Author's Note: This is a Greensleeves AU story and takes place approximately 4 years after the story Greensleeves.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek or any characters, events, or locations associated with it. All original characters, events, and locations are my property and may not be used without permission. I am not making any money off of this.

Prologue

It was freezing.

No, that was wrong. It was beyond freezing. Kelde Moset huddled in the hollow she'd found, keeping herself as small as she could. It wasn't just the piercing wind that blew across the entire snowy plain from which she was trying to shield herself. The hollow, more of a rocky hole than anything, helped protect her. The semi-circle of large black rocks on the rim helped keep the wind from plunging toward her.

It was those things out there she was hiding from.

She had no idea what they were. She'd never seen a species like that in her life. Maybe they were Trisepat; Kelde had only met a few Vorta and one Hendulu, once, when she'd been an adolescent. That had been four years ago. She had lived her entire life on Cardassia Prime, and she was a terraforming technologist, not a politician or explorer. The Trisepat didn't have much cause to visit the terraforming labs on Cardassia, and she'd never had a reason to cross through the wormhole and visit their space.

The aliens looked like Vulcans more than anything. But harder, angrier. Kelde had extensive experience working with Vulcans; the Vulcan Science Council sent terraformers to Cardassia Prime quite often. Cardassian terraforming techniques were considered among the best in the Federation. The Vulcans she'd worked with had been measured and calm.

They did not have the habit of shooting at Federation vessels and trying to kill their crews.

They'd find the escape pod soon enough. She had left it immediately, without bothering to try and help the other person inside. Myran had died on impact. Kelde had survived unscathed. It was almost lucky for the other Cardassian she had died when she did. A quick death was better than freezing to death out here on the wind swept, icy plain. There hadn't been enough time to gather emergency equipment, but Kelde had been working in the cold lab when the evacuation order had been issued; it was the only reason the cold wasn't going to kill her immediately. The thermal suit would keep her warm enough, but its systems would give out eventually. And she would have to eat. The probablity of finding any food on this barren expanse was low.

Still, it wouldn't matter if she couldn't conceal her biosigns. She pulled out her tricorder and flipped it open, scanning the area while staying huddled in her barely adequate hiding place. There were aliens around, but not too close to her. They'd trace her from the escape pod, though, even if the wind had covered her tracks.

She worked quickly, using a trick her brother, a Starfleet Intelligence officer, had taught her years ago. A standard tricorder could be programmed to mask the life signs of one person if necessary. It was a trick very few people knew, but Kelde had memorized it. Trintar had taught her a great deal of survival tactics. Right now, she was more grateful than ever for the protectiveness of an older brother.

The tricorder beeped, letting her know the dampening field was in place, and Kelde tried to huddle down further. Snowing was blowing over her and she let it, trying to ignore the cold that stung the exposed parts of her face. She pulled the hood of her thermal jacket as tight as it would go, but her nose and eyes were still exposed. The Cardassian hid her face in her legs, listening intently. She heard the crystalline crunch of boots on the icy snow and gritted her teeth against the noise. If they saw her, they'd identify her. The tricorder trick would be of no use then.

Voices carried across the cold wind in a harsh language she didn't understand. It didn't sound like anything in the Federation, but she wasn't wearing a universal translator. Why would anyone attack a ship of terraformers? Teilos was easily within Cardassian space, and no one had any issue with the fact that the Cardassian government wanted to adapt it for habitation. One of the conditions of the merger between the Alliance and the Federation was that the Cardassians and Bajorans were allowed to regain local control over the systems that had been theirs for centuries.

And Teilos was considered too warm for even a Cardassian to inhabit comfortably. Why would anyone else want it?

And, most importantly, where the hell was she now?

The voices and footsteps faded. Kelde waited tensely, straining her ears for any hint that they might return. There was only the high pitched whine of the wind whistling across the stones above her.

After a long hour, she raised her head cautiously, squinting against the cold, and peered out from her hiding place. There was nothing but the whiteness of snow and the blackness of the scattered rocks. The wind howled forlornly, reinforcing the fact that she was alone. The sky was bleak and low, the clouds hiding the sun so that she could not even make out where it might be.

Unwilling to leave her hiding place just yet, in case the aliens returned, the young Cardassian woman huddled back down, pressing her hands between her knees and keeping her head down, listening to the empty sound of the wind.