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religious sect, herd them into camps and out of public view. Then the Cardassians wait. Enough time passes, people forget, and then the Cardassians get rid of the religion because they won’t want dissension. It will be genocide, Captain. You can’t allow that to happen.”
    “The galaxy’s full of nasty people and bad things happen all the time. Once the Bajorans formalize that treaty, Starfleet won’t want to interfere in a civil dispute.”
    “And pray tell, what is this?” Dax swept a hand around to include the ship, the stolen device. “What, this is just us passing through? Or is it perfectly all right for the Federation to interfere before the treaty’s finalized?”
    Gold shrugged. “You make your opportunities. One of those diplomacy things.”
    “Don’t you mean that the Federation sees an opportunity to develop Bajor as a resource? Uridium brings in a lot of money. Surely, I wasn’t mistaken in my impressions about the Federation being strapped for resources?”
    It was an open secret that the majority of the Federation’s seventy member systems were resource-poor. The Federation had to expand if it was going to survive, and they’d poured much of their available resources into a fleet of starships: window-dressing and a show of force since there weren’t replacements to back them up. The whole thing reminded Gold of mid-twentieth-century Earth with the A-bomb. Drop two and pretend you have a bunch more. On the other hand, the fleet would, at the very least, have a fighting chance at grabbing what planets it could. With its uridium ore and the peculiarities of a loosely worded agreement, Bajor was prime real estate: a jewel in the Cardassian crown that the Federation wouldn’t mind stealing.
    “Yeah, there’s that. But I can imagine a universe without the Cardassians, that’s for damn sure. I’d be tickled pink if the Androssi crawled back under whatever rock they came from. Hell, for that matter, I’d like to get paid more.” Gold planted his fists on his hips. “Starfleet’s in this because we’re allies with Kira. Personally, I don’t care what religion the Bajorans get; they can believe in the Tooth Fairy, for all I care. All we want is Bajor….” He stopped, realizing that last remark had been a mistake.
    Dax’s eyes slitted. “The only reason Kira’s allied with the Federation is that your record of tolerance for others is better than the Cardassians’. You actually seem to care about civil liberties. As long as we’re allowed to devote ourselves to the Prophets…”
    “You? Dax, you’re a Trill. These aren’t your people.”
    “That’s irrelevant. I’m the only one who’s ever communed with an Orb—something you cannot know or understand—and the Prophets have spoken to me. The wormhole is in Bajoran space, somewhere, perhaps in a subspace pocket, and once opened, it will remain stable. All we have to do is find it. Now whether you like it or not, the organized resistance on Bajor is a religious one. It’s that simple. If Kira hadn’t vouched for the Federation, you’d be out of the equation. You need me. ”
    “I’d say the need is pretty damn mutual.”
    “Yes and no. Bajor requires what I can bring them. You want a slice of Bajor’s wealth, and we want the right to worship as we please. We want the wormhole, and the wormhole is prophecy, Captain. The truth is in prophecy.”
    Gold barked a nasty laugh. “Yeah? Well, I prophesize that we’re gonna end up as a big plasma smear if we go back anywhere near Terok Nor right now without confirmation of where this wormhole really is. Now I’m glad you’ve gotten religion. I’m ecstatic that you’ve gotten the word that your Prophet buddies are waiting on you to break them out. But get this straight: We take a breather. We make repairs; we meet up with Kira. We hope that 110 there wakes up. Then we’ll see.”
    “You mean that you’ll see if furthering the Bajoran resistance’s goals and those of