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"You know how there's still that section of unused habitat ring?" Jake asked one afternoon as the young adults played Dom-Jot on their padds.
"Yeah." Ziyal, Nog and Ezri replied.
"It hasn't been touched in years, I wonder what it looks like." Jake mused.
"Probably really dirty." Ziyal replied.
"And dark, the station was darker when the Cardassians were in charge." Nog replied.
"It would probably depend on whose quarters it was." Ezri added.
"I wonder if we could find that out." Jake thought aloud. "Maybe they forgot something interesting when they left."
"Hey, Odo, I was hoping to see the records for who lived where when the station was under Cardassian rule." Jake asked.
"Why do you want to see that?" The chief of security asked.
"I'm uh, I'm thinking of writing a history novel." Jake answered. "History of the station. Maybe of one set of quarters."
"Hm. I'll have to look over the list first, make sure there's nothing confidential." Odo replied.
"I understand. Thanks, Odo."
The group pored over the history of the station, lists of flight logs with crew and passenger manifests, quarters assignments, death certificates.
"Uh, Ziyal, you don't have to look at this if you don't want." Jake said, noticing that all the death certificates they were finding were Bajoran.
"I'm fine, Jake. My not looking at it doesn't mean it didn't happen." She replied. "I just hope their pagh are at rest."
"What do you mean?" Nog asked.
"Bajorans believe that after you die, your pagh, your spirit, goes to the Celestial Temple to live in peace with the Prophets. I worry that their pagh are not at peace, living and dying like they did."
"You mean haunted." Jake realized. "Humans used to believe that if a person died suddenly or had unfinished business, their spirit would like, stick around where they died and cause problems for the living people."
"That's wrong." Nog stated. "When you die you go to the Blessed Exchequer. If you made more profit in your life than loss, he lets you bid on your next life. If you were more in debt than profitable, you go to the Vault of Eternal Destitution."
"Jake, you said humans used to believe that." Ezri noted.
"Yeah." Jake looked at his padd. "I asked my dad about it after Mom died, it's one of the things we still can't figure out. We don't know what happens after you die because we can't bring people back from all the way dead." He shrugged.
"Probably because they already talked to the Blessed Exchequer and had their wealth tallied." Nog replied.
"Maybe that's just for Ferengi." Ziyal suggested. "Maybe only Ferengi can talk to the Blessed Exchequer, and maybe only Bajorans can go to the Celestial Temple."
"That does make sense." Nog mused.
“What do Trill think happens after death?” Ziyal asked Ezri.
“Nothing.” She replied simply. “If you’re joined, your memories will be passed on in the symbiont. If you’re not joined, you just die, nothing afterwards.”
"Are you joined?" Jake asked.
"No, never really had an interest." Ezri shrugged.
“No Ziyal tonight?” Jadzia asked, seeing only two plates on the small table.
“She said she, Nog, and Tigan are helping Jake with some research for a story.” Kira shrugged. “Honestly, I’m kind of happy she has other plans, people her own age she’d rather spend time with.”
“It is encouraging.” Jadzia agreed with a smile.
"Uncle, do humans talk to the Blessed Exchequer after they die?" Nog asked during a slow period at the bar.
"What?" Quark asked. He grabbed Nog's drink and took a swig, then grimaced. "Nobody spiked your root beer, what are you talking about?"
"When Jake and the humans die, do they talk to the Blessed Exchequer? He said humans don't know what happens after death, and I said I know what happens."
"Why were you and Jake talking about death?" Quark asked.
"He was talking about his mom." Nog replied. "Well, do they?"
"I don't know if the Blessed Exchequer would know what to do with people who don't believe in gaining profit, Nog. I've never heard of people like humans getting to bid on their next lives, because they wouldn't have the funds."
"So you don't know?"
"Finish your root beer and find someone else to bother, Nog. You're upsetting the customers."
"The only one here is Morn." Nog protested. Quark didn't respond.
"Hey Dad, what do you know about ghosts?" Jake asked over dinner.
"Ghosts? They're supposed to be the spirits of the dead, unable to find rest." Ben replied.
"Why wouldn't they be able to find rest?"
