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Lani had never before visited the monastery on Bajor, despite having known of its existence since her days on Earth. But the combination Quark closing the bar for the day and Li Nalas' arrival on the station had presented Lani with the perfect opportunity to take the trip down to the surface.

Given their role in Bajoran history and in Li Nalas's situation, Cardassians had been on Lani's mind a lot over the last couple of days. Her mind was particularly occupied with thoughts of her own experience with a Cardassian only a few short nights before. Reyal hadn't seemed all that horrible. In fact, he'd been quite good, she remembered with a smirk. On the other hand, she did have to admit that she didn't know Reyal all that well. He could actually be a completely different person from the one she'd met the other night.

Lani gazed down at the tiny waterfall beside her feet. The water trickled down over the rocks and formed a steady stream that flowed down beside the walking trail she was standing on. She knelt down and stuck the tips of her fingers into the clear, cool water.

"It's quite soothing, isn't it?"

Lani, surprised, stood and turned to see who was behind her. Sweet Prophets, she thought when she got her first look at him. He had dark hair and deep brown eyes. His face bore a peaceful expression.

"I'm sorry," Lani said. "I didn't know it was against the rules here to touch the water."

"It isn't," the man said. "I didn't mean to disturb you. I haven't seen you around here before, and I wanted to introduce myself. I'm Vedek Boreil."

Lani relaxed. She had only seen a few vedeks in her lifetime, and none of them had looked as good as Boreil. "I'm Toru Lani," she said. "I've only been here for a few days. I live on the station."

"Toru Lani," Boreil said, "I'm glad you decided to visit our monastery. How has your stay been?" He walked over to where she was standing.

"Peaceful," Lani said. "I've really enjoyed my time here."

"But you haven't found what you're looking for, yet," Boreil surmised.

Lani's eyes met Boreil's, and for an instant, it was like he was peering directly into her soul. "I don't know if it's all that obvious or not, but I'm only half-Bajoran," she began. "My father is human."

"I noticed, but I wasn't sure if your heritage was a sensitive issue for you," Boreil said. "It is for some."

"It's the reason I'm here, actually," Lani said. "Well, not completely, but it has a lot to do with why I'm here."

"Go on," Boreil said. He began to stroll the walkway. Lani walked with him, matching his slow pace.

"I grew up on Earth," she said. "That's where I spent my whole life, really. My first trip to Bajor was right after I finished school on Earth. I came to visit because I'd never seen it. But I ended up staying."

"Why?" Boreil asked. "If you don't mind my asking."

"I wanted to be a Dabo girl." Lani laughed. "Truthfully. I actually wanted to be a Dabo girl. That probably sounds crazy."

"No. No, it doesn't. Everyone has a different path, which they all follow for different reasons."

"I'm pretty good at it, and I like doing it."

"You're better off than many people I know," Boreil commented. "Everyone should be able to be proud of the work they do."

Lani nodded. "That's what I say." She was glad that he was so easy to talk to. She felt like he understood her, and she'd just met him only two minutes ago. They continued in silence, walking into one of the buildings.

"You're feeling like there's a rift of some kind between you and other Bajorans," Boreil said, his deep voice breaking into the silence. "You feel like this because you lack the common experience of the Occupation."

Lani's head snapped to him. "Yes," she said. "Is it that obvious?"

Boreil grinned warmly. "No, not to everyone. But it is to someone who has dealt with these types of issues before."

Lani silently chided herself before doing it aloud. "I should've remembered that I'm not the first half-Bajoran, or full Bajoran even, to miss out on the Occupation."

They made a left and stepped into a room. It was a bare room with simple furnishings. Then Lani laid eyes on the ornate box across the room.

Lani turned to Boreil. "What is it?" she asked.

"It's an orb of the Prophets," Boreil said. "The Orb of Prophecy and Change."

Lani gave the box a second look, then turned to Boreil again. "Are you serious?" She looked at the orb again and took a tentative step toward it. But she quickly stopped herself. The room was probably off limits to everyone except vedeks and other religious officials.

But Boreil encouraged her to approach it. "Go ahead," he said. "I believe it will help you with some of your questions."

Lani swallowed nervously. "What do I do?"

"Just open the doors," Boreil instructed. "And let the Prophets guide you."

Lani gently bit her lip, then reached out and pulled the doors of the box open. Bright white-blue light poured from the box and she left the room and the monastery and Bajor .

xxx

The Earth sky was as clear and bright as the best autumn days that Lani had spent in upstate New York during her childhood. But something was different, and Lani couldn't put her finger on what that something was.

Someone touched Lani on the shoulder, and she turned. Her mother, a petite woman with dark hair and blue eyes, was standing in front of her.

"Mom?" Lani said. "What are you doing here?"

"Change is good, Lani," her mother said.

"What? What change?" Lani asked.

"Change is good," her mother repeated.

"Is something going to happen?"

Someone else tapped Lani on the shoulder, and she turned and found herself face-to-face with her father, a dark-eyed man with smooth, brown skin.

"Daddy?" Lani said.

