Vectors by Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Kathryn Rusch

turned. Dukat closed the door. "What things?"
    "Well," Narat said, even though Dukat had directed the question at Kellec. "We have been able to confirm that this virus was created." "Created?"
    "By someone," Kellec said. "It doesn't occur in nature."
    "We had suspected as much when we knew that it affected both Bajorans and Cardassians, but the virus's structure confirms it," Narat said. "See the-"
    "I trust your opinion," Dukat said. "What does this mean?"
    "Someone created it," Kellec snapped. "Someone targeted us intentionally, either both of our peoples or one of them."
    Dukat suppressed a sigh. He had sent word to Central Command and to his contacts in the Obsidian Order. No one knew the cause of this virus, or if they did they weren't admitting it.
    "If we could find who did this," Narat said, "we'd probably find a solution." "But we don't have any time," Kellec said.
    "I know," Dukat said. The casualties throughout the station were growing. "No, you don't know," Kellec said.
    Narat put a hand on Kellec's arm, but Kellec shook it away. He faced Dukat.
    "This virus is extremely lethal." Kellec slid his chair back and pointed to the image above him. This time it showed small round blobs that appeared to be floating in something. "These are normal Bajoran cells. Now watch what happens when I introduce just one virus."
    The virus was darker and flatter than the cells. It had a nonsymmetrical shape, accentuated by the precision of the cells themselves. It looked like a scout for an invading army.
    Dukat stepped farther into the office, fascinated in spite of himself. The virus latched on to the nearest cell. Then the virus destroyed the cell and moved to another. If a cell happened to divide, the virus did too. The process was repeated cell by cell.
    "The incubation period, at least in Bajorans, is fairly long for a virus of this type," Kellec said. "We don't know how it's introduced to the body, but we do know that once the virus has infiltrated the system, the disease progresses very rapidly."
    Very rapidly. As Dukat watched, the virus destroyed the last remaining healthy cell. He shuddered.
    "I don't know if we can reverse the virus's path," Kellec said. "It completely destroys any cells it touches. But I suspect that we could stop it in the incubation phase-if we could only find it."
    "This is the Bajoran version," Dukat said. "What about the Cardassian?"
    "The virus seems to be the same, with slight differences; but it reacts the same way to Cardassian cells," Narat said. "It's as I told you before. Only the symptoms are different. But I am having no more luck than Kellec in discovering the way the virus is spread."
    Kellec turned in his chair. His face seemed thinner than it had before, and he had deep shadows under his eyes. The disease was taking something from him as well, and he wasn't even sick.
    "Actually," he said. "We're not being entirely accurate. You saw what happened in my sample. If I were to take the virus and touch you with it, either through fluid or saliva, you would get sick and die within the day. That is happening to some of our people. But they are not the ones who hold the secret. The ones who hold the secret are the ones who have incubated the disease for days or weeks. We do not know how many people are incubating it now. I'm testing my own blood to see if I am, but so far I have found nothing." "We do know," Narat said, "that the virus itself can be spread by touch and through bodily fluids, but not through the air. But it has moved into too many people to be spread simply that way, so something else is spreading it. We just don't know what."
    Dukat tensed.
    "We have been cautioning everyone, but I suspect it's too late. We must not allow anyone to leave Terok Nor, and no one should come here." Narat bowed his head. "We have to remain completely isolated until the disease has passed."
    Dukat straightened his shoulders. He had stopped all departures from Terok Nor already, and he wasn't allowing