"Well, according to the old stories, if they were murdered or just didn't realize they died, they might become ghosts. What's this all about?"
"I'm thinking of writing a story."
"Your granddad would probably know more about this than me, New Orleans has plenty of ghost stories." Ben Sisko smiled.
"Good idea, thanks Dad."
"I have a question. A religious question." Ziyal stated over dinner.
"I'll try my best to answer." Kira smiled.
"What happens to Bajorans after death?"
"We join the Prophets in the Celestial Temple."
"Is there anything that can stop that?"
"Why do you want to know?" Kira frowned in concern.
"It's, um, I was thinking about my mom. And she died far away from the Celestial Temple." Ziyal replied.
"It's hard to say." Kira sighed. "Her pagh could have trouble finding its way. If she had turned away from the Prophets and to the Pah Wraiths, they'd try to get her to join them in the Fire Caves. And even if her pagh is at peace, her memories may always linger in that place." Kira put a hand over Ziyal's. "We can go to the shrine to pray for her pagh if you like."
"Please." Ziyal smiled. "That would help me feel better."
They had narrowed their search to occupants and death certificates in the currently uninhabited quarters of the habitat ring. They knew that finding anything physically of value was very unlikely, the Cardassians would have taken it with them, but finding a ghost? That was looking to be more possible. They had padds strewn all over the living room in Jake and Nog's quarters.
"Hey, this set of quarters had a bunch of people living there." Nog alerted the others. "8 people 15 years ago."
"Okay, give us a minute to finish up and we'll help you." Ezri nodded.
"I'm going to get started on the first person listed." Nog replied. "These are all Bajoran women."
"Oh, that's uh, I'll tell you about it later." Jake cut in.
"It's probably quarters for the comfort women, when they were allowed to sleep in their own beds." Ziyal stated. "I think that might be a good place to check out, Kira told me that a person's memories can haunt a place, even if their pagh is at peace. And there were probably lots of women staying in those quarters. And seriously Jake, you don't have to protect me, I know what sorts of things happened. My mother was a comfort woman." She reminded him.
"Right. Sorry."
"First woman left the station, moving to the second woman on the list." Nog announced.
"Hey Chief, have you ever heard of a place being haunted?" Nog asked as the man sat at Quark's bar.
"Sure, loads of superstitious crewmen will insist that a specific deck, room, turbolift, what have you is haunted." He replied.
"How do you know if a place is haunted?"
"Some folks get shivers, or feel like they're being watched. I've had folks insist they saw something, or heard footsteps, or someone whispering."
"And someone had died there?" Nog added.
"Well, people are creative. Ships and stations get old enough, they're bound to have death in their history, and superstitious types will use that to explain what they experienced. Place like this," he gestured around at the station with his pint glass, "I'm surprised we don't hear more complaints of ghosts. Lots of death, lots of things breaking, guess we have a lower than average superstitious population." He mused and sipped his beer. "What's this about, anyway? Why are you asking about places being haunted?"
"I um, I overheard something."
"Don't you go spreading rumors about ghosts, Nog." O'Brien commanded. "I already have enough problems."
"I understand, Chief." Nog nodded.
"Hey Odo, I wanted to say thanks for getting me that information." Jake smiled as he entered the security office.
"You're welcome." He replied dismissively.
"I was wondering, you were chief of security when the Cardassians were in charge, do you know anything about the unused sections of the station?"
"What do you want to know?" Odo asked.
"Well, the habitat ring, we- I noticed when looking at all the death certificates that some of them were in the parts of the habitat ring we're not using, do you remember anything about them?"
"I didn't investigate those, you'll have to do research for your story elsewhere."
"Okay. Thanks, Odo." Jake nodded and left, the chief of security only giving a dismissive grunt.
"Uncle, what do you remember of the station before Starfleet took over?" Nog asked.
"What do you want to know?" Quark asked in return, giving his nephew a suspicious look.
"Well, I remember there was a lot of death on the promenade, but I don't remember anything about the habitat ring."
"People died all over the station Nog. It was a tough time to be Bajoran." Quark sighed. "Why do you want to know about that?"
