Peter David - The Siege (Star Trek Deep Space Nine, No 2)

N OW WATCH CAREFULLY .

Miles OBrien, square-jawed, curly-haired, and the most aggressively patient individual on Deep Space Nine, smiled broadly, which was the only way he was capable of smiling. He had a look in his eye that gleamed of mischief and deviltry. It was, in fact, the exact look that he had used several years previously on a certain young botanist aboard the USS Enterprise, when he had first spotted her lounging in Ten-Forward. And she had found that look refreshingly guileless, even playful. A pleasing mixture of a little boys soul in a grown mans body.

That was over four years ago.

Now she just found it damned irritating.

Keiko, his wifethe irritated womandid not look up from the lesson plans she was preparing for the next day.

At first glance, and even at second, Miles and Keiko OBrien were mismatched. In contrast to the buoyant Irishmans open expression and Hi, pal, gladdaseeya air, the Asian Keiko was far more low-key, far more reserved.

When OBriens spirits were high, they couldnt be anchored with a crate of gold-pressed latinum. When they were low, a team of horses could be hitched up and whipped into a frenzy, and still not drag him out of the doldrums until he was ready to go.

Keiko, on the other hand, was far more steady. She was not quick to anger, but instead would build gradually. OBrien sometimes teasingly called her the slow cooker. But when she did get angry, volcanoes had nothing on her.

She was light-skinned where he was swarthy, delicate where he was coarse. Yin, as she put it, to his yang. He, on the other hand, would say that she was Abbott to his Costelloa reference that she did not begin to understand, along with most of his references to arcane and archaic Earth matters.

There was much about him that she did not understand, even after four years of marriage.

She did not understand his fondness for poker, a relatively dishonorable game where the object was to win through deceit and trickery rather than through an honest matching of skill against skill.

She did not understand why she was supposed to adjust to such a radical change in her life as coming to this godforsaken space station that was so isolated it wasnt even in the middle of nowhere but rather in the distant, bleak outskirts of nowhere.

She did not understand why in the world he had been dead set on naming their offspring Elvis if it had been a boy. Fortunately the issue had been dodged when a girl arrived, during one of the more tempestuous days of Enterprise life that she had experienced.

And most of all, she did not understand why he did not understand.

Miles, please, she said, rubbing her templean early warning sign indicating that her beloved husband was really pushing matters. Ive really got a lot on my mind right now.

OBrien, who rarely, if ever, picked up on the aforementioned early warning sign, said, Itll just take a minute.

Miles...

I miss the Enterprise, and I miss my life, and its a struggle to get any children to come to my classes because theyd all much rather be out causing trouble or something, and anyway, I never intended to be a teacherIm a botanist. And I never intended for Molly to grow up in a snake pit like this station, and I hate that she has to, and I hate this station, and I hate feeling grungy all the time, and I hate this whole stupid situation, and I hate

Something on your mind, hon? he asked.

She looked at that hurt puppy dog expression of his, and she couldnt help but smile. Ive never been one for kicking helpless small animals, she said softly.

What?

Nothing. She waved it off and put down her padd. Go ahead.

All right. He grinned, fully comfortable with her dismissal of anything being wrong. Quark showed me some magic tricks, and I figured when we have Mollys birthday party, I could entertain.

Miles... Molly isnt interested in magic tricks. You know what she wants for her birthday: a pony, like shes seen in her books. She wants to ride a pony around the habitat ring.

Well, its not bloody likely, okay? A magician will have to do. Now... watch carefully.

He held his hand out, palm up. There was a coin in it.

Keiko, trying to muster enthusiasm, applauded.

I didnt do the trick yet, said OBrien.

Oh... sorry. I just thought the coin was pretty. What is it, anyway?

A Ferengi tri-esta. Now... watch carefully.

You said that already.

Well, do it, he told her, trying not to sound irritated.

Gamely he held the coin up in his left hand. Then with his right hand he reached over and scooped it up. He held his right hand up high over his head and then snapped it open.

The coin was gone.

Taa-daaa! he proclaimed.

She stared at him.

Well? he said. What did you think of that? The coins gone.

Its still in your left hand, she said flatly.

His face fell. No, its not.

Yes, it is. She reached over and pried his clenched left fist open. OBrien rolled his eyes as the tri-esta glinted in the dim lighting of their quarters. See? Then, when he didnt say anything immediately, she added uncertainly, Taa-daaa.

He waved his empty right hand around in irritation. You were supposed to be looking at this hand. Its called misdirection.

But that wasnt the hand the coin was in.

Yes, but that was the point!

I thought, she said cautiously, that the point was that I was supposed to watch carefully. Thats what you said. Twice. I remember. I counted. If Id watched your right hand, Id have been looking in the wrong place.

But thats the bloody trick! he said in exasperation.

She sighed and rubbed her forehead again. Im sorry, Miles. Would you like to do it again? I promise Ill look in the right wrong place this time.

No, forget it, he said. Just forget it. Go back to... to whatever it was you were doing.

Fine, she said. I wouldnt have stopped if you hadnt disturbed me.

He paused a moment. Yknow... I think I know what I did wrong. I wasnt fast enough. Look, let me try it again

At that moment his communicator beeped. He tapped it and said, OBrien here.

Chief, this is Dax, came a calm female voice. Could you come up to Ops for a moment? Somethings going on that Id like you to double-check. I know its late, but

On my way, he said. He turned to Keiko. Sorry about this, he said apologetically. You always complain that you hardly see me.

No, its all right, she said quickly. Ill find something to do while youre gone.

Thanks, Keiko. He squeezed her shoulder and kissed the top of her head. Youre the best.

He left their quarters, and she sat there in the blissful silence. She picked up her notepad to continue lesson plans...

At which point Molly, from the next room, started to cry.

Keiko sighed deeply. She seemed to sigh a lot these days.

OBriens quarters were in the habitat ring, as indeed were everyone elses quarters. Deep Space Nine comprised a series of ringed structures connected by crossover bridges and vertical and horizontal turbolifts. The outermost ring was the docking ring, which contained the docking ports, cargo bays, facilities for the mining operations that had been Deep Space Nines original raison dtre, and six protruding docking pylons.

The next ring in was the habitat ring. In addition to the roughly three hundred individuals who were permanent residents of Deep Space Nineincluding, as Keiko OBrien would have said, some fairly reluctant residentsthere were enough quarters to accommodate several times that number. This greatly facilitated Deep Space Nines ability to service and deal with the various travelers who stopped by to conduct business, get their ships serviced, get themselves serviced, or see to whatever other needs might arise.