Chapter Seven: Let It Ride

 "DABO!"

The excited shout and cheers from the gaming table drew attention from around the bar. That was, of course, the intent. Anyone remote versed in the nature of Ferengi gambling knew that. In fact, it was the second rule of Dabo, closely following "watch the wheel, not the girl."

Omehrtiis sat at her table nursing her Rigellian Whisky, a small grin curling on her lips as she watched the Pavlovian response of the bar patrons as they began to gather at the table, goaded by the holographic Bajoran hostess. The Ferengi bartender ("Proprietor and Host", as he'd insisted every time she came in.) let out a soft chuckle as Omehrtiis could almost hear him counting his latinum in his head. 

Nearly half a century of sporadic visits, and Omehrtiis knew Quark's was unlikely to change much. Since her first visit, it still held the rich aroma of synthale and replicated foods alongside fresh Ferengi tube-grubs in the air. The din of conversation and laughter from the tables, the occasional siren-call of a winner from the Dabo tables and the clatter of Dom-jot balls blended into a drone of light revelry that would drown out most patrons' woes.

The customer base had changed, of course, since her first visit (aside from that one chatter-box of a Lurian at the bar. Omehrtiis' people were known as listeners, but Morn was beyond even her El-aurian limits.), but there weren't many other locations in the known galaxy better for people-watching than Quark's Bar.

Omehrtiis had first found herself there some 46 years earlier, having booked passage on a Lotallian cruiser on her way to the Sol system. The Lotallian's had stopped at the station, then known as Terok Nor, to resupply and buy some uridium alloy to sell elsewhere. The layover on the mining and refinery station would have been infinitely boring (and distressing, had she known, at the time, of the enslaved Bajorans in the bowels of the station), had it not been for her discovery of Quarks.

Of course, back then, she was older, or appeared so, with different hair and called herself "Tocarra". Since that time, Omehrtiis had been very careful not to come here too often in the same identity. No more than twice. One thing she'd learned in her long life is that, in some less scrupulous circles, an El-aurian would be a highly valued commodity.

Today, however, was different from any previous visit. Today, Omehrtiis was waiting the arrival of her newest assignment on this, her fourth Starfleet commission. 

In the same way she had kept her identities changing to protect her in some of the fringe areas of the galaxy, also, she wished to appear fully human to members of Starfleet. She trusted them, of course, but, as a "listener", she found the reputations of El-aurians would sometimes cause people to keep their guard up around her. If, however, they thought she was a human from some colony world...

There was only one person within Starfleet she had entrusted her secret to; the first officer aboard the Ranger, her previous posting.

She had been serving as the ship's counsellor aboard and had become somewhat friendly with the young Andorian officer. He'd often come to her for counsel when off duty and she'd learned of his history.

His earliest memory was of being fostered by a family on Andoria, having no family of his own. As he had no lineage, he had little prospect, but he was determined to make something of himself. 

His foster parents, however, took him in simply as a duty to the former empire(as they viewed it) and had little patience for the child, never actually naming him, but saddling him with the epithet "Duth", meaning "mystery"

Duth's childhood was, by any definition, a nightmare of abuse, degradation, and psychological torment. He was not accepted by anyone in his society (possibly others on Andoria would have been more welcoming, but he had been taken in by an enclave of extremists). To escape the mental torture, he threw himself into his studies at the Imperial Academy and he excelled. He had become a learned historian, skilled tactician and expert in many forms of armed combat from many civilizations.

When he was finally of ascended age, Duth fled Andoria, He made his way to Earth and Starfleet Academy, eventually graduating and taking the name Da'mi'en D'arko and rising up, with honour, through the ranks to, eventually, taking the post of First Officer on the Ranger. There, he had met Omehrtiis.

And, though their time together, she learned that, in many ways, he was still that broken, angry, tortured child. Though her was celebrated as Commander D'arko, he was still haunted by Duth.Omehrtiis knew something of that haunting.

Since the loss of her home world and children to the Borg, Omehrtiis had chosen a life without family or deep attachment. Yes, she would, on occasion, travel with a friend, such as Guinan, but, for the most part, she would live as, in her mind, a hermit among people.

Da'mi'en, however, in his tortured soul, had pulled a thread in her carefully woven disguise. Had she fully allowed herself to recognize the feeling, she'd have realized there was a need to protect him, like she had been unable to for her children.

For his part, Da'mi'en simply trusted her and enjoyed her counsel. When he was promoted to captain his own ship, , he requested she be assigned as the counsellor aboard.

Omehrtiis had happily accepted the transfer once it was approved, and then requested leave so as she would not be aboard when the senior officers were formally placed on duty. She couldn't bring herself to be there, since she knew of the traditions that Da'mi'en wanted to continue from his first duty, and she knew, that, as skilled and learned as the Andorian was...

He was a terrible cook.