"Oh, uh, Jake! Jake's writing a story."
"Sounds like a pretty grim story. But if he wants to sell it, I can help."
"I'll let him know. Thanks, Uncle."
“We’re not breaking into locked quarters.” Ezri argued.
“Does it really count if no-one’s lived there for years?” Jake wheedled.
“Yes.” Ezri replied. “And we don’t even have proof they’re haunted.”
“We don’t have proof since no-one’s been in there in years.” Ziyal pointed out. "What if there's trapped pagh of Bajoran comfort women, and we can bring them peace?"
“It’s still against the rules.” Ezri shook her head. “I’m sure if we bring our concerns to Odo or Kira or someone-”
“Odo’s not going to believe us.” Nog interrupted. “And you're right, we don’t have any real concrete reason to think those quarters are haunted. There’s been no complaints of anything that could be from a ghost, all we have is some ideas of what might cause a ghost, and a list of a few dead comfort women over the years.”
“Thank you.” Ezri smiled.
“So clearly, we need to get in there and get some proof one way or the other.” Nog concluded.
“No-” Ezri replied.
“No-one’s just going to let us in some old locked quarters.” Jake argued, then softened his tone. “I’m willing to break in and risk getting in trouble, but I understand if you’re not. Any of you. Ezri and Nog both have Starfleet careers to think of, Ziyal needs to think of getting admitted to art school. We should all think about this, and if we decide to do it, we’ll meet at uh, the Promenade directory by the shrine at 0200 hours in three days.”
Nog crouched down, slipped behind the bar, and opened Quark's stash of security clearance rods. He just needed one high enough to get into the abandoned quarters, but not so high that it would be missed. His uncle had plenty of lower level clearances. He grabbed one and closed the drawer, crouching down again and slipping the rod up his sleeve.
"Nog!" Quark cried. Nog stuck his hands behind his back as he turned to face his uncle. "What are you doing?"
"I was just going to grab a drink." Nog answered.
"You need to pay like everyone else, you know that." Quark replied.
"The Starfleet uniform doesn't have pockets. I'll pay you back later, Uncle."
"Unless you want to start a tab, if you want a drink, you pay first."
"Okay, I'll go get the latinum from my quarters." Nog sighed, trudging away.
"This is a bad idea." Ezri whispered as the four of them walked the corridors past 0200 hours.
"So go to bed, you don't have to be here." Jake whispered back. "Nog, are you sure it's a high enough security clearance?"
"I'm sure, now shut up." Nog hissed. Jake double checked the quarters that they were looking for.
"On the right, 5 more doors."
They found the door and Nog got them into the quarters, pitch black once the door slid shut behind them.
"Computer, lights." He commanded. The computer didn’t respond.
"Maybe it only responds to Cardassi in these quarters." Jake suggested quietly. "Ziyal?"
"Computer, lights." She tried. Nothing happened so she pulled a palm torch out of her pocket, Ezri doing the same. They slowly looked around the messy quarters.
"What do we do if there is a ghost or pagh or something?" Ezri said in a low voice.
"They can't hurt us, right? They're dead." Nog whispered back.
"I think they can mess with stuff." Jake whispered as well.
"Mess with us?!" Nog asked. "Maybe we should leave."
"If there is a pagh here, we should help them move on." Ziyal replied. "Do you think we should check the bedrooms?"
"Uh, sure. You first, you have the light." Jake replied. He and Ziyal headed to the first bedroom, Nog and Ezri to the second.
"How do we help them move on?" Ezri asked.
"Do you hear footsteps?" Nog hissed at the same time.
"They're our footsteps. Right?" Jake replied.
"I didn't hear anything." Ezri shrugged. "How do we even know if there's a pagh?"
"Lots of ways." Nog replied, following. "O'Brien said you can hear them, feel cold, sometimes even see them."
"I'm kinda cold." Jake replied. Both pairs watched the beam of light slowly sweep the rooms. "I think I heard something! Over there!" Jake pointed.
"Over where? I can't see where you're pointing." Ziyal replied. Jake grabbed her wrist to move the light back to a previous dark corner. It revealed a tall figure standing near them. They cried out and scrambled backwards in fright.
