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“Oh, those look good,” Pry
Nog walked over to her and handed Pry
Pry
“I’ll drink to that,” Nog said, clinking her glass.
Pry
“No way. I learned my lesson the first time.” A few months back, at Nog’s urging, Pry
She eyed the glasses skeptically. “They look the same.”
“Trust me, Pry
Pry
Nog gri
“Hey, watch it!” Pry
Nog was still trying to spit the remaining droplets. “Milk and ice cream!” he said, grimacing.
“Both of them? Hmm, that’s ironic.” Pry
Nog regarded his glass disgustedly. “I’m go
“Maybe he has a crush on you and this is just his way of expressing it,” Pry
“Oh, thanks,” Nog said sarcastically. “As if I wasn’t sick enough from the milk shake.”
Pry
“Better, I think,” Nog said, then shrugged. “Hard to be sure, sometimes. But I think he’s passed the worst of it. At least, until we get back to the Alpha Quadrant.”
Pry
Nog set down his unfinished shake. “Hey, hand that over,” Pry
Nog shook his head and passed his shake over to Pry
Pry
Nog nodded. “Have you talked to your father—I mean, Commander Vaughn?”
“Is that why you came down here?” Pry
Nog shrugged i
“Nog…”
“It was Senkowski’s idea!” No protested. “He thought someone should ask you, since even Dax and Bowers have been tight-lipped about the whole thing.”
“Let me guess, you drew the short straw?”
“Uh…did you like the milk shakes?” Nog asked hopefully.
Pry
“I’m sorry, Pry
“Hey, it’s all right,” Pry
“I’m glad,” Nog said. “It’s fu
“I du
“You know, that reminds me of something else I’ve been meaning to ask…”
Pry
“Well, it’s just that…he’s been in Starfleet for eighty years, right? Why is he still just a commander?”
Pry
“Well…yeah, I guess,” Nog admitted.
“Wouldn’t surprise me if he did,” Pry
“Then why—?”
“Nog, how big do you think the Tal Shiar’s file is on, say, Jean-Luc Picard?”
“Pretty big, I’d think.”
“And how big a file do you think they have on Elias Vaughn?”
Nog shrugged. “I have no idea.”
“Then I’ll tell you—they probably don’thave one on him. At least, I’d bet they didn’t before he was reassigned to DS9. By advancing no higher than commander, and taking no long-term assignments for the last eighty years, he’s managed to go relatively u
“But he’s given it up,” Nog said. Becoming first officer of Deep Space 9 and commander officer of the Defianthad to be like stepping into a spotlight for somebody like Vaughn.
Pry
Nog seemed to consider what Pry
“Oh?”
“He thinks it’s Cardassians.”
Pry
“You know he periodically checks the logs of computer use on board?”
Pry
“Well, he noticed that there’d been a download of a classified file on the planet Uridi’si three days ago. That’s nearest to Cardassian space. And Commander Vaughn is the only person on board with clearance high enough to download the entire file.”
Pry
“I suppose not,” Nog said. “Still—”
“Vaughn to Nog.”
Nog reached for his combadge and tapped it. “Go ahead.”
“Report to my ready room immediately, Lieutenant.”
“Aye, sir. I’m on my way.” Nog tapped off and turned to Pry
Pry