Chapter Text
While there were few things about Castellan Garak’s time as leader of New Cardassia that were less than exceptional, it is generally understood that the media coverage of his exit from political life was the most remarkable series of events of his career.
The beginning of the unusual happenings can be said to be in the election of Reeve Mecor Dukat. As the Leader of the political party that stood the best chance of ousting Castellan Garak’s from a controlling position in the government of the Cardassian Union, he quickly took advantage of his new position of influence. Dukat’s followers were primarily Cardassians born to formerly wealthy families. Following the Dominion War and subsequent restoration, they found themselves financially and socially disadvantaged. These people were often young enough to have been born after the war, or have been alive before it but not having been old enough to be independent of parental shelter. These Cardassians imagined that their families’ new lack of affluence and influence was a repercussion of the political and cultural restructure of the Empire into the Union … rather than the natural conclusion of the extremes to which the previous Cardassian way of life had brought themselves to an end.
With this poor understanding of fact, it was easy for Dukat to present to his political followers a narrative that blamed the the United Federation of Planets, both for their involvement in the Dominion War itself, and for their presence on Cardassia after the war had concluded. Castellan Garak quickly became the focus of their ire. He had participated in the war as an ally of Starfleet and when it was over, he had opened Cardassia’s doors to to Federation interference in the form of food, civic support, medical supplies and medical personnel. In addition to this, the Castellan had allegedly been involved in the death of both Dukat’s grandfather and his father. Precor Dukat’s death had followed a prolonged encounter with the Castellan in the years before his expulsion from the Cardassian Empire. Gul Skrain Dukat’s subsequent rivalry with him was long held, long understood, long lasting and extremely public. Reeve Dukat claimed that his late father represented the ideals of the Empire’s way of life and in many ways, this was not an obfuscation of fact. He painted himself as the heir to his father’s ideologies, the natural solution to Castellan Garak’s supposed mismanagement.
When he began to speak of the reparations owed to his followers and publicly infer the Castellan to be a murderer and war criminal, it became apparently that Dukat was a a genuine threat to the Castellan’s leadership. When he first proposed this political ideology, it was with some vitriol and more than a year in advance of the election in which he would then be confidently assured of his being able to replace his rival. The Castellan responded swiftly to these pronouncements with a statement of his own, offering a sincere and thoughtfully worded statement of regret over the loss of his paternal forbears. While carefully avoiding a direct apology regarding the his presence in the circumstances of these deaths, the Castellan expressed regret that a young man such as the Reeve, elevated to public office while still in mourning, was unable to grieve these losses in private.
Dukat, who had been an adult for some significant years, did not allow this agile presentation of the dissonance between his actions and the more emotionally conservative lifestyle that had been ubiquitous before the war to slow him down in the slightest. His public airing of violent emotion could not alienate his followers. It was undeniably helpful that his political base were primarily incapable of appreciating the nuance of the Castellan’s implications. His mourning of his lost family took the same priorities in his speeches as his accusations of the Castellan’s prioritizing a loyalty to Starfleet rather than Cardassia. The aid Cardassia had accepted from their former enemies left them beholden when the Union still had so little to spare. Castellan Garak, he declared, had spent too much time clutched to the bosom of the Federation. His pre-war intimacy with the First Minister of Bajor, of the past and current Commanders of Terok Nor, a Founder, and even the Federation Ambassador himself left him a victim to the seduction of a world that had no respectful place for Cardassia.
Having found political success by presenting facts with this worldview in mind, Reeve Dukat repeated the speech with an occasional variation as often as he could. Cardassian holonews rapidly picked up his appearances in response to the growing viewer numbers. With the perhaps predictable result of an increase in followers with every repetition, it wasn’t long before he was in the public consciousness of most citizens of the Cardassian Union, whether they were inhabitants of Cardassia Prime or not.
It was only after this that the Castellan’s previously flawless public presentation of himself began to waver. With every repetition of Dukat’s grievances, Castellan Garak expressed regret, and with each repetition of regret, he seemed slightly less composed. He began to express frustration and appeared to be confused as to why Dukat would be so aggressive in his insults. The confusion progressed over the next few pronouncements as into bewilderment. The Reeve pounced on the idea that the Castellan was showing signs of age and deemed him unfit for public office. His evidence for this only grew as the Castellan began to show an accelerated spread of white strands in his hair, the hint of a tremor in his hands and continued to fumble his words in his speeches.
