "They could possibly want revenge for their fallen leader, the Maquis are prone to that sort of behavior."
Sisko nodded in agreement. "Prepare the Defiant for departure. We'll cloak, follow him and see what he's up to."
"A wise precaution." Odo said then quickly departed.
Sisko turned his attention back to the sea of life on the promenade.
In the last 14 days we have followed the Bolian freighter at Warp 5 to a near by uninhabited Star system 8.3 light years from Bajor. The freighter has dropped out of warp and is proceeding into the system at impulse.
"He's headed for the 7th planet." Worf reported from the Defiants tactical station.
"Scan the 7th planet." Sisko ordered.
"Class R," Kira reported from a bridge science station. "Trace methane and ammonia atmosphere, no life signs."
Worfs sensors started to chirp in alarm. "Detecting several ships in low orbit around the 7th planet."
"Number?" Sisko asked.
"Twelve." Worf reported.
"Type?"
"They are not running any ID." Worf said in a low voice.
"Major, scan their warp signatures, see if you can match them to anything in the Starfleet data base."
"Aye sir." Kira responded working her controls.
"Slow to one half impulse." Sisko ordered.
"One half impulse." Dax responded.
"Aside from the Bolian vessel none of those ships are showing a warp signature of any kind." Kira reported.
"No warp drive?" Sisko asked surprised.
"None that I can detect." Kira said.
"Sir," Worf reported. "Six of the craft are small Ion powered craft, containing a single person life support system, the others appear to be medium utility craft of some kind, and the other three are cargo vessels of some kind."
"What kind of Cargo?" Sisko asked.
"Two ships are empty, the third is loaded with Juradide and Duranium mostly," Kira reported. "And a few other trace metals."
"Ion engines, Juradide and Duranium..." Sisko said slowly to himself. "What are they up to, and who the hell are they?"
"They're beginning to unload the Bolian vessel." Kira reported. "Manually!"
"Manually?" Sisko asked standing up and walking over to Kira to peer down at her instruments.
"It does not appear that those ships are equipped with Transporters." Worf reported.
"What race doesn't use transporters?" Dax asked.
"No one in these parts that I know of old man." Sisko replied. "But they are definitely unloading that ship by hand."
"Sir," Worf interjected. "I have scanned their vessels for weapons. They use a plasma based beam weapon of some kind, the most powerful ones being mounted on the small single pilot ships. Regardless the Defiant outguns them I say we move in and demand to know what's going on."
Sisko stood straight and thought for a moment. "Normally I would agree, but so far they have not committed any crime, I can't barge in with phasers armed and demand that they let me in on their business."
"What if they are smuggling to the Maquis?" Worf asked. "Supplying a terrorist organization is against Federation law."
"We don't know if those supplies are for the Maquis, and if they were, the Maquis have better ships, and transporters."
Worf was silent for a moment as he contemplated what Sisko said. "That is true... If they're not working for the Maquis then for who?"
"That is what I want to find out." Sisko said.
"They've finished transferring their supplies." Kira reported.
Worf turned to his console. "The Bolian ship is moving away, it's gone to warp."
"Course?" Sisko asked sitting back down in the command chair.
"On a course for the Archan system, Warp 5." Worf reported.
"The other ships?" Sisko asked.
"They're moving towards the edge of the system at sub-light." Kira reported.
"Course?"
"035 Mark 224." Kira responded. "Speed, approximately one quarter Impulse."
"Don't over take them yet." Sisko said gently.
"Slowing to one quarter impulse." Dax said.
They waited, almost an hour passed.
"Course and speed remains unchanged." Kira reported.
"Are they headed for some kind of rendezvous?" Sisko asked.
"Sensors detect no other ships." Kira said.
"Damn!" Sisko cursed. "What is going on here!?!"
"Wait," Kira said suddenly. "They're making several small fine adjustments to their course... They're gone!"
"What do you mean they're gone!?!" Sisko demanded.
"I mean they've vanished!" Kira exclaimed. "One moment they were there, steady on course, and the next, they're gone!"
"Cloaked?"
"Sensors did not detect any form of cloaking device." Worf said. "However we did pick up an unusual subspace distortion around the ships just before they disappeared."
"What do you make of it?" Sisko asked.
"I am unsure." Worf replied.
Dax worked feverishly at her controls. Her brow creased first in concentration then in puzzlement.
"What is it old man?" Sisko asked.
"I'm not sure." Dax replied. "But based on these readings I think those ships have actually gone into subspace."
"Gone into subspace...?" Sisko asked confused.
"Some years ago the Gemarians experimented with a faster than light drive system that had the entire craft enter subspace rather than form a Cochran Warp Field."
"You think they use the Gemarian drive system?"
"No, the Gemarians abandoned their research, they couldn't resolved several technical problems." Dax said. "Who ever these people are, they have solved those problems and I would say perfected the system."
"How fast would these ships travel?" Sisko asked.
"Unknown." Dax replied. "And what's worse while traveling in subspace they can't be tracked by our sensors."
"So we've lost them." Sisko said.
"Maybe not." Dax said. "They were making several fine course adjustments before they disappeared. They might have been aligning themselves towards their final destination."
"Can you project a course?" Sisko asked.
"Working..." Dax worked her controls for several more seconds. "Their course cuts close to several other star systems, goes through a part of Cardassian space, and terminates at the system JA125."
"JA125..." Kira said consulting her computer. "14 planets, 6 rock, 8 assorted gas giants, a smattering of asteroids and a thin commetary belt, the 6th planet is class M and uninhabited."
"Distance?"
"Just over 100 light years." Kira replied.
Sisko sighed. "Dax, at warp 9 what is our ETA?"
"Twenty days." Dax replied.
Sisko rubbed his eyes. "Mr. Worf, open a channel to Starfleet."
"Aye sir." Worf replied.