DS9 - The Spinning Wheel [2/5]
Mar. 1st, 2014 11:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seikilosTitle: Like I Have Nothing To Hide
Fandom: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Action
Rating & Warnings: PG-13 (slight dubcon, hairpulling)
Betas: tinsnip and Yosie
Words: This part 4050, appr. 15k overall
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Summary: When Miles returns from a wartime engineering course, Keiko is glad to have him safe at home again--but soon she realises that all is not well. Now she must gather evidence while protecting her family and without letting on that she knows something is wrong. This chapter: Keiko begins her tests and gathers an ally.
Author's Notes: In addition to having fun with working out what Keiko could accomplish on her own with the tools available to her, I also enjoyed filling out her relationships a little more. Due to her low screentime, we didn't really get to see many of her friendships, so it was neat thinking about how things might look with the important people in her life. Fodder for later fics? You never know.
(2)
He had already left the bed when she woke up the next morning with gritty eyes and a head aching from a night of sleeping in snatches. Once she'd dressed and forced herself into the next room, it was to find him fiddling with a padd at the table, smears of breakfast stuck to his plate, a film of juice at the bottom of his glass. The set-up was meant to make her think his appetite had returned at last, but there was no way to tell how much food there had originally been or how much of it he'd eaten—if he'd eaten anything at all.
She did her best not to let her gaze linger or flinch away from his face, but instead allowed it to rest briefly on him before she went to collect the dishes. "Good morning. How was your sleep?"
"Huh?" She had just enough time to glimpse him looking up before she turned her back on him. Her skin prickled with hyperawareness. "Oh, fine, fine. You?"
"Not so great." She made herself grimace. Even if he couldn't see her face, he would see the expression (or its lack) in her body language. "I had a lot of strange dreams."
"Too bad."
She went to join him at the table. "Are you off to work already?"
"Yeah. Thought I'd get an early start." He set aside his padd. "The station computers are still being a bit funny, so I should give them another once over. I'd hate to be dealing with delays if the Dominion got it into its head to invade."
He chuckled and Keiko laughed along with him, hoping as she did that the shrillness of the sound was only in her imagination.
From the next room, she heard Molly give a loud "Ow!" There was a pause, a gasp, then: "Mommy! Daddy! Aunt Nerys! My tooth came out!"
"Shh, honey, Aunt Nerys is sleeping," Keiko called softly as her daughter thumped into the room, a blood-smeared hand outstretched.
"No, I'm not," she heard Nerys reply and a beat later she emerged with Yoshi in her arms. "It's fine."
"Look, Mommy!" Molly insisted.
Keiko bent down to lose herself in Molly's pride. "Look at that!" She'd needed to force her smile, but soon it slipped into something genuine. She smoothed down Molly's hair, letting her hand cradle her fragile little head for just a moment. "That's your fourth one! Let me see your mouth."
Molly immediately opened wide, and there it was: a brand new gap in the lower front, still slightly bleeding.
"Wow!" Automatically, she glanced to her husband to share the moment with him. The instant she set her eyes on him, however, her heart gave a lurch.
"Good for you, Molly. You'll have them all gone before you know it!" he told her.
How had she not noticed? The words were right, even the tone was, but there was no warmth to what he was saying, no love. Had that really been the case all along? Had she just been subconsciously filling in the right emotions ever since he had returned from that conference?
Or rather, since something had returned.
That absence was all the more obvious when she compared his tone to the deep fondness of Nerys'.
"I can't believe how big you're getting!" Nerys bent down next to Keiko, still cradling Yoshi, and beamed at Molly. "You're going to have all your grownup teeth before you know it!"
"I think this one's loose, too." Molly said. She stuck her free hand in her mouth to wiggle at something.
"Careful, sweetheart, or you'll have nothing left to chew your food with," Miles teased in a facsimile of affection, then turned his attention to Nerys. "We'd better get going or we're going to be late."
"You're right." Nerys sounded regretful as she straightened and passed Yoshi to Keiko. She fluffed Molly's hair. "Try not to lose any more teeth while we're gone, all right, kiddo?"
"I won't," Molly promised, apparently in complete seriousness.
Keiko made herself chuckle along with the other two adults. "Have a good day."
"You too," Nerys replied on the way to the door.
Miles bent in to kiss her. As those lips pressed against hers, Keiko closed her eyes and brought forward a memory: the last time she and Miles had had a date night together, just the two of them. Nerys had watched the children, and that evening, she'd remembered all over again why she had fallen in love with him.
"See you after work," he told her when he pulled back. Her returning kiss must have passed muster, then.
"Bye," she said, smiling and smiling until the door shut between them and cut the expression from her face.
For just one moment, she breathed. Then she brought back her smile to look down at Molly. "Come on, sweetheart. Let's find a safe place to put your tooth."
Tidying up Molly took some time, and after that Yoshi's diaper needed changing, taking more time still. (At least Nerys had already fed and burped him as she usually did in the mornings. She was always thankful for the extra help with the children, but never more than today.)
