Chapter 25

Odo walked the few meters to where Rascoe lay, half frozen, on the ground. The shape-shifter felt almost sorry for him. Four times he’d narrowly escaped being fried by Rom’s erratic disruptor blasts—ironically, with Rascoe’s own weapon—but this last time really had taken the fight out of him. His eyes were open, blinking slowly, but he didn’t move when Odo brushed some tiny splinters of the pulverized shed wall from his face. Odo didn’t notice any obvious injuries; apparently the Ferengi was too cold, too dazed, or too scared to move. He didn’t even protest when the shape-shifter reached down and took the knife he still held in his frozen fingers.

“Move,” the former constable said, grabbing the back of Rascoe’s icy orange shirt and standing him upright. Shivering, the Ferengi managed to remain standing, but he didn’t attempt to move on his own. So Odo walked him to the dome and shoved him through the open door. Somehow, Rascoe’s legs continued to work long enough to get him into the warmth of the main room, where he flopped down and curled into a ball.

Odo remained outside, waiting for Quirk’s shuttle. He glanced in the direction that Yrena and Bakke had hobbled a few minutes earlier. I guess I’d better go get them before they freeze to death, he thought. Still, he knew that they’d be easy to catch, and he was more interested right now in finding out what might have happened to Quark. But even as he took his first step toward the remains of the shed, he heard the hum of a shuttlecraft approaching, and turned his gaze to the sky.

The large official security vehicle—definitely the twenty-fourth-century equivalent of the paddy wagon he’d requested—looped overhead and settled near Odo. Then the entry hatch opened and Quirk appeared, wearing a heavy coat with a fur collar and carrying a phaser and several sets of heavy-duty manacles.

“You’ve come prepared,” Odo said when Quirk stood at his side.

Quirk just nodded, then tilted his head toward the two devastated shuttlecrafts. “Looks like someone’s had a bit of trouble,” he said.

“That,” Odo said with a near smile, “is the handiwork of your nagus.”

Quirk lifted his brow ridge in a questioning gesture.

“It’s an interesting story,” Odo stated. “And we’ll get to it. But first we need to check out the contents of this shed.” The two approached the blackened opening in the side of the structure.

“Another interesting story, I suspect,” Quirk said, eyeing the damage. They stepped inside to observe Rom and Quark, kneeling on the floor, wrapped in a tight hug.

Quirk nudged Odo, and they stepped back out into the wind. “I assume that fellow covered in soot would be your kidnap victim,” he said.

“Yes. I have one of the kidnappers here, in the dome. The other two are in the wind—” Odo pointed in the direction they’d gone. “Or rather, they’re out there, on the lam, but they won’t have gotten far. They’re bound together with some particularly unforgiving restraints. Without something like a phaser or a Klingon d’k tahg, I doubt they’ll be able to get out of them. Look for them with heat sensors. They’ll likely be the only warm bodies on the tundra. I suspect that by the time you find them, they’ll be more than happy to see you.”

Quirk nodded. “Well, unless they make the mistake of waking a pod of hibernating polar toads, I imagine they can wait a little longer. I’ll start with the one in here first.”

They stepped into the dome, and with little effort, Quirk cuffed the still shivering Ferengi on the floor. The security chief smiled at Odo. “Not bad work,” he said. “If you’re ever interested in an enforcement position, look me up.” He glanced back at the shed. “I should probably bring those two with me. That two-seater buggy of the nagus’s—”

“I’ll make sure they get home. You go rescue the other two thugs from the toads. I’ll come in to file a report providing all the details tomorrow.”

Quirk nodded and walked his first prisoner toward his vehicle.

Odo watched as it rose into the air. Then he returned to the shed. It’s time I got these boys home, he thought, looking at Quark and Rom. They’ll be more than happy to get warm, too.

Helping Quark to his feet, Odo and Rom walked him to the official nagal shuttle. Odo climbed in first and sat in the pilot’s chair. “I’m not sure that either of you are in fit condition to pilot a shuttle right now,” he explained.

The brothers hesitated.

“There’s only room for one of us in there,” Quark said, sounding irritated.

“You can sit on my lap, Brother,” Rom offered.

“We’re not children,” Quark responded. “I don’t want to sit on your lap.”

“Then I’ll sit on your lap.”

“No! I’ve been tied up and locked up and blown up. I want my own seat!”

Odo fired up the engines. “Gentlemen,” he said in his most constabulary voice, “I’m about to depart. Since this is the nagus’s shuttle, he’s welcome to come with me. Whether you both come is up to you, Quark.”

And a moment later, the shuttle lifted off, heading toward Ferenginar’s capital city.