Saints and Sinners

His name was Aamin Marritza, and he was a Cardassian.

He was a file clerk, a nobody, until fate got its hands on him and made him a martyr. He was stationed at the Gallitep labor camp, yet another faceless cog in the machine of slaughter there, but not one unaffected by his work. It drove him mad. When it was over, he chose another identity - one more befitting the punishment he craved for the atrocities he attended, and he nearly got what he wished. Had Captain Sisko been less determined to find the complicated truth beyond the simple one I wanted to see, Bajor might have executed the man who claimed to be Gul Darhe'el long before learning that the true Butcher of Gallitep had died in his bed years before. Instead, we found Aamin Marritza cowering within the terrible disguise of Darhe'el, who he longed to see sacrificed on the altar of Cardassia's redemption, even if it meant his own sacrifice as well.

Not many know the story, at least not as it should be, with the Bajorans clutching at rumor and the Cardassians lying outright to this very day.

I watched Marritza die at the hands of a fellow Bajoran, one too consumed by hate to understand hope when he saw it. That man sits in jail now, much like he spent a good deal of his time before that day, comforted by his self-righteousness – and I know his hate well. I understand the rage of my own people as well as anyone; better than many. I see it in myself, though I choose not to let it lead me in all things.

That, I suppose, is the difference between Marritza's killer and myself, between despair and hope, and that is why even now, with the Dominion bearing down and our darkest days perhaps yet approaching, I find enough faith within myself to support another Cardassian.

Damar was once my enemy, and may yet be if my judgments of him prove wrong. If that were to happen, it certainly wouldn't be the first time a Bajoran was betrayed by a Cardassian. But even the most unforgiving among us cannot deny that things have changed – since the Occupation, since the start of the war... since yesterday.

For all his resolve, all his determination, Damar has lost everything he held dear at the hands of those who professed to be his allies until he dared to question their methods. And it is nothing new to say that the most dangerous man is one who has nothing left to lose. I suspect the Dominion remembered that a moment too late.

He needs my help now to stage his rebellion, to do to the Dominion and his own misguided government what I did to his people years ago – and I could refuse. I could dwell on all the sadness and terror he rained down upon my life and those of so many others, and I could hate him, and tell him that I am no friend to him or his cause no matter his great transformation – too little, too late. I could watch him fail, and call it justice.

But I will not do that. I will help him, because I see in him the same struggle and the same decency I saw in Marritza once all was revealed, and I choose to hope.