Only when Molly was settled with some paints and Yoshi was safe in his crib did Keiko have time to go to the computer terminal. She'd yet to have breakfast, but at this point, putting anything in her stomach seemed a bad idea.
"Keiko O'Brien to the infirmary."
There was a delay, longer than usual, and then: "Nurse Jabara here."
"Nurse, could you send Dr. Bashir to our quarters? I noticed Molly was running a bit of a temperature this morning and I was hoping he could check her out."
"Why don't I come see her?" Jabara began and Keiko's breath caught. What excuse should she give? "I don't have anyone scheduled for the next half-hour."
There was a pause. Faintly, in the background, she heard Julian say, "Oh, it's no trouble. I'll head over straight away. A temperature, she said?"
Jabara's voice returned. "Dr. Bashir is on his way." More gently, she added, "I hope your little girl feels better soon. Jabara out."
Keiko dropped into her computer chair the moment the communications link was disconnected. She should make good use of the time before Julian arrived—it was rare for both her children to be quiet at once—but even so much as considering botany made her mind scatter in all directions. Then again, the prospect of sitting and doing nothing until Julian came was even worse.
She ended up picking away at her latest paper until she could no longer stand it. After that, she cleaned up the dishes from breakfast, replicated a banana out of habit, and reclaimed it half-finished.
When the door chime finally rang, she almost dropped the miniature juniper she'd been tending. Only at the last second did she swallow her question asking who it was—if "Miles" was returning, he'd wonder at her uncharacteristic behaviour and she couldn't afford that.
Instead, she set aside her tree and called out, "Come in!"
When Julian walked through the door, she could have hugged him. The feeling only intensified when he said in that soft, calming voice of his, "Hello, Keiko. Where's our patient now?"
Spotting Molly putting the last touches on a painting, he didn't wait for an answer but crouched down next to her, long arms resting on longer legs. "I hear you're not feeling so good, Molly. Is that right?"
Molly gave him a look that suggested he wasn't very bright. "No. My tooth is fine. Look."
Julian gave a dutiful "I see" at the open mouth before him, then glanced up at her with a crease between his brows. "I thought you said she had a fever."
"I did." Keiko forced her fingers together, weaving them to stop herself from fidgeting.
What could she say? How could she start? What if "Miles" wasn't actually on duty and was watching her right now? If she let on what she knew, what would happen to her real husband?
She bit her lip. The moment she did, Julian unfolded himself from the floor and strode to her side, and as his hand settled on her shoulder, just like that, her paralysis was over.
"Let's go sit down and talk." Julian gestured at the couch, keeping in contact with her. She didn't need the touch anymore, but that was fine. She appreciated the thought.
She seated herself; Julian chose a chair nearby. She took a moment to breathe, to keep breathing, her eyes on her still folded hands in her lap, and then she looked up.
"Julian, have you noticed anything strange about Miles since he came back from his conference?"
The frown he'd worn when he'd discovered her lie about Molly returned, deeper than before. "Strange? Strange how?"
She didn't answer. She waited. And as she watched him, she could see the precise moment when he realised what she meant.
Of everyone on the station, only Odo might have understood her implications faster. After all, Julian had been replaced for an entire month without anyone noticing—a fact she still felt guilty about. The possibility of Miles being a Changeling wouldn't lie far from his thoughts.
And neither would the likelihood that they were being observed. DS9 was catacomb-like in its passages that led to every single part of the station. It would be incredibly simple for a Changeling to spy on them and impossible to prevent.
So when she saw that Julian understood, she said only, "I don't know. . . . He seems out of sorts. He's not eating, and he didn't want to—well." She let her gaze slip from his in supposed embarrassment. "I tried to get him to go see you, but he insisted he would be fine in a few days."
"Sounds like the Chief, all right," Julian agreed. His tone was wry—but he dipped his head slightly in confirmation. "I haven't noticed anything amiss, myself, but that doesn't mean there's nothing to notice.
"I'll tell you what: Tonight is darts night. I'll keep an eye on him and whisk him off to the infirmary if he starts looking a little peaky. He won't be able to argue with DS9's chief medical officer. Or rather, he will, but he won't get anywhere."
He smiled. She tried.
He must have seen how hard she fought for that expression, because he switched seats to join her on the couch, to be closer to her. Gently, he asked, "You're certain you think Miles isn't feeling well?"
Was she certain? After all, a poor appetite was such a small thing. It wasn't the first time either of them had been forgetful, or too tired to make love.
Her scalp suddenly ached in remembered pain. Her hand lifted in the air to touch it, then paused, fingers curling.
"I'm going to keep an eye on him tonight as well," she said, her voice steady. "But yes. I'm almost positive."
"All right." Julian caught her hand in midair, folded it briefly between both his. "Don't worry, Keiko. We'll take care of him, you and me. Miles is going to be fine."
She took in a breath and this time managed to smile. Even if the antics Julian and Miles got up to sometimes drove her to distraction, Julian was a wonderful friend to both of them and she had never been more grateful than right now that he had insisted his way into their lives.
"Thank you, Julian. Miles might not be too happy about this now, but he'll thank you for it later."
