A Stitch in Time

Introduction (blurb)
For nearly a decade Garak has longed for just one thing - to go home. Exiled on a space station, surrounded by aliens who loathe and distrust him, going back to Cardassia has been Garak's one dream. Now, finally, he is home. But home is a world whose landscape is filled with death and destruction. Desperation and dust are constant companions and luxury is a glass of clean water and a warm place to sleep.

Ironically, it is a letter from one of the aliens on that space station, Dr. Julian Bashir, that inspires Garak to look at the fabric of his life. Elim Garak has been a student, a gardener, a spy, an exile, a tailor, even a liberator. It is a life that was charted by the forces of Cardassian society with very little understanding of the person, and even less compassion.

But it is the tailor that understands who Elim Garak was, and what he could be. It is the tailor who sees the ruined fabric of Cardassia, and who knows how to bring this ravaged society back together. This is strange, because a tailor is the one thing Garak never wanted to be. But it is the tailor whom both Cardassia and Elim Garak need. It is the tailor who can put the pieces together, who can take a stitch in time.

Summary
My dear Doctor...

Elim Garak writes Doctor Bashir a letter and attaches his journals chronicling his life from childhood to a return from exile to Cardassia. The tale is written by Garak in an outbuilding next to ruins of Enabran Tain’s former home which Garak has taken residence in, but much of the letter was written in Garak's time on Terok Nor/Deep Space Nine.

Part One:
Looking back from a life as a volunteer in an emergency med unit on Dominion decimated Cardassia Garak recalls his involvement in the invasion of Cardassia in the Dominion War a time when he looked back into his childhood and his development into an adult...

On Deep Space Nine preparing for the impending invasion of Cardassia Garak debates Cardassia’s future with Doctor Bashir and Odo and takes out his frustrations on a flustered customer in his shop. Later he engages a large Klingon in Quark's who was molesting a dabo girl, Tir Ramara who was a friend of the late Tora Ziyal, a chase through the Jefferies tubes results in the Klingon getting stuck and claustrophobic and Garak keeping him company until he’s freed.

When Garak reached the Age of Emergence he was sponsored to go to the Bamarren Institute for State Intelligence to begin his education as a security operative. After a somewhat unaccomplished start Garak soon gained a reputation for being a skilled student so much so that One Charaban asked for him to help plan in a mock battle between third and second level students. The battle was a a great success and Garak was ready to bathe in power he would receive for that success but was betrayed by Charaban and returned to solitude for much of the remainder of the first level. At the end of the first three years he went to the lower prefect’s office for reviewal in the hope his efforts and reputation would move him up from the ten position in the group but instead found himself in the company of Enabrin Tain who informed him he would not be progressing to the second level but would instead be reassigned to another school. Garak had time for goodbyes to his few friends and left the next day.

Part Two:
On Cardassia Garak has taken to arranging the rubble of Tains home into ornate patterns, unlike many of his neighbours he has no intention of rebuilding the house but instead dedicates his construction as a memorial for his mother Mila, who’s corpse lies in the basement below and all the other Cardassians who perished in the Dominions departing blow. In the mean time his med unit had been converted into a burial unit having already saved anyone left alive they are now faced with disposing of the billion who didn’t.

The invasion of Cardassia was a failure and Garak returned to Deep Space Nine where he helped the federation crack Cardassian codes for the war effort. He has a continuing relationship with Tir Ramara who turns out to be a terrorist planning to kill Garak in a misplaced mission of vengeance against Garak. Garak leaves the station with Kira on a mission to Cardassia to join the resistance.

After leaving Bamarren, Garak returned to his childhood home to work with his farther. In this short period Tolan gave Garak his first glimpse of the unorthadox teachings of the Oralian Way. This happy life was short lived, Garak was taken by his mother to the Obsidian Order to begin his work as a junior probe. His first mission was to Tohvun III to disrupt peace talks with the Federation, whilst there his partner, Maladek, attempted to defect, but by the manipulation of higher powers in the organization Garak managed to convince a federation operative, Hans Jordt, that Maladek was unreliable, preventing the defection, maintaining the cover of the operation and disrupting the talks.

Garak's missions took him further from Cardassia for long periods of time. Tolan died, telling Garak the truth of his parentage on his death bed and leaving Garak his Hebitian mask and a bag of Edosian Orchid tubers. Garak took to taking residence in various homes throughout Cardassia City leaving crops of Edosian Orchids in his wake. Around this time he also reencountered Palandine (now the wife of Barkan Lokar) and the two eventually began an illicit affair.

Garak was dispatched to Romulus where he takes on the identity Elim Vronok, the gardener at the Cardassian Embassy. His mission was to assassinate Tain’s arch-nemesis proconsul Merrok. To do so the Romulan Senator Pelek requested his services to try and grow the Edosian Orchid in her arboretum, they would then pollinate the orchid with the White Star of Night to create a deadly toxic bloom. After three months cultivating the orchid Garak and the Peleks Gardener Crenal took the orchids to be planted in Merroks garden, Merrok himself being a keen gardener. Two days later Merrok was found dead.

In a later operation Garak worked with Pythas Lok (his best friend Eight Lubak at Bamarren) on an operation to bring down The Brotherhood (a group of powerful political and military families) by interrogating Procal Dukat. Procal resisted Garak and attacked him resulting in Dukat's death at Garak's hand.