At this time, Dukat began also to target the Federation Ambassador to the Cardassian Union. His residency on Cardassia Prime, singularly longer than any of his predecessors or counterparts indicated a detailed subterfuge, a tallying of what the Federation could claim from Cardassia under the guise of friendship. With the Castellan in decline and havin held a long-term acquaintanceship with the Ambassador, how, Dukat demanded, would it even be possible to keep Cardassia safe from the deceit of the Federation?
Castellan Garak's adamant and impatient response was that he had put great effort into separating all personal connection with the Ambassador from his professional obligations to serve the best interests of the Cardassian people. This would have been easier to believe had he not careened and almost toppled as he stepped away from the podium.
It was not long after this that Castellan Garak could not be seen in public without Ambassador Bashir at his side. Most Cardassians now knew, thanks to Reeve Dukat, the the Ambassador was also a Doctor and formerly the CMO of a Starfleet-occupied, usurped Cardassian mining station. Even preceding this, the Ambassador had long been known for indiscrete expressions of sentiment. This had previously served to paint him as unthreatening in the public eye, as had his long-term volunteer work in medicine on Cardassia Prime. Under Dukat’s loud public perspective, the Ambassador’s presence in both hospital and research centers took on a sinister undertone.
It was a fact that Ambassador Bashir’s emotions were clearly visible on his face at most times. While many Cardassians took this to be a simple fault in all humans, they might have been surprised to know that the human had somehow become an Ambassador despite being an exceptional specimen of his species in that regard. Though he had often smiled in public, he now seemed grim as he walked at the Castellan’s left hand. He carried a medical kit at all time, even while in formal wear. While it was not the first time he had been seen to be regularly at the elbow of the Castellan, Ambassador Bashir was now an almost constant presence at his side. At first it was simply that the Ambassador was close by; eventually it seemed that he was physically supporting the Cardassia’s leader. When the Castellan began to use a cane, the Ambassador stopped standing quite so close, but not more than a few steps away. He did not distance himself any further when the cane became a a personal gravity support system and soon after, a hover chair.
While the Castellan's original episodes of seeming confusion over Mecor Dukat's citing of the deaths of his father and grandfather abated, he did indeed appear to be deteriorating. His voice crackled when he spoke, as though he was constantly working against a tangle of congestion in his throat. His hands were often seen to be visibly shaking and his skin began to take on a green hue. While he was not quite of an age to be considered an extremely senior Cardassian, within the course of four months, it became clear that all of the hair on the Castellan’s head was growing in a solid white color. The most favorable news responses to all of this were expressions of concern. To Mecor Dukat's unapologetic glee, the least favorable were scorn. Cameras and holographers followed the Castellan in most public places and sometimes into places which were not completely public.
It was perhaps a mistake for the Castellan and the Ambassador to have chosen to take a lat elunch on what would become a notorious afternoon in the gardens of a government building that was, despite its seclusion, still technically accessible to the public. This lapse in judgement would be openly described as a sign of vulnerability by Reeve Dukat after the fact. When images and footage surfaced of the Castellan in a secluded annex of the garden path. Framed by a blanket that had been carefully draped over his lap and by the Ambassador beside him, the Castellan was the absolute portrait of an aged man. The two men were sitting in chairs next to each other, facing in opposite directions. The Ambassador was clutching the Castellan's left hand in his own, seemingly reading aloud from a datapadd. The Castellan had a distracted smile on his face. After a short time, the Ambassador stopped reading and added his right hand to his left, covering the Castellan’s completely. The Ambassador pressed the hand, cradled in his, to his face and leaned against it.
A month after the release of this footage, public confidence in the Castellan's ability to perform his job, currently and in future years, was the lowest it had ever been.