"All right, then." Julian gave her hand one last squeeze, released it, and stood. "I'd best be back to the infirmary. Keep me informed and I'll do the same for you." Casually, he added, "Oh, and if it's anything serious, I won't hesitate to relieve him of duty and let the Captain know. The last thing we'd want would be for him to hurt himself out of stubborn pride. Wouldn't you agree?"
She rose as well. "I would. Yes."
He nodded, then turned to wave at Molly. "Bye, Molly. Give Yoshi a kiss for me, will you?"
"Okay," Molly said without looking up from her painting.
Julian left after that. Keiko took in a breath once the doors closed behind him. She didn't have any time at all to collect herself, however, because at that moment, Yoshi began to cry in the next room.
As she held and soothed him, she thought back to her civilian training. After the first encounter the Federation had with the Founders, once the knowledge of their empire and the horrifying potential for sabotage had become widely known, every single longterm resident of the station had been required to take a Changeling detection course. There were two different branches: the first was for Starfleet, Bajoran militia, and Bajoran security, and the second was for civilians.
The civilian course had been taught by a member of either Starfleet or Bajoran security, depending on availability of personnel, and the whole program had been overseen by Security Chief Odo. It had focused largely on discovering and reporting potential Changeling infiltrators; she assumed the course for military personnel had also involved how to restrain them, although she and Miles hadn't exactly shared notes from their respective training.
Now she needed to use what she had learned to find a way to prove her suspicions right or wrong, and she had to do it without being caught. Her actions had to be subtle and undetectable, something that the Changeling who had replaced her husband wouldn't even realise was happening.
Her first thought was to somehow do a blood screening, but she quickly discarded the idea. Early on, they had been heavily relied upon, but the Founders had quickly discovered ways around that particular test and so it had become largely useless.
And at any rate, she thought as she settled a calming Yoshi more comfortably against her shoulder, it was extremely difficult to do a blood screening unnoticed. If she wanted to keep the Changling in the dark, that was the last thing she should do.
Though, thinking of the dark. . . . That was one of the aspects of Changeling detection that had been most emphasised. Changelings had a different set of senses than most species. What some species lacked, they possessed—and the reverse was true. If she was going to gather evidence that her husband really had been replaced, then that was the best place to start.
*
The day passed as agonisingly as if it were dragging itself by its fingertips. "Miles" and Nerys weren't scheduled to come off duty until nearly suppertime, leaving her unable to act until then. All she could do as she waited was distract herself as best she could.
By eighteen hundred hours, Keiko hoped very much that no one would ask her how she had passed her day, because she honestly couldn't remember. As she braced herself against the wall by the replicator, she could not call one activity to mind. All her thoughts, instead, were on what she needed to do.
"Two large bowls of beef and katterpod bean stew," she said with a dry mouth. When they appeared, more sluggishly than usual, she carried them one after the other to the table.
When Nerys had blended into their family, Keiko had gone back to experimenting with uniting the cuisines of different cultures. The dishes of Dakhur Province lay somewhere between Miles' favourites of meat and potatoes and her own far lighter preferences of vegetables, seafood, and rice, which fortunately had made adjusting their meals easier than it had been in the early days of her and Miles' marriage. Still, coming up with something not just edible but actually enjoyable had been a weeks-long challenge.
Ordinarily, she took a good deal of pride in the results of her experimentation. That wasn't the case right now.
Keiko returned to the replicator. "One small bowl of beef and katterpod bean stew." This she took to Molly's place at the table.
And now, the last one. She took in a long breath. "One large bowl of beef and katterpod bean stew. Increase salt by seventy-five percent."
The bowl materialised, looking identical to the ones she had already replicated for herself and Nerys. But any Human, almost any species with any sense of taste at all, would immediately notice that something was wrong with the food.
Changelings were one species that lacked that sense. They didn't need it—they received their nutrients by very different means than Humans did. If Miles really had been replaced, there would be no way for the Changeling to recognise that anything was wrong with his meal.
And if he reacted. . . . Once again, Keiko's hand half-rose to her scalp. If he reacted, then she would need to have a very different conversation with Julian, and soon. But she wasn't going to borrow trouble—not when she already had more than her fair share.
The door to their quarters slid open behind her. Keiko forced a smile and turned. When she saw Nerys and only Nerys, her knees went weak beneath her.
"Hello, Keiko. How was your day?" Nerys asked on her way to her room.
Keiko laughed. It was such a surreal and innocent thing to ask. "It . . . it was fine."
She must have sounded dreadful, because Nerys stopped midway through stripping out of her uniform jacket to look her over."Are you sure about that? You don't sound so good."
"I'm fine." There wasn't time for this! "Listen, Nerys, we need to talk. It's about Miles."
"What about me?" she heard from behind her and she nearly gasped. How had she missed hearing the door open? She couldn't make mistakes like this!
"Never you mind." There was a waver to her voice, one that couldn't stay if she wanted to pass off her words as a playful scold. She swallowed, faced him, and shook a finger. "It's not a good idea to be too curious when Christmas is coming."