"Guys?!" Nog and Ezri ran over to help.
"Alright, that's enough shenanigans, my office." Odo commanded. The group paused to catch their breaths upon finding it wasn’t a ghost that had scared them.
"Odo, you don't understand, these quarters are haunted!" Jake protested.
"Really?" Odo asked condescendingly.
"Yeah! We-"
"Were caught trespassing." Odo interrupted. "You can tell me all about it from inside a holding cell, come on." They sighed and shuffled to the security office.
"Would you prefer I tell your parents now, or in the morning?" Odo asked once they were in a holding cell. The group looked at each other.
"What time is it?" Ziyal asked.
"Almost three hundred hours." Odo replied.
"Morning." Jake sighed, sitting on a bench.
"Morning." Nog agreed.
"Morning." Ziyal followed their lead.
“Miss Tigan, I’ll speak with you after the others have been collected.” Odo nodded and left.
"We definitely didn't think that through well enough." Jake sighed as they all laid on benches.
"I'll say." Nog agreed. Ezri rolled her eyes.
"Miss ToraKira." Odo woke them. "Colonel Kira will be here soon."
"Okay." She replied, then looked to her friends. "Do you think she's going to be mad?"
"Probably?" Jake replied, sitting up. "I don't know what Kira's like as a mom, but you can explain everything to her and she shouldn't be as mad. That usually works with my dad. Then they're just disappointed in you."
"Is that better or worse?" Ziyal sighed. Ezri sat next to her and rubbed her shoulder.
"My dad's going to be so disappointed in me." Nog sighed. "We're each other's motivation and now I let him down."
"People mess up. It happens. He's an engineer, he knows mistakes happen." Jake encouraged.
"Yeah, but still…"
"Ezri, no words of counseling wisdom or anything?" Jake asked.
"Honestly," she sighed, "I'm trying really hard not to say 'I told you so'. Nothing I can think to say will make this better."
"Yeah." Jake sighed.
Kira walked in looking down, one arm across her chest, her other hand pinching the bridge of her nose. Odo released the forcefield and Kira jerked her head sideways for Ziyal to follow. Ziyal glanced back at her friends before following her adopted mother, who was still silent, still pinching the bridge of her nose.
Ezri glanced up when Odo and Captain Sisko entered the room, then returned to staring at her clasped hands.
“Odo,” Sisko sighed tiredly, arms crossed, “why is our counselor in a holding cell?”
“She was found with the others early this morning.” Odo answered.
"Hey Dad." Jake sighed as he stood, his father looking at him sternly.
"Don't give me 'hey dad', what were you thinking?!" Sisko demanded.
"We thought there might be a Bajoran ghost who like, needed to be set free!" Jake protested. Sisko rubbed a hand over his own face.
"So you decided to investigate alone."
"Not alone, Nog and Ziyal and Ezri were there." Jake stopped when his father held up a hand.
"You can explain yourself over breakfast, I haven't even had a raktajino yet."
Rom sighed and looked at his son.
"I'm sorry Father, I know we should have told someone, but we didn't think you'd believe us-" Nog stepped out of the holding cell, cut off as Rom held him in a tight embrace.
"Why did you think I wouldn't believe you?" He asked as they walked out. "I'm your father, I'm always here to try to help."
“We know that the others have been asking around about what happened on the station years ago, and ghosts, that sort of thing.” Odo summarized as they sat at the interrogation table. “I just want to know how someone as smart as you didn’t put a stop to this.”
“I tried to, but they said they were going to do it with or without me, so I figured I should be there and try to be a voice of reason.” Ezri explained.
“Uh huh. And why didn’t you tell anyone about this plan? Like me?”
“I thought nothing would happen and nobody would know and we wouldn’t get in trouble.” Ezri sighed. “I figured we‘d sit in empty quarters for maybe an hour, they’d all be convinced the quarters aren’t haunted, and we could just pretend it never happened.”
“Well, given that nothing was stolen, nobody was hurt, and you’re telling me the truth, I’m content to let you go with a warning.” Odo said. “But.” He stopped Ezri as she rose from her chair. “You and Nog will need to report to Captain Sisko about trespassing.”