Shortly after, Tain had a discussion with Garak. Tain soon afterretired from the Order and Pythas Lok became the new head. Garak had been implicated in Dukat's death and furthermore Tain was aware of Garak's affair with Palandine. He ordered Garak to end the affair and to kill Brakan to maintain his cover as an obsidian order operative. He also demoted Garak back down to probe status.

Garak defied Tain's instructions and went to see Palandine anyway. He was captured by Lokar and awoke to find himself being beaten, the prelude to a military interrogation. Lokar ordered his men to leave them alone, and began to interrogate and beat Garak himself, though Garak ended up killing Lokar.

Part Three:
Garak found himself stationed on Terok Nor where Skrain Dukat wishing to humiliate Garak as vengeance for his fathers death assigns him to be a humble tailor repairing the garments of the stations two thousand residents. He is at first resistant and spends a great deal of time ‘preparing’ the shop until Dukat threatens to have him working alongside the Bajoran slaves in the mining operations.

Garak arranges for Quark to supply him with the necessary equipment and decides to take his punishment as a challenge, determined to become a vital element of Terok Nor. The business developed quickly and Garak was soon charging high prices for his repair work and began to design clothing for sale.

Cardassian reign over Bajor came to and end and over night the Cardassians left leaving Garak on the rechristened Deep Space Nine, a lone Cardassian amongst Bajorans and the Federation, exiled indefinitely.

On Post-war Cardassia Garak attends a meeting of the Directorate, a political group forming in the hope of restoring Cardassian to it former glory. He quickly realises he is in the wrong place and leaves. The Directorate quickly mobilise, establishing representatives in each section of Cardassia city. Tensions extend to there fullest when Directorate cronies start to dismantle Garaks memorial, but Garak and his associates in the Reunion Project a counter political movement headed by one of Garak’s fellow Bamarren students Alon Ghemor had prepared for such an act and the local community soon surround the site in peaceful protest, refusing to fight, remaining until the level of tension drives off the Directorate personnel.

The two parties eventually agreed to hold a vote competition in each sector of the city to establish the powerbase as the people desire. Voting in the Paldar Sector took place in Garak's memorial, which had become a prominent public space in the recovering city. Just prior to the vote Garak manages to re-establish contact with Pythas Lok, Pythas suggested Garak look to the Oralian Way in the search for Palandine’s fate.

The Reunion Project won the majority of the vote in four out of six of the sectors and a democratic government was formed. Garak took to attending Oralian Way meetings, which are growing in popularity without them being forbidden. Kel has become a prominent figure in the religion but Garak has yet to work up the courage to approach her.

Main

 * Elim Garak
 * Pythas Lok
 * Barkan Lokar
 * Mila
 * Palandine
 * Enabran Tain
 * Tolan Garak

Bamarren Institute

 * Calyx
 * Two Charaban
 * One Lubak
 * Two Lubak
 * Three Lubak
 * Six Lubak
 * Seven Lubak
 * Rilon
 * One Tarnel
 * Toran

Tohvun III

 * Hans Jordt
 * Maladek
 * Oonal
 * Saurik

Romulus

 * Bornar
 * Crenal
 * Krim Lokar
 * Kronim
 * Merrok
 * Pelek

Cardassia

 * Astraea
 * Procal Dukat
 * Rokan Du’Lam
 * Corbin Entek
 * Kel Lokar
 * Limor Prang
 * Mindur Timot

Deep Space Nine/Terok Nor

 * Julian Bashir
 * Skrain Dukat
 * Hadar
 * Kira Nerys
 * Londar Parva
 * Miles O'Brien
 * Odo
 * Quark
 * Rom
 * Benjamin Sisko
 * Tir Ramara

Post-war Cardassia

 * Nal Dejar
 * Aman Evek
 * Alon Ghemor
 * Madred
 * Korbath Mondrig
 * Malyn Ocett
 * Parmak
 * Parn

Referenced

 * Maran Bry
 * Erud
 * Joran Kine
 * Kira Taban
 * Minok
 * Cylon Pareg
 * Tora Ziyal

Starships

 * USS Defiant - Defiant class
 * Shuttle Taklan

Locations

 * Cardassia
 * Bamarren Institute for State Intelligence
 * Cardassia City
 * Lakarian City
 * Mekar Wilderness
 * Morfan Province
 * Ba'aten Peninsula


 * Deep Space Nine/Terok Nor
 * Garak's Clothiers
 * Promenade
 * Quark's


 * Romulus
 * Tohvun III

Species

 * Bajoran
 * Cardassian
 * Changeling
 * Ferengi
 * Human
 * Klingon
 * Romulan
 * Vulcan

States and Organisations

 * Cardassian Union
 * Directorate
 * Dominion
 * Obsidian Order
 * Oralian Way
 * Romulan Star Empire
 * Reunion Project
 * Starfleet
 * United Federation of Planets

Information

 * In the first few pages of the book diagrams can be found of Charaban's attack plan, a plan of the Bamarren Institute and a map of Cardassia City and its Sectors.
 * The book contains Chapter Ten of Michael Jan Friedman's serialized Novel Starfleet: Year One.
 * Whilst A Stitch in Time is a numbered novel, the last DS9 one in fact, since its publication it has been retroactively added into the DS9 Relaunch, The Alon Ghemor government and the Oralian Way are particularly prominent aspects of other relaunch books.