He stared at her, his expression of incredulity perfectly arranged. "But Christmas isn't for another three months!"
She lifted her eyebrows. "Some of us in this family might do things at the last minute, but that doesn't mean we all need to."
Behind her, Nerys laughed. "She's got you there, Miles. Keiko, let me know what you're planning later, when we don't have an eavesdropper on our hands. I'll help however I can. Now both of you get out so I can change before supper goes cold."
Out both she and "Miles" went. Rather than linger in the same room as him, she immediately left to fetch her daughter.
"Molly, come wash up for supper."
Molly let out a disappointed noise that was precariously close to a whine and clutched her padd tight. "But I'm almost finished . . . !"
"You can finish after supper. Go get ready. Your Aunt Nerys is hungry and wants to eat."
As Molly let out a huge sigh and let go of the padd to pick up Lupa instead, Keiko's escape came to an end: the Changeling invaded the room—Molly's bedroom.
"Don't I get a proper welcome home?"
Her breath caught. She'd been hoping he'd forgotten.
She forced herself to step up to him and kiss him on the cheek, rather than the lips. (She wasn't sure she could manage anything else.) Then, to distract him, she asked, "How was work?"
He made a disgusted sound and rolled his eyes. "Don't ask. Between the bloody computers and the Defiant, I haven't had time to take a proper breath all day."
Keiko's eyes flicked to his chest. Changelings often had trouble replicating the little hiccups, sighs, and catches that interrupted the breathing of a being with lungs—it was another extremely subtle sign of Changeling replacement. But given how difficult overly regular breathing was to pick up on, the risk of being caught was too high to make it worth monitoring.
To distract herself, she answered, "You must be hungry, then."
—Dammit, she had told herself she wasn't going to draw any special attention to the meal! At her sides, her fingers curled slightly with frustration.
He shrugged. "Not really. I've been too busy to spare a thought for my stomach—but that doesn't mean you need to bully me down to see Julian!"
"'Bully'?" Oh, but she hoped he would let this turn into a fight. It was the only safe way to lash out at the being who had taken away her husband and put her family in danger, and suddenly, she was spoiling for the chance. "Just what do you mean by that, Miles Edward O'Brien?"
The trapped expression on his face transitioned into a too-familiar cajoling one that never failed to stoke her temper. The sight of it so perfectly replicated made her all the more furious.
"Keiko, darling, I didn't mean it like that. It came out wrong," he tried.
"So what did you mean?" she demanded. She was too harsh and too loud—Nerys, emerging from her room, was giving her a strange look.
"Uhh, well. . . ."
"Is this good?"
She stopped, her throat aching with suppressed words. Both of them looked down to see Molly standing before them with Lupa under an arm and her hands spread for inspection.
Keiko bent down, shaking with the effort of tamping down her feelings and hiding them beneath her care for her daughter. "Let me see." No visible paint or dirt, so she'd at least remembered to clean them. "How long did you leave the sonic on?"
"Fifteen," Molly reported.
She nodded, stood, and produced a smile as a final piece of cover. "Good. Then you can go start supper."
She looked for "Miles" and discovered that, like her husband would have, he'd taken advantage of her distraction to head to the table. To her almost unbearable relief, he'd chosen the same seat Miles always did. She'd counted on it—after all, the Changeling was trying to replicate Miles' habits as closely as possible. Making arbitrary changes would only draw suspicion. Still, she'd had no way of being sure that was the seat he would pick.
She made certain to give him a dirty, I-know-what-you're-doing look as she went to join the others. She spared a moment to listen—it sounded as though Yoshi was still asleep—then smiled around the table. Letting the expression dim as she met the Changeling's eyes took no effort at all.
"Eat up," she said brightly and hoped as she picked up her fork that she would be able to comply with her own instructions.
She tried not to glance the Changeling's way too often, but it was difficult to avoid. Once Nerys hummed to show her appreciation, though . . . he followed suit.
"You really need to make this more often," she heard Nerys tell her over the beating in her head.
"It's delicious," "Miles" agreed.
Keiko's eyes dropped to her own meal and she forced herself to scoop up a large forkful. "Thanks. I'll keep that in mind." She looked up. "The . . . katterpod beans aren't too much, are they?"
Once again, "Miles" waited until Nerys had assured her that they were perfect to add his own affirmation. Then they all returned to eating.
He hadn't noticed.
But would the evidence be enough? Did she have enough to pass on to prove an investigation was necessary? The early days of the Federation's conflict with the Founders had been filled with terrified station residents making false report after false report of Changeling infiltrators. According to Miles, Odo and his staff had uncovered surprise birthday parties, cheating partners, and marriage proposals, but very, very few causes for alarm, Changeling or otherwise. They investigated everything, they had to, but when they received a report, they wanted to be very sure their time wasn't being wasted.
Well, maybe they wouldn't be sure, but she was. Unless she could think of another way to trap the Changeling that wouldn't endanger her family, she was going to have to make her report with the evidence she had.