“I know.” She sighed. “Do you know when?”
“No idea.” Odo answered.
Kira paced her quarters, continually running her hands through her hair, as Ziyal sat nervously on the couch. She finally sighed and sat next to Ziyal.
"I know it was stupid, I'm sorry, I just thought maybe there was someone's pagh trapped there-" Ziyal started to apologize and explain. Kira held up a finger.
"When you asked me about your mother the other day, was that a lie?"
"No." Ziyal shook her head emphatically. “I really was worried about her pagh, and praying with you really did help me feel better.”
“Why didn’t you talk to me?”
“It just never occurred to me to ask for help.” Ziyal shrugged.
“So you thought you’d all go to these quarters and pray for the women who used to live there?” Kira asked.
“Pretty much.” Ziyal shrugged again. “We didn’t really get to the ‘what we would do’ question until we were already there.” She admitted. Kira sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose again.
“What if one of the comfort women had turned to the Pah-Wraiths?” Kira asked. Ziyal looked at her with wide eyes. “It’s possible.” Kira nodded. “And you could have been in danger last night, all 4 of you.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” Ziyal said quietly. “I’m so sorry.”
“I have to go to work, I'll probably go to the shrine afterwards.” Kira sighed.
“Can I join you?” Ziyal asked.
“Not today.” Kira replied as she left.
"Captain Sisko to Lieutenant Tigan and Cadet Nog. Report to my office. Sisko out." Their combadges relayed. Ezri sent an emergency cancellation notice to her first patient and minutes later both she and Nog were standing at parade rest in front of Captain Sisko's desk. He stared at them over his steepled fingers.
"I am. Incredibly. Disappointed in you two." He rumbled. "Nog, after I wrote your recommendation to be accepted to Starfleet academy, you knowingly trespass in search of ghosts? With no proof?! And Tigan, how can I expect you to counsel others if this is what you get up to off duty? I have half a mind to demote you! That would probably earn you a record as the shortest time between promotion and demotion in Starfleet history. You two are expected not only to follow the rules, but also to ensure others follow them, too!" He yelled.
"Yes, sir." They replied.
"You know what, if you're going to act like children, I'm going to treat you like children. You have one week to send me a full report of every stage at which you could have stopped this entire plan. Maybe that will help you remember your responsibility next time somebody suggests something stupid like trespassing to try to find ghosts!"
"Yes, sir." They replied. Sisko stared at them for a half minute more, Ezri blinking back tears.
"Alright, dismissed." He picked up a padd to return to work.
All eyes were on the two young officers as they exited through Ops. Jadia glanced at Kira, who shook her head slightly, they'd talk later. Jake and Ziyal were loitering outside the doors and grabbed their friends, the group hugging tight.
"Ezri, are you alright?" Nog asked quietly.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." She nodded and wiped her eyes. "Just been a few years since I was yelled at like that."
"I'm sorry, Ezri. You were right." Jake admitted, Ziyal nodded her agreement.
"Yeah, well, now I have to live with the consequences of my actions." She sighed. "I'm going to go get started on my report before my patients show up. See you later."
“Nerys, they’re practically still children.” Jadzia said from the couch with a soft smile as Kira paced her quarters, their lunches abandoned on the table. “I know you have high expectations of them, but honestly, all they did was get caught trespassing, and on a silly ghost hunt. It could have been something much worse.”
“Our counselor is a child.” Kira replied.
“Kind of, yeah.” Jadzia nodded. “She wasn’t using her counselor brain, though.”
“What?” Kira stopped pacing for a second to look at Jadzia.
“I guarantee, even in the moment, if someone asked her ‘is this a good idea, what should I do?’, she’d know it’s a bad idea and have ideas for how to avoid the situation. But she wasn’t viewing it externally, it was happening to her, and that’s different.” Jadzia explained. Kira nodded and resumed pacing.
“I just don’t understand why Ziyal didn’t come to me.” She sighed after another minute. “Or what I’m supposed to do now.”
“How did your conversation go?” Jadzia asked.
“She said it didn’t occur to her that the adults could help. Like all I could do was get in her way.”
