
"I only ask your help for one camp," the monk continued. "The one where I and two of my brethren
serve. It is near the old farming village of Lacroya. We are luckier than most; the destruction of Lacroya
was fairly recent and incomplete. We have been able to glean much useful material from the ruins. Many
of the people originally with us were farmers, and could coax crops from rock—or so they liked to say.
They rallied the children to help them plow a few fields and to plant seedlings. Our relief supplies from the
provisional government have been as much as charity could make them, but to give charity to others, you
must first have enough to provide for your own family. There are very few Bajorans who can say that
these days. So our farmers decided to take back the land and feed themselves."
"That's commendable," Sisko remarked. "And I assure you, if there is anything we can do to help them
regain their independence—"
A wistful smile touched the monk's face. "They are dead now."
"Dead?" Sisko's hands clutched the armrests of his chair again. "What happened?"
The monk held out his hands, palms upward. "We called it camp fever, for want of another name. One
of my brethren is a healer of great skill. In the Temple, he studied the ancient records of sickness and
health. He thought it was an affliction very likesatai , the swelling fever. He applied all the known
remedies forsatai to the victims." He lowered his hands. "They died anyway."
"Did you contact the government for aid?"
Major Kira snorted. "Why bother? The government will give nothing because the government has
nothing to give. Besides, they have their own problems, trying to keep all the factions and splinter groups
together long enough to make consensus decisions. Between that and a half dozen 'leaders' only on the
lookout for the opportunity to promote themselves, there's no hope of real help. In their eyes, their own
political survival is more important than the lives of a few refugees."
"It is sad," the monk said quietly. "The people of the valley have suffered so much, so long, under so
many different hands. The Cardassians' brutal rule was only one burden laid across their shoulders. Then
the Bajoran resistance sought to strike at the Cardassians by destroying their immediate food supplies.
They burned crops, destroyed farming implements, and in the end did no great good to the cause."
Kira bridled. "The resistance knew what it was doing! We struck at the Cardassians' resources—"
The monk shrugged. "Cardassian technology was easily able to replenish all foodstuffs the resistance
destroyed. Where they did not have replicators, they simply got shipments from more cooperative
districts. The only ones who starved were the Bajorans. And as if that were not punishment enough, the
Cardassian overlords held the farmers themselves responsible for any damage done by the resistance.
There were more executions, more deportations to the labor camps. Many farmers tried to run away, but
again their families held them back. The few who stayed were told in no uncertain terms that they were to
meet the old quotas. No matter that those quotas were set when there were more hands and more
working machinery to help meet them."
"There's no need to tell the commander all that," Kira said sharply. "Just tell him what you told me."
Sisko cupped his chin in one hand. He had seen enough of battles and their aftermath to know that there
were never any winners in a war—just some victims who lost less than others. He was certain Major
Kira knew that too, but to say it aloud would be the same as admitting that the resistance had done