Fandom: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Action
Rating & Warnings: PG-13 (slight dubcon, hairpulling)
Betas: tinsnip and Yosie
Words: This part 4050, appr. 15k overall
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Summary: When Miles returns from a wartime engineering course, Keiko is glad to have him safe at home again--but soon she realises that all is not well. Now she must gather evidence while protecting her family and without letting on that she knows something is wrong. This chapter: Keiko begins her tests and gathers an ally.
Author's Notes: In addition to having fun with working out what Keiko could accomplish on her own with the tools available to her, I also enjoyed filling out her relationships a little more. Due to her low screentime, we didn't really get to see many of her friendships, so it was neat thinking about how things might look with the important people in her life. Fodder for later fics? You never know.
Oh, and I want to run
I'll run 'til the break of dawn
The night will cover my face
You will never guess what's on my mind
You will never find what is in my heart
When it's asleep
I will run and when the sun graces the sky
I'll talk to you like I have nothing to hide
He had already left the bed when she woke up the next morning with gritty eyes and a head aching from a night of sleeping in snatches. Once she'd dressed and forced herself into the next room, it was to find him fiddling with a padd at the table, smears of breakfast stuck to his plate, a film of juice at the bottom of his glass. The set-up was meant to make her think his appetite had returned at last, but there was no way to tell how much food there had originally been or how much of it he'd eaten—if he'd eaten anything at all.
She did her best not to let her gaze linger or flinch away from his face, but instead allowed it to rest briefly on him before she went to collect the dishes. "Good morning. How was your sleep?"
"Huh?" She had just enough time to glimpse him looking up before she turned her back on him. Her skin prickled with hyperawareness. "Oh, fine, fine. You?"
"Not so great." She made herself grimace. Even if he couldn't see her face, he would see the expression (or its lack) in her body language. "I had a lot of strange dreams."
"Too bad."
She went to join him at the table. "Are you off to work already?"
"Yeah. Thought I'd get an early start." He set aside his padd. "The station computers are still being a bit funny, so I should give them another once over. I'd hate to be dealing with delays if the Dominion got it into its head to invade."
He chuckled and Keiko laughed along with him, hoping as she did that the shrillness of the sound was only in her imagination.
From the next room, she heard Molly give a loud "Ow!" There was a pause, a gasp, then: "Mommy! Daddy! Aunt Nerys! My tooth came out!"
"Shh, honey, Aunt Nerys is sleeping," Keiko called softly as her daughter thumped into the room, a blood-smeared hand outstretched.
"No, I'm not," she heard Nerys reply and a beat later she emerged with Yoshi in her arms. "It's fine."
"Look, Mommy!" Molly insisted.
Keiko bent down to lose herself in Molly's pride. "Look at that!" She'd needed to force her smile, but soon it slipped into something genuine. She smoothed down Molly's hair, letting her hand cradle her fragile little head for just a moment. "That's your fourth one! Let me see your mouth."
Molly immediately opened wide, and there it was: a brand new gap in the lower front, still slightly bleeding.
"Wow!" Automatically, she glanced to her husband to share the moment with him. The instant she set her eyes on him, however, her heart gave a lurch.
"Good for you, Molly. You'll have them all gone before you know it!" he told her.
How had she not noticed? The words were right, even the tone was, but there was no warmth to what he was saying, no love. Had that really been the case all along? Had she just been subconsciously filling in the right emotions ever since he had returned from that conference?
Or rather, since something had returned.
That absence was all the more obvious when she compared his tone to the deep fondness of Nerys'.
"I can't believe how big you're getting!" Nerys bent down next to Keiko, still cradling Yoshi, and beamed at Molly. "You're going to have all your grownup teeth before you know it!"
"I think this one's loose, too." Molly said. She stuck her free hand in her mouth to wiggle at something.
"Careful, sweetheart, or you'll have nothing left to chew your food with," Miles teased in a facsimile of affection, then turned his attention to Nerys. "We'd better get going or we're going to be late."
"You're right." Nerys sounded regretful as she straightened and passed Yoshi to Keiko. She fluffed Molly's hair. "Try not to lose any more teeth while we're gone, all right, kiddo?"
"I won't," Molly promised, apparently in complete seriousness.
Keiko made herself chuckle along with the other two adults. "Have a good day."
"You too," Nerys replied on the way to the door.
Miles bent in to kiss her. As those lips pressed against hers, Keiko closed her eyes and brought forward a memory: the last time she and Miles had had a date night together, just the two of them. Nerys had watched the children, and that evening, she'd remembered all over again why she had fallen in love with him.
"See you after work," he told her when he pulled back. Her returning kiss must have passed muster, then.
"Bye," she said, smiling and smiling until the door shut between them and cut the expression from her face.
For just one moment, she breathed. Then she brought back her smile to look down at Molly. "Come on, sweetheart. Let's find a safe place to put your tooth."
Tidying up Molly took some time, and after that Yoshi's diaper needed changing, taking more time still. (At least Nerys had already fed and burped him as she usually did in the mornings. She was always thankful for the extra help with the children, but never more than today.)
