Trust
Your bodyguard flinches, but you motion for him to do nothing.
With his index finger and thumb, the old Bajoran grabs your left ear, placing his thumb were the earlobe would be on a Bajoran or a human.
"Yes. Your pagh, your spirit, is strong, if chaotic. But one would expect that from a man who could defy his fate." he says, releasing your ear.
Rattled, you reply "What the devil are you on about? Who are you, old man?"
The old man chuckles and looks at you. He doesn't appear to be a threat.
"I am called Drutha. Drutha Rheerge. I suppose my name meant something once, but now I am a simple laborer and servant of the Prophets."
The Prophets. You remember that this is what the Bajorans call their gods.
"The Prophets are watching you, Skrain Dukat. They see into your heart and know of your desires, confused though they may be. You will soon face a choice. The path you take will change the course of Bajor's future, as well as your own."
He stares at you for a moment before speaking.
"I wonder, Skrain Dukat, if you will choose wisely."
You stare at the old man, considering what he just said. Part of you almost wants to laugh at the old man's words. But something in his intense eyes stops you.
You look down at him. He's old and you doubt he will last much longer working in ore processing...
"What choice are you talking about, old man? I'm a military man. I don't have choices...I only have orders."
The old man shakes his head. "You always have a choice, Dukat. Look for solutions from within."
You pause and look Drutha over, deciding what you should do with this strange old man.
A. You turn and leave him to live the remainder of his life as a laborer.
B. You have the guards escort him to some unused quarters and place him under house arrest.
C. You decide to grant the old man his freedom as he requested. You order that he should be returned to Bajor.
-----
You lie down in bed, pondering what the old man told you earlier. The Bajorans were still whispering among themselves when you left.
"Look for solutions from within..." you think as you drift off to sleep.
You find yourself in Quark's bar, but it's different. No longer is there the hustle and bustle of workers bustling about. The lights are dim, and an eerie silence fills the room.
The shadowy forms of people move about the bar, but you cannot make out their faces or even their gender. They are shapeless ghosts, occupying Quark's in some sort of twisted remembrance.
"What's going on? Who are these people?" you ask.
"What's the matter, Gul?" Quark says, stepping out from behind the bar. "Don't you recognize your victims?"
"I don't understand."
"These are the ghosts of the people who were all killed by you on Bajor."
You shake your head fiercely.
"No," you say. "They got themselves killed. I tried to help them. I showed them a soft hand. They responded with violence and I was forced to defend Cardassian interests on the planet."
"A commander is responsible for the actions of his troops," Ral says, stepping out of the shadows. "And a Prefect is responsible for the policies he sets. You led them to their deaths."
"No!" you shout, beginning to feel anxious.
You reach down for the flask of kanar from your waist, but it isn't there.
"You're drowning yourself in alcohol to forget the terrible things you've done and to forget your failures as Prefect," Legate Kell says, turning around from one of the barstools. "Hiding from reality is not a solution worthy of an officer."
"Legate? What are you doing here?" you say in disbelief.
"The question is, what are you doing here, Skrain?" you turn around and see, Drutha, the old man from before. Your science officer, Glinn Cida Prin, stands beside him, carrying some sort of old book.
"Look for solutions from within." Drutha continues.
Your science officer steps forward and hands you the book. You open it. A blinding white light shines out of its pages and you wake up in your bed once again.
"The time is zero seven hundred hours." the computer announces.
You sigh and lie awake in bed for a little while, trying to collect your thoughts.
-----
You lean against the table in Station Operations and listen to your officers' reports. Your chief engineer speaks quickly about some repairs that need doing in the upper pylons of the station, but you find your mind wandering, remembering the strange dream you had.
Finally, the briefing ends and you turn to head up the stairs to your office.
"Excuse me, sir," Ral says. "A moment."
You turn to face her. She's holding a datapad, looking at you intently.
"What is it, Glinn?"
"Gul Lavek had a standing order to monitor Bajoran religious activity on the planet. Specifically, he wanted to know about places of gathering, especially places people travelled to from great distances."
"Really? Why?"
"He never told me, sir. Sometimes he would send teams to raid them, but he never told me why. He was never very open about his intentions." she says. "Regardless, we've kept the program in place even after his death and we've compiled a list of possible locations of interest."
You think back. You remember your bodyguard mentioning the previous Prefect's harassment of the Bajorans' religion.
A. You tell her to send strike teams to raid and search one of these locations for anything of interest.
B. You tell her to send investigators to these locations to confirm their nature.
C. You do nothing for now.
D. You instruct her to end the program of monitoring religious activity.
About the dream...
A. You decide to tell Ral about the dream.
B. You decide to call your science officer into your office and see if you can find out more about her.
C. You decide to talk to the Station Psychological Officer.
D. You ignore the dream.
E. If you picked B in the first choice, you ask the Drutha about the dream. (If this wins and B doesn't, I'll go with the next highest vote.)
