From Cardassia With Love

Die Another Day

           "Hang on, we don't know for sure that this is a kidnapping. They might just be trying to keep this location a secret." Bashir whispered as he glanced around the room for any obvious surveillance devices. "Keep the guise up and follow my lead."

"But Julian, even if their contact didn't figure it out last night, by now I'm sure they would have-" Komananov was cut short when the door suddenly swung open and a figure strolled in. She caught her breath and quickly regained composure. Upon seeing the character casually approach him, Julian was tempted for a brief second to shut the holoprogram down and just be done with it.

"Ah, Dr. Manal I presume? My associate Duchamps informed me that you would be joining us today." The character, who in appearance was identical to Commander Sisko, reached out to shake Bashir's hand.

"Yes, his efficiency is most impressive." Bashir shook the character's hand firmly, hiding his contempt behind a mask of pleasantry. "May I ask who I have the pleasure of speaking to?" The other man laughed with Sisko's usual boisterous but dignified enthusiasm.

"Forgive me, I do get ahead of myself sometimes. I am Dr. Hippocrates Noah, chief organizer of the International Geologic Survey as I'm sure you know. So, I'm told that you are interested in joining our research team, correct?" Dr. Noah's voice was surprisingly pleasant, almost paternal.

"Yes, I am a professor at the Oxford Institute of Science, and some colleagues of mine informed me that the project was looking for experts in the field." Bashir nodded his head curtly as Dr. Noah first took notice of Komananov.

"And who is the lovely lady?" Dr. Noah took Komananov's hand and kissed it through her gloves.

"I am Alexandra Manal, the doctor is my husband." Komananov smiled politely to conceal a cold veneer.

"A lucky man." Dr. Noah held Komananov's hand just long enough to make her uncomfortable before turning back toward Bashir. "So Doctor, in your professional opinion, what do you make of this sample the research team collected?" Dr. Noah gestured toward a large fragment of stone that was displayed on a side table. Bashir moved in for a closer look, pretending to study the fragment even though he had already identified it.

"Judging from the dark coloration and reflective quality, I'd say it's a piece of raw hematite. They're actually quite common along the Eurasian/Indian plate boundary. Since it was taken from a mountain and looks relatively older, I'd venture to guess it was collected about twenty thousand feet above sea level?"

"Twenty-five thousand feet, actually," Dr. Noah replied with a smug grin, "It was taken from a mineral core extracted less than a mile from our main facility. Tell me, what is it about the IGS's research that caught your attention?"

"Well..." Bashir trailed off as he scrambled for an answer. "It may be just a rumor, but there are those out there who believed that your team have discovered and successfully weaponized a method of producing artificial earthquakes. I simply had to know if it was true." Bashir had to fight to keep his mouth from trembling or his eyes from averting themselves as he struggled to maintain a semblance of calm. Maybe Garak was right, he was not cut out to be a spy. Dr. Noah squinted at him from under the shadow of his brow. "In fact, it has been suggested, that some of the recent earthquakes in Nepal may have been the result of your team's experimentation." Dr. Noah's eyes widened a little at that, but something seemed almost put on about it as if he had to make an active effort to appear pleasantly surprised.

"Then Manal, perhaps you would be interested to know that this "rumor" is in fact correct."

"Really? Then you must tell me, how did you achieve such a breakthrough?" Bashir watched as Dr. Noah circled the room slowly so that he was standing between Bashir and the rear wall of the room.