As it was then a scant two months before the upcoming election, it surprised almost no one when it was announced that there would be a formal broadcast from the Castellan, addressing all citizens. With little prelude, the Castellan’s appearance was shocking. Centered to the camera, he was in a hospital hover bed. With the presence of several medical monitors discretely adhered to his skin and the specific design of the bed, it was clear that this was not a temporary arrangement but one designed for long-term comfort. The Castellan was sitting up straight, and it took visible effort. His Second, Lang, was at his side, and there was a respectful but tight line of his senior aides behind them, tellingly punctuated at the end farthest from Second Lang by the Federation Ambassador.
Castellan Garak confirmed what many had feared. He was terminally ill. He had contracted Seven Sector fungal encephalitis, a degenerative fungal infection. It was so named because it was believed to be exclusive to those who dug through the wreckage of Cardassia City in the immediate aftermath of the war. Its spores were found occasionally in the toxic dust prevalent at the time and only ever documented in those who had been involved in the post-disaster response. As cases diagnoses had slowed and then halted a few years ago, there had up to now been a general optimism in the public, a belief that the life span of the fungus was limited. Learning that this was not the case added to the tragedy of the moment.
The Castellan calmly stated that he would not have traded his time helping to repair the community, the culture, and the planet that he loved for any extension of the time he had remaining to him. He had been grateful to serve as he had, to do good works after a life of indeterminate morality. He thanked his staff individually for their service, each stepping forward with a somber or melancholy face to accept their accolade. The Castellan then turned to Second Lang. He formally renounced his role as Castellan, appointing the now Acting Chatelaine Lang, to guide the Cardassian Union in these last few weeks before the election of a new leader. At that point, the Chatelaine took the focus, and while the former Castellan was not longer the center of attention in the scene, it was still clear from the change in his posture that he had put in significant effort to conclude without faltering.
The Acting Chatelaine reassured her citizens that the Cardassian people could be confident that government would continue to serve the people in all the ways that it had done so well tomorrow morning. She then made it clear that her administration, brief though it may be, would be noticeably different from that of Former Castellan Garak. She outlined her personal policies. She announced several initiatives that were in progress as of a few hours ago. These were obviously beneficial to all, and to the ears of Reeve Dukat’s followers, they were an unexpectedly generous address to their loudly-voiced demands. These probably would have appealed to this faction even should they have been phrased half so cleverly. Reeve Dukat had somehow neglected to suggest any plan at all to address the injustices he complained of in this new Cardassia.
She returned the moment to her predecessor. He had now been joined by Ambassador Bashir, who had one hand on the other man’s shoulder. Former Castellan Garak was slumped into his touch. The dying Cardassian repeated his pride in his life of service, and asked for the understanding of all as he declared an intent to indulge his personal life in a way that many years of professional behavior had prevented him from so doing. He was happy to confirm the long-held opinions of many that Former Ambassador Bashir - although the human had not yet made any reference to his own retirement - enjoyed a relationship that had been long-separated from their professional and public lives. While none of his remaining time was guaranteed, he and his Former Ambassador Bashir - and again, the title change was noticeable - would leave as soon as medical safety allowed for the Federation Space Station Deep Space Nine. There, where they had first known each other, they would be married by the commander of the station.
“If I can no longer serve my first love,” the Former Castellan said gravely, “Cardassia and her people, I find I am grateful to be able to indulge in my second.”
The camera then cut to Former Ambassador Bashir, who, as he was wont to do, exhibited his feelings on his face as few Cardassians would have deemed appropriate. Certainly the Cardassians of former Castellan Garrick's generation would not. Formerly an Ambassador and now a plain and simple Doctor, Bashir confirmed his own intention to retire. A new Ambassador would be arriving from Starfleet shortly and would continue his work in the aid and support of all Cardassian citizens in the name of good faith. He thanked Cardassia for the grace of welcoming him into what he had come know as home. At that point, he paused, then attempted to speak to the Former Castellan’s statement of their intent to marry. He abruptly truncated his words; it was quickly becoming clear that he could not continue. He turned from the camera, covering his face with one hand.
Acting Chatelaine Lang quickly redirected the attention to herself to conclude the broadcast. Despite this, Former Castellan Garak's anxious expression as he turned towards Dr. Bashir, and the movement of the human’s shoulder in a silent weep was could not be misinterpreted by even the least