Only when Molly was settled with some paints and Yoshi was safe in his crib did Keiko have time to go to the computer terminal. She'd yet to have breakfast, but at this point, putting anything in her stomach seemed a bad idea.
"Keiko O'Brien to the infirmary."
There was a delay, longer than usual, and then: "Nurse Jabara here."
"Nurse, could you send Dr. Bashir to our quarters? I noticed Molly was running a bit of a temperature this morning and I was hoping he could check her out."
"Why don't I come see her?" Jabara began and Keiko's breath caught. What excuse should she give? "I don't have anyone scheduled for the next half-hour."
There was a pause. Faintly, in the background, she heard Julian say, "Oh, it's no trouble. I'll head over straight away. A temperature, she said?"
Jabara's voice returned. "Dr. Bashir is on his way." More gently, she added, "I hope your little girl feels better soon. Jabara out."
Keiko dropped into her computer chair the moment the communications link was disconnected. She should make good use of the time before Julian arrived—it was rare for both her children to be quiet at once—but even so much as considering botany made her mind scatter in all directions. Then again, the prospect of sitting and doing nothing until Julian came was even worse.
She ended up picking away at her latest paper until she could no longer stand it. After that, she cleaned up the dishes from breakfast, replicated a banana out of habit, and reclaimed it half-finished.
When the door chime finally rang, she almost dropped the miniature juniper she'd been tending. Only at the last second did she swallow her question asking who it was—if "Miles" was returning, he'd wonder at her uncharacteristic behaviour and she couldn't afford that.
Instead, she set aside her tree and called out, "Come in!"
When Julian walked through the door, she could have hugged him. The feeling only intensified when he said in that soft, calming voice of his, "Hello, Keiko. Where's our patient now?"
Spotting Molly putting the last touches on a painting, he didn't wait for an answer but crouched down next to her, long arms resting on longer legs. "I hear you're not feeling so good, Molly. Is that right?"
Molly gave him a look that suggested he wasn't very bright. "No. My tooth is fine. Look."
Julian gave a dutiful "I see" at the open mouth before him, then glanced up at her with a crease between his brows. "I thought you said she had a fever."
"I did." Keiko forced her fingers together, weaving them to stop herself from fidgeting.
What could she say? How could she start? What if "Miles" wasn't actually on duty and was watching her right now? If she let on what she knew, what would happen to her real husband?
She bit her lip. The moment she did, Julian unfolded himself from the floor and strode to her side, and as his hand settled on her shoulder, just like that, her paralysis was over.
"Let's go sit down and talk." Julian gestured at the couch, keeping in contact with her. She didn't need the touch anymore, but that was fine. She appreciated the thought.
She seated herself; Julian chose a chair nearby. She took a moment to breathe, to keep breathing, her eyes on her still folded hands in her lap, and then she looked up.
"Julian, have you noticed anything strange about Miles since he came back from his conference?"
The frown he'd worn when he'd discovered her lie about Molly returned, deeper than before. "Strange? Strange how?"
She didn't answer. She waited. And as she watched him, she could see the precise moment when he realised what she meant.
Of everyone on the station, only Odo might have understood her implications faster. After all, Julian had been replaced for an entire month without anyone noticing—a fact she still felt guilty about. The possibility of Miles being a Changeling wouldn't lie far from his thoughts.
And neither would the likelihood that they were being observed. DS9 was catacomb-like in its passages that led to every single part of the station. It would be incredibly simple for a Changeling to spy on them and impossible to prevent.
So when she saw that Julian understood, she said only, "I don't know. . . . He seems out of sorts. He's not eating, and he didn't want to—well." She let her gaze slip from his in supposed embarrassment. "I tried to get him to go see you, but he insisted he would be fine in a few days."
"Sounds like the Chief, all right," Julian agreed. His tone was wry—but he dipped his head slightly in confirmation. "I haven't noticed anything amiss, myself, but that doesn't mean there's nothing to notice.
"I'll tell you what: Tonight is darts night. I'll keep an eye on him and whisk him off to the infirmary if he starts looking a little peaky. He won't be able to argue with DS9's chief medical officer. Or rather, he will, but he won't get anywhere."
He smiled. She tried.
He must have seen how hard she fought for that expression, because he switched seats to join her on the couch, to be closer to her. Gently, he asked, "You're certain you think Miles isn't feeling well?"
Was she certain? After all, a poor appetite was such a small thing. It wasn't the first time either of them had been forgetful, or too tired to make love.
Her scalp suddenly ached in remembered pain. Her hand lifted in the air to touch it, then paused, fingers curling.
"I'm going to keep an eye on him tonight as well," she said, her voice steady. "But yes. I'm almost positive."
"All right." Julian caught her hand in midair, folded it briefly between both his. "Don't worry, Keiko. We'll take care of him, you and me. Miles is going to be fine."
She took in a breath and this time managed to smile. Even if the antics Julian and Miles got up to sometimes drove her to distraction, Julian was a wonderful friend to both of them and she had never been more grateful than right now that he had insisted his way into their lives.