"Trust yourself," her father said. "You have everything you need."

All Lani could do was shake her head. "Daddy, I don't understand."

"You will, sweetheart," he said.

"You should join us!" someone yelled from a distance.

Lani looked off to her side. A man in a Starfleet uniform stood at a distance. Lani couldn't see his face.

"Join us," the man said. "It's where you belong." Lani could see that he was still standing far away from her, but his voice sounded like he was standing right beside her.

"Why don't you join us?" he offered again.

xxx

Before Lani could ask for an explanation, she found herself back on Bajor, back at the monastery, back in the little room, staring at the dark orb in front of her.

Lani stepped back from the casing and shivered, but the reaction didn't have anything to do with the temperature of the room. She looked around the room. Boreil was gone, and she was completely alone.

xxx

What did it all mean? Lani had found her way back out to the open air and was now trying to make sense of what had just happened with the orb. Why don't you join us? The question played on a loop in her mind as she tried to decipher its meaning. Who was the man in the vision? She was sure she'd never seen him before ... but she couldn't be completely sure because the man's face had not been clear; in fact it had been quite fuzzy.

Lani stepped onto a path that led to the monastery's arboretum. She froze when she realized that someone else there, standing atop a small, flat stone. Before Lani could turn and retreat, the person, a woman, realized that she was no longer alone and turned to see who had joined her.

"Major Kira," Lani realized aloud.

Kira nodded. "That's right," she said. "Can I help you?"

"No," Lani said. "I was exploring, and I guess I just stumbled upon you. I didn't mean to disturb you." Lani turned, prepared to go, but Kira stopped her.

"Wait," she said, approaching Lani. "Don't I know you from the station?"

Lani turned back to Kira and nodded. "Yeah. I'm one of Quark's Dabo girls. My name is Toru Lani."

"I knew I'd seen you on the station," Kira said. "Do you attend temple services?"

"Yes," Lani said. "Every week."

"Well, Toru - it's nice to finally put a name to a face."

"You can call me Lani. Toru is too formal for my tastes."

"Alright then," Kira agreed. "Lani it is. What brings you to the monastery, if you don't mind my asking?"

"The same thing that brings everyone here," Lani replied. "Peace, quiet. Understanding. It's my first trip here, so part of it was just plain old curiosity. I've never really been around vedeks and all that. There aren't that many on Earth."

"Earth?" Kira repeated, obviously confused. "How did you end up there?"

Lani was used to the confused looks she always received when she mentioned Earth. "I grew up there with my parents," she explained. "My father is human; my mother is Bajoran."

"Oh," Kira said with a new understanding. She nodded and studied Lani's muted nose ridges, noticing them for the first time. "I guess it makes sense now why you felt the need to visit."

"I guess you could say I'm here to learn more about my mother's people," Lani said.

Kira raised her eyebrows at Lani's pronouncement. "I think it's probably going to take more than a simple trip to a monastery to help you find out what you want to know."

"I know," Lani said. "But it isn't a bad place to start, is it?"

Something past Kira's shoulder caught Lani's attention, but before she could discern what it was, something was hastily thrown over her head, blocking her vision, and she was picked up and carried away.

\/\

When Lani regained consciousness, she knew she'd been drugged. Her head was light and spinning. Her vision was still obstructed, but she knew that she wasn't at the monastery any longer. The air was warmer and more humid. She moved her head slightly to the right and instantly regretted it, as the movement caused her head to pound.

And then there was light. It was dim light, but light, still the same.

Lani and Kira had been taken to some kind of underground facility. It looked like they were in a cave. She looked around, tentatively. Kira was a few feet away from her, and she'd looked like hell. Someone had unleashed a good pounding on her face.

"Are you okay?" Lani asked Kira.

Kira nodded. It was only a slight movement, but Lani would be surprised if it hadn't caused Kira any pain. "It's nothing a dermal regenerator can't fix," Kira assured. The woman had to be in pain, Lani observed, but she didn't give off very many indicators that she was.

Lani noticed that Kira's hands were secured behind her back, and she also realized for the first time that she was in the same position. She made a futile attempt to free her hands, trying to wiggle free without bringing attention to herself. "They sure seem to know what they're doing," she then said to Kira.

"They've had a lot of practice," Kira said, her eyes sweeping the cavernous compound.

"I can't believe Bajorans would do this to other Bajorans," Lani said, exposing some of her inherent naiveté about her mother's home world and people.

At the first sound of phaser fire, Lani turned and looked below her to the lower level of the cavern. A team from DS9 had beamed in and was now in the grips of a phaser battle with Lani and Kira's captors. Lani watched Dr. Bashir scramble up the incline to the upper level of the cavern. He reached Kira and quickly freed her wrists from their restraints. He was in the process of moving Lani to do the same, but a blast of phaser fire knocked him to the ground.

Kira was the one who freed Lani, while Bashir shook off the disorientation that accompanied the phaser hit. He lumbered to his feet, having regained enough sense to say tap his comm. badge and shout, "Chief, get us out of here!" Transporter beams engulfed the rescuers and the rescued.