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Bajorans, Beer and Baseball
Benjamin Sisko sighed as he dressed in his Bajoran ceremonial robes. It was time for yet another religious celebration. That meant one thing. The Emissary had to be there, to welcome the pilgrims who journeyed to Deep Space Nine to receive his blessings. He felt like a fraud sometimes but he knew he wasn’t. He knew that he truly was what they called him. He had been called by the Prophets and there was nothing that could be done about that.
He looked in the mirror. He looked regal and priestly. It would do.
He stepped out of his quarters and almost stepped on Major Kira.
“I was just coming to get you, sir.”
“I’m ready. Do I look like the Emissary?”
Kira smiled at him, a softer smile than he’d seen in some time. She had never made any secret of the fact that she felt Bajorans should be running Deep Space Nine and not the Federation. He suspected the smile was because he was the Emissary and because Kira was nothing if not faithful to her religion and her people.
She walked him to the Promenade and stepped back as the pilgrims lined up for a touch, a word, any memory from the Emissary to take back home with them. It got easier too when he relaxed and began to feel the outpouring of love from the Bajorans. It was a feeling very alien to being a Federation officer but it felt right, felt like his destiny somehow. He let love pour out from himself to them in return.
And then all too soon, it was done.
The pilgrims went on their way and he headed back to his quarters to change into his uniform. Thankfully, it was a calm day so far aboard the giant space station.
On the other hand, Benjamin was bored in minutes. He made his way out to the Operations center and nodded to his officers. Major Kira nodded back, the softness still there. He’d expected business as usual after the ceremony. She surprised him, but then somehow she always did.
“Major Kira, do we have many ships docking today?”
He was the captain but Kira took care of the details, the day to day business of running the station. She knew more about it than anyone with the possible exception of Odo.
“Only a few. Pretty quiet day, all in all.”
“Then I think I’ll be in the holodeck. I feel like a little batting practice.”
She smiled a quick smile and nodded.
On his way to the holodeck, he wondered what the smiles meant. Had Kira accepted him and the Federation at last? Nope, couldn’t be that. Could it be residual respect for the Emissary? Nope, not without his robes. She knew more about her religion and its various prophets in one minute than he’d know if he studied all his life. He had no real idea what she was about this morning, to tell the truth.
Well, it didn’t matter right now. Baseball awaited. He sometimes thought that if he had a religion, it might be baseball. It was his obsession and had been all his life. He only wished that it was still played like it had been so many years before his time. Maybe he’d have been a baseball player or coach instead of here, doing this, so far from his dad and his home. Maybe if he’d done that, then…
No. He would not allow his mind to go there.
A few hours later, a tired and uniformed Benjamin Sisko sat in his office and pondered Major Kira again. Why on earth was he thinking about her so much? Lately, he had noticed that he thought of her way too often for his own comfort.
He got up and paced about for a bit until Odo came into the office with a guilty looking Jake and Nog in tow. Well, Jake looked guilty and Nog looked like a tiny scheming Ferengi, which is exactly what he was. Benjamin wished his son had better company to keep than the young nephew of Quark. Unfortunately, Nog was one of the few young people who lived on the station permanently and he and Jake were about the same age.
“What have we here, Constable?”
“These two were apparently dropping something called water balloons onto innocent victims walking along the Promenade. The floors are slick and wet and quite a few nice residents and tourists are rather damp as well.”
“Jake, is this true?”
His son looked down and nodded. “Yes sir.”
“Find them some mops and have them mop and wax the Promenade floor until it shines,” Sisko directed Odo.
“Won’t it be inefficient to have them use such crude tools?” Odo knew what Sisko was up to but he had to ask, just to stress that they were about to be punished.
“I am the captain of Deep Space Nine and I want them to clean it up the same way my father made me clean up when my friends and I did the same thing at home. Get to work, boys. Dismissed.”
Sisko could have sworn the changeling smirked as he herded his prisoners out of his office.
The work day ended finally without further incident. While this was a good thing, it was also a boring thing. God knows they didn’t need more excitement but they usually got it anyway. It was what they were all used to.
Benjamin headed to the quarters he shared with his son. He poked around in his food stores and came up with a red beans and rice dish that his father taught him when he was not even as old as Jake. He assembled the ingredients and waited for his son to return from his labors.
Jake came bursting through the door full of news about Kira and someone else arguing in front of Quark’s just before they finished cleaning their floor. Benjamin let him chatter until he was done then herded him into the bathroom to clean up before dinner.
Dinner was quiet. Jake was subdued by the time he came to the table and said little. As soon as they were done and the dishes done, Benjamin hugged his son and kissed the top of his head.
“You know I love you no matter what darn fool thing you and Nog do, right?”
Jake grinned and hugged him back. “I do but sometimes I just can’t help myself.”
“I was a boy once, Jake. As long as your pranks are just fun and don’t harm anyone, I can’t make myself too angry about them. Now go do your homework. I’ll be back in a bit. I’m going to see what Major Kira has gotten herself into.”
Sisko settled Jake in with his homework and changed back into his uniform then headed to Quark’s to find Kira Nerys before she killed someone.
She was at her station in Operations, guiding a freighter to its docking port with a patience she seldom showed anywhere else. She looked up and nodded as he came into the room.
“What brings you here after hours, Captain?” She asked after she was done with the ship.
“Jake said you were fighting with someone in front of Quark’s before he came home this evening.”
Her face grew dark for a second. No one could have missed the anger that flickered in her eyes.
“A friend from the old days.”
“And he’s still alive?”
“He was not a Bajoran citizen so we can’t touch him.”
“Will he cause trouble here?” Sisko was a bit put out that this had not been reported to him when this person came aboard.
“He lives here. Garak. I got into an argument with Garak.”
“About?”
“He made some smart comment about Gul Dukat not being such a bad person after all and I took issue with it.”
Benjamin sighed. He wasn’t too crazy about the Cardassian either but as he seemingly broke no laws, there was little he could do about him. Garak had a way of rubbing people the wrong way when it suited him. Especially Kira Nerys.
“Just try and keep it low key with him.”
She nodded rather grudgingly.
“Is that all?” She asked as Benjamin found himself standing there staring at her.
“Oh yes. Sorry. I was lost in thought.”
“I’m done here and am about to check in with Odo before I head to my quarters. Want to walk with me?”
“That sounds like an excellent idea, Major.”
“It’s Nerys, Captain, and I’m off duty as of now.”
On the spur of the moment, Benjamin took a chance. “Would you like to go to a baseball game with me? Yankee Stadium has the best hot dogs in the galaxy.”
He thought for a moment that she was going to turn him down flat, but instead she let herself relax and let Major Kiro go.
“I’d like that, Benjamin. I’ve never been to a baseball game. I still need to stop by and speak to Odo.”
The detour lasted only minutes. It seems Jake and Nog were the only miscreants of the day.
Benjamin spoke to the controls of the holodeck. “1977 World series, Yankee Stadium. Benjamin Sisko program.”
The doors opened and they stepped into the stadium, filled with all the sights and sounds of a World Series Game. The crowd was calling “Reggie, Reggie!” as they took their seats behind home plate and Benjamin motioned for the hot dog boy.
He got two dogs and two beers, handing one of each to Major Kira – to Nerys.
Not bad for a first date, he thought to himself with a very small smile, but he didn’t say a thing to Kira Nerys, not a word about it being a date at all. He was pretty sure she’d figured it out by now anyway.
End