Star Trek: The voyages of the USS Apollo

Chapter Thirty Nine: An Uneasy Necessity

The Crew of the U.S.S Apollo and the rest of the Fleet knew that they would find a society vastly different from the peaceful and prosperous society that existed back in Cardassia. But little did they knew that they would find a society that was built on the two unethical foundations of lies and hate. For five thousand years the Cardassian Imperial Government had spun a web of lies towards their people. Telling them that the Federation Alliance were the ones who bombarded Cardassia Prime and killed eight hundred million people, when really it was the Dominion and the Breen. Imperialists and territorial isolationists who had heartlessly butchered countless people. When the first group of non-Government and Government sponsored relief groups arrived on Cardassia Prime in the early days following the War, they found the streets of the once grandeur capital city littered with men and women mourning their dead spouses, mothers and fathers crying for their lost sons and daughters and children, wailing with tears flooding out of their eyes for their murdered parents. It was truly a terrible sight indeed, with many buildings destroyed by orbital bombardment and piles of corpses lining the streets and unidentifiable. The majority of them had been buried at "The Tomb of the Unknown Victims". Which was where unidentified casualties of the Dominion War on the side of the Cardassians had been buried. In total, well over fifty eight million had never been identified and every year on Remembrance Day, the anniversary of the Dominion War's end, millions more travelled to the Tomb of the Unknown Victims to pay their respects and perhaps hope that a relative who they never knew had survived the War or not had been buried there. Some time before the death of Captain Taggart, Ethan, at the time a Commander, had decided to attend Remembrance Day as an emissary. Even then, so many years later, Ethan still remembered the many Cardassian citizens laying memorial wreathes and flowers at the graves of the Unknown Victims. He of course despised the Dominion for causing so many deaths, but now he also despised the Cardassian Empire for lying about the Fire and for pinning the blame on the Federation Alliance in an absolute affront to those killed that terrible day that the Cardassians had still not forgotten in thirty eight years. 

As Ethan processed what he had just learned, he realised that they needed answers regarding the Cardassian Empire's past and said "Alright Ada, listen up. We're going to keep on scanning the broadcast signals to learn as much about the Empire's history as we can. Too bad most of it probably won't be true." Ada had of course heard everything that had come through the channel via her com badge and now understood that the people around her in the park square had been indoctrinated since childhood to hate all non-Cardassians and that it was their destiny to conquer the Galaxy. Ada also understood that the Cardassians had been taught that the Dominion had left the people of Cardassia Prime to die and that the Changelings were to blame. Ada herself was a Changeling, sent out by the Dominion after the War to learn about other alien races and their cultures so that the Dominion could see if they posed any threat to them. Ada shook with fear as she realised that these people had been taught to hate Changelings, they had been taught to hate her because she was her. One Cardassian man noticed that she was shaking and asked "Why do you look so horrified?" Ada looked at the Cardassian man, who she knew now suspected that something was off with her. Ada did her best Cardassian accent as she lied "I just...get a little...uneasy whenever I come here. It's hard to believe that the Federation really did kill eight hundred million people." The Cardassian man looked at her suspiciously, but then said "Okay." and walked off. Ada breathed a sigh of relief and started walking off herself, headed towards the Cardassian Imperial Science Institute.

Ada was shaken by what she had just learned. She had found out the hard way that the entire population of the Cardassian Empire had been taught that the Dominion had abandoned Cardassia Prime to it's fate when the War was lost and that it was the Klingons, Romulans and the Federation who were cold bloodedly responsible for causing the deaths of eight hundred million people. Not only that, but the people had been taught to hate the Dominion and all who sided with them. They had been lied to their entire lives and when lies are the only thing a person hears, they come to see it as the truth. As Ada walked further and further down the street she saw more and more imperial lies in the form of street propaganda. Holographic posters showed propaganda meant to convince the people to obey and conform to the Cardassian Empire. One poster said in bright green "Obey the will of the Emperor and you will be rewarded." Another poster showed a Klingon soldier waving his bat'leth at a frightened family of Cardassians with the word "Resist this savage barbarian!" As Ada stopped to look at the propaganda that was put on a shoe shop window, she saw that the Klingon had been made to look a specific way. They had lost their left eye and the ridges looked like that of General Martok, son of Urthog. Ada then noticed that on the Klingon's sash was the mark of the Great House of Martok and realised that this Klingon had to be a member of that house! Ada then realised that the Cardassian Empire had chosen to portray the Great House of Martok as enemies of the state and had made Chancellor Martok a scapegoat. Understandable as Martok was considered a hero of the Dominion War by many in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants.