"Thank you, Julian. Miles might not be too happy about this now, but he'll thank you for it later."
"All right, then." Julian gave her hand one last squeeze, released it, and stood. "I'd best be back to the infirmary. Keep me informed and I'll do the same for you." Casually, he added, "Oh, and if it's anything serious, I won't hesitate to relieve him of duty and let the Captain know. The last thing we'd want would be for him to hurt himself out of stubborn pride. Wouldn't you agree?"
She rose as well. "I would. Yes."
He nodded, then turned to wave at Molly. "Bye, Molly. Give Yoshi a kiss for me, will you?"
"Okay," Molly said without looking up from her painting.
Julian left after that. Keiko took in a breath once the doors closed behind him. She didn't have any time at all to collect herself, however, because at that moment, Yoshi began to cry in the next room.
As she held and soothed him, she thought back to her civilian training. After the first encounter the Federation had with the Founders, once the knowledge of their empire and the horrifying potential for sabotage had become widely known, every single longterm resident of the station had been required to take a Changeling detection course. There were two different branches: the first was for Starfleet, Bajoran militia, and Bajoran security, and the second was for civilians.
The civilian course had been taught by a member of either Starfleet or Bajoran security, depending on availability of personnel, and the whole program had been overseen by Security Chief Odo. It had focused largely on discovering and reporting potential Changeling infiltrators; she assumed the course for military personnel had also involved how to restrain them, although she and Miles hadn't exactly shared notes from their respective training.
Now she needed to use what she had learned to find a way to prove her suspicions right or wrong, and she had to do it without being caught. Her actions had to be subtle and undetectable, something that the Changeling who had replaced her husband wouldn't even realise was happening.
Her first thought was to somehow do a blood screening, but she quickly discarded the idea. Early on, they had been heavily relied upon, but the Founders had quickly discovered ways around that particular test and so it had become largely useless.
And at any rate, she thought as she settled a calming Yoshi more comfortably against her shoulder, it was extremely difficult to do a blood screening unnoticed. If she wanted to keep the Changling in the dark, that was the last thing she should do.
Though, thinking of the dark. . . . That was one of the aspects of Changeling detection that had been most emphasised. Changelings had a different set of senses than most species. What some species lacked, they possessed—and the reverse was true. If she was going to gather evidence that her husband really had been replaced, then that was the best place to start.
The day passed as agonisingly as if it were dragging itself by its fingertips. "Miles" and Nerys weren't scheduled to come off duty until nearly suppertime, leaving her unable to act until then. All she could do as she waited was distract herself as best she could.
By eighteen hundred hours, Keiko hoped very much that no one would ask her how she had passed her day, because she honestly couldn't remember. As she braced herself against the wall by the replicator, she could not call one activity to mind. All her thoughts, instead, were on what she needed to do.
"Two large bowls of beef and katterpod bean stew," she said with a dry mouth. When they appeared, more sluggishly than usual, she carried them one after the other to the table.
When Nerys had blended into their family, Keiko had gone back to experimenting with uniting the cuisines of different cultures. The dishes of Dakhur Province lay somewhere between Miles' favourites of meat and potatoes and her own far lighter preferences of vegetables, seafood, and rice, which fortunately had made adjusting their meals easier than it had been in the early days of her and Miles' marriage. Still, coming up with something not just edible but actually enjoyable had been a weeks-long challenge.
Ordinarily, she took a good deal of pride in the results of her experimentation. That wasn't the case right now.
Keiko returned to the replicator. "One small bowl of beef and katterpod bean stew." This she took to Molly's place at the table.
And now, the last one. She took in a long breath. "One large bowl of beef and katterpod bean stew. Increase salt by seventy-five percent."
The bowl materialised, looking identical to the ones she had already replicated for herself and Nerys. But any Human, almost any species with any sense of taste at all, would immediately notice that something was wrong with the food.
Changelings were one species that lacked that sense. They didn't need it—they received their nutrients by very different means than Humans did. If Miles really had been replaced, there would be no way for the Changeling to recognise that anything was wrong with his meal.
And if he reacted. . . . Once again, Keiko's hand half-rose to her scalp. If he reacted, then she would need to have a very different conversation with Julian, and soon. But she wasn't going to borrow trouble—not when she already had more than her fair share.
The door to their quarters slid open behind her. Keiko forced a smile and turned. When she saw Nerys and only Nerys, her knees went weak beneath her.
"Hello, Keiko. How was your day?" Nerys asked on her way to her room.
Keiko laughed. It was such a surreal and innocent thing to ask. "It . . . it was fine."
She must have sounded dreadful, because Nerys stopped midway through stripping out of her uniform jacket to look her over."Are you sure about that? You don't sound so good."
"I'm fine." There wasn't time for this! "Listen, Nerys, we need to talk. It's about Miles."
"What about me?" she heard from behind her and she nearly gasped. How had she missed hearing the door open? She couldn't make mistakes like this!
"Never you mind." There was a waver to her voice, one that couldn't stay if she wanted to pass off her words as a playful scold. She swallowed, faced him, and shook a finger. "It's not a good idea to be too curious when Christmas is coming."
He stared at her, his expression of incredulity perfectly arranged. "But Christmas isn't for another three months!"
She lifted her eyebrows. "Some of us in this family might do things at the last minute, but that doesn't mean we all need to."
Behind her, Nerys laughed. "She's got you there, Miles. Keiko, let me know what you're planning later, when we don't have an eavesdropper on our hands. I'll help however I can. Now both of you get out so I can change before supper goes cold."
Out both she and "Miles" went. Rather than linger in the same room as him, she immediately left to fetch her daughter.
"Molly, come wash up for supper."
Molly let out a disappointed noise that was precariously close to a whine and clutched her padd tight. "But I'm almost finished . . . !"
"You can finish after supper. Go get ready. Your Aunt Nerys is hungry and wants to eat."
As Molly let out a huge sigh and let go of the padd to pick up Lupa instead, Keiko's escape came to an end: the Changeling invaded the room—Molly's bedroom.
"Don't I get a proper welcome home?"
Her breath caught. She'd been hoping he'd forgotten.
She forced herself to step up to him and kiss him on the cheek, rather than the lips. (She wasn't sure she could manage anything else.) Then, to distract him, she asked, "How was work?"
He made a disgusted sound and rolled his eyes. "Don't ask. Between the bloody computers and the Defiant, I haven't had time to take a proper breath all day."
Keiko's eyes flicked to his chest. Changelings often had trouble replicating the little hiccups, sighs, and catches that interrupted the breathing of a being with lungs—it was another extremely subtle sign of Changeling replacement. But given how difficult overly regular breathing was to pick up on, the risk of being caught was too high to make it worth monitoring.
To distract herself, she answered, "You must be hungry, then."
—Dammit, she had told herself she wasn't going to draw any special attention to the meal! At her sides, her fingers curled slightly with frustration.
He shrugged. "Not really. I've been too busy to spare a thought for my stomach—but that doesn't mean you need to bully me down to see Julian!"
"'Bully'?" Oh, but she hoped he would let this turn into a fight. It was the only safe way to lash out at the being who had taken away her husband and put her family in danger, and suddenly, she was spoiling for the chance. "Just what do you mean by that, Miles Edward O'Brien?"
The trapped expression on his face transitioned into a too-familiar cajoling one that never failed to stoke her temper. The sight of it so perfectly replicated made her all the more furious.
"Keiko, darling, I didn't mean it like that. It came out wrong," he tried.
"So what did you mean?" she demanded. She was too harsh and too loud—Nerys, emerging from her room, was giving her a strange look.
"Uhh, well. . . ."
"Is this good?"
She stopped, her throat aching with suppressed words. Both of them looked down to see Molly standing before them with Lupa under an arm and her hands spread for inspection.
Keiko bent down, shaking with the effort of tamping down her feelings and hiding them beneath her care for her daughter. "Let me see." No visible paint or dirt, so she'd at least remembered to clean them. "How long did you leave the sonic on?"
"Fifteen," Molly reported.
She nodded, stood, and produced a smile as a final piece of cover. "Good. Then you can go start supper."
She looked for "Miles" and discovered that, like her husband would have, he'd taken advantage of her distraction to head to the table. To her almost unbearable relief, he'd chosen the same seat Miles always did. She'd counted on it—after all, the Changeling was trying to replicate Miles' habits as closely as possible. Making arbitrary changes would only draw suspicion. Still, she'd had no way of being sure that was the seat he would pick.
She made certain to give him a dirty, I-know-what-you're-doing look as she went to join the others. She spared a moment to listen—it sounded as though Yoshi was still asleep—then smiled around the table. Letting the expression dim as she met the Changeling's eyes took no effort at all.
"Eat up," she said brightly and hoped as she picked up her fork that she would be able to comply with her own instructions.
She tried not to glance the Changeling's way too often, but it was difficult to avoid. Once Nerys hummed to show her appreciation, though . . . he followed suit.
"You really need to make this more often," she heard Nerys tell her over the beating in her head.
"It's delicious," "Miles" agreed.
Keiko's eyes dropped to her own meal and she forced herself to scoop up a large forkful. "Thanks. I'll keep that in mind." She looked up. "The . . . katterpod beans aren't too much, are they?"
Once again, "Miles" waited until Nerys had assured her that they were perfect to add his own affirmation. Then they all returned to eating.
He hadn't noticed.
But would the evidence be enough? Did she have enough to pass on to prove an investigation was necessary? The early days of the Federation's conflict with the Founders had been filled with terrified station residents making false report after false report of Changeling infiltrators. According to Miles, Odo and his staff had uncovered surprise birthday parties, cheating partners, and marriage proposals, but very, very few causes for alarm, Changeling or otherwise. They investigated everything, they had to, but when they received a report, they wanted to be very sure their time wasn't being wasted.
Well, maybe they wouldn't be sure, but she was. Unless she could think of another way to trap the Changeling that wouldn't endanger her family, she was going to have to make her report with the evidence she had.