“I really don’t think she meant it like that.” Jadzia replied softly and held her hands out. Kira joined her on the couch. “In my experience. When you’re young, and you’ve got some goal, some adventure, and maybe it’s a little dangerous, you think everyone is going to overreact and do all they can to stop you. And you're best friends with Odo, the Chief of Security. I doubt she was even thinking of you personally as someone who would get in her way, you’re just someone outside the group, so there was a higher risk of her getting in trouble if she asked you for help.” Jadzia reasoned. “Or it’s entirely possible that they didn’t think they needed help. They thought they had enough knowledge, and their only barrier was a locked door.”
“She never even thought about what could go wrong.” Kira sighed. "And I only found out about it after the fact."
“Kids don’t know what they don’t know, and it’s scary for those of us who know better, who know just how badly things can go.” Jadzia agreed, squeezing Kira’s hands. “Do you think teaching her more would help?”
“Certainly couldn’t hurt.” Kira sighed.
"Hey, Ezri." Jadzia smiled down at her in the Replimat that evening.
"Hey, Jadzia. Not avoiding me anymore?" Ezri smiled.
"You said it didn't really help, so there's no reason to continue. Can I join you?"
"Sure." Ezri pulled out a chair.
"Can I ask about this morning?" Jadzia asked. Ezri groaned. "I just couldn't help overhearing something about ghosts?"
"Jake, Ziyal, Nog, and I thought we found quarters where there might be a chance of a ghost, and I couldn't convince them not to go investigate." Ezri summarized flatly. "Odo caught us."
"Looking for ghosts?" Jadzia asked. "Do you believe in them?"
"Not for us, for Trill, but Ziyal suggested that the Bajoran pagh or memories could be not at rest, and I don't know much about Bajoran theology. I know that what they call the Prophets are proven real beings, so maybe Bajorans can become ghosts and haunt places." Ezri explained with a shrug. "I know we didn't do nearly enough research, but it started out as just an idea Jake had when we were all bored, to investigate the uninhabited quarters and what had happened there. And now the captain's disappointed in me." She sighed.
"He'll get over it soon." Jadzia encouraged.
"Not soon enough. Nog and I have to write a report on every time we could have stopped it from happening, and he practically threatened to demote me." Ezri informed her.
"I think part of what has him so worked up is the fact that his son was involved." Jadzia replied. "When it's people you care about, and people you expect better from, when they mess up it hurts more than if it was someone you have no expectations of."
"How many times has Dax been a parent?" Ezri asked.
"Four or five times, depending on if you count Ziyal as my daughter." Jadzia answered with a smile.
“I’m going to have to talk with Colonel Kira at some point.” Ezri recalled, dragging her hands down her face. “Please tell me I didn’t make a career-ending mistake.” She asked Jadzia, who chuckled.
“Getting caught trespassing? At what, 20 years old?”
“I'm 23.” Ezri huffed.
“Not a career-ending mistake.” Jadzia assured with a smile. “You didn't even get demoted, everyone will forget about it in a few weeks. Except Odo.”
“Benjamin, they’re practically still children.” Jadzia said with a soft smile as he paced his quarters. “I know you have high expectations of them, but honestly, all they did was get caught trespassing, and on a silly ghost hunt. It could have been something much worse.”
“I just can’t believe that Nog would do something so clearly wrong after he begged me to write him a letter for Starfleet Academy. And Tigan’s a counselor. And Jake...”
“They can still make mistakes.” Jadzia reminded him. “Just because Tigan’s been promoted doesn’t mean she’s always going to act with the responsibility of a junior lieutenant. She’s about the same age as Nog, and Jake's younger than that.”
“I just don’t understand how any of them could have thought that was a good idea.” Sisko said.
“Well, you said that Tigan and Nog both took their punishment with no complaints, that’s good.” Jadzia observed. Sisko sighed and sat next to her on the couch.
“I just feel… I just feel responsible for them.”
“I know, Ben, but kids make mistakes when they grow up, and they grow up when they make mistakes.”
“Who did that wisdom come from?” He smiled.
“Mmm, mostly Tobin.” She grinned.