A Cardassian woman noticed Ada looking at the poster showing General Martok and said "You know, I heard a rumour that General Martok would roast Cardassians alive and feast on their remains with his children." Ada was stunned at what the woman had said. Since joining the Apollo Crew three years earlier she had been taught about the Dominion and her people, the Changelings, by many different members of the Crew. Ada remembered Lieutenant Commander Voq fondly talking about General Martok's heroic crusades during the Dominion War and of how "The pride of Qo'Nos", as he called him, had never once killed a wounded enemy or an enemy that surrendered. Mainly because it went against the Klingon Code of Honour in every way imaginable. The claim that this Cardassian woman made was also highly contradictory as the Klingon Code of Honour declared that cannibalism was respect to the dead. Dishonoured or not. Horrified at the lies this Cardassian woman had been told, yet knowing that she had to maintain her cover, Ada said "Yes. I heard the same thing. Now if you will excuse me I must be going. I'm off to visit my sister and her children and I don't want to be late." Ada then quickly walked off, trying to act as if nothing had happened.

Ada had expected the Cardassian Imperial Science Institute to be very big and grandeur in design. But when Ada finally arrived at the Cardassian Imperial Science Institute, she found that it was half the size of the U.S.S Apollo! The grounds stretched very far and a fence was built around it to deter any intruders. The Institute itself was magnificent in design. Coloured a bright bronze and fifty metres high it had balconies with circle shaped doors and columns that stretched as high as trees at the entrance. Ada was amazed at the size and the design of the Institute, but then she remembered her mission and knew what had to be done. Ada quickly hid behind a tree on the Institute grounds and looked across at the checkpoint that lead through the perimeter fence. There were a total of five guards at the fence, armed with phasers set to maximum and authorised to use lethal force. The gate of the checkpoint was also quite frightening, it consisted of two force field generators on either side that created a green force field of energy that would kill anyone who went through. Ada then saw a scientist walk through with a briefcase and saw him press his identification card against a scanner. The field then deactivated and he walked through with ease. The field reactivated as soon as he crossed and Ada realised that there was only one way into the Institute since the identification cards all had to be in the system and that was via a transport. 

Ada pressed on her hidden com badge and said "Rear Admiral Rivers, I need an identification card to enter and any false one we make would obviously get detected." Back on the runnabout, Ethan asked "Then what do you suggest?" Ada quietly answered "I need to get transported in there." Ethan almost gasped as he asked "Are you sure? We can encrypt it, yes, but then we will only have up to an hour to escape." Ada sounded very certain as she said "I am quite sure Rear Admiral. This is the plan that we are going to do." Ethan was silent for a moment as he considered the plan. But then he took a deep breath in and said "Okay. But there is one problem. The Cardassian Imperial Guard only accepts men as they believe that a woman's only place of work is the home. So you have to make yourself look like a man." Ada's eyes widened and her voice sounded confused as she asked "What?" Ethan then answered "Yes. You have to disguise yourself as a man and not just disguise your clothes. Do you understand?" Ada wasn't sure what to say. Over the years she had made herself look like many different people and creatures, but she had never made herself look like a man before. She wasn't sure if she could do it. But then she remembered about how the Cardassians planned to wipe out Bajor and thought of all the innocent people that could die unless she did what had to be done. So she took a deep breath in to calm herself and said "Okay. I'm on it."

Ada then peeked past the tree at a Cardassian soldier and took a long and careful look at him. Just before the soldier spotted her she ducked back behind the tree and waited a few moments before hiding in a nearby bush. Ada then took a deep breath in and said "Let's do this." Ada then began the shapeshifting process of turning herself into a Cardassian man. Her body changed into a gelatinous orange liquid form and began to mould into the desired form of a Cardassian soldier. Ada's 'clothes' changed to Cardassian soldier clothes and her face and body changed to that of a man. After the change was complete Ada emerged from the bush and began to have a long and careful look at 'his' new body. Ada found it quite bizarre and had no desire to stay this way any longer than she needed to. Ada pressed on her com badge and said in her still female voice "Ready to transport." Ethan cleared his throat and said "Aren't you forgetting something?" Ada knew he meant the voice and changed it to have a deep tone. When the change was complete 'she' said in a male voice "Ready to transport." A few short seconds later Ada was engulfed in green energy as she was transported from her current position and into the Cardassian Imperial Science Institute, where she would find the answers to stopping the Cardassian Empire's deadly doomsday weapon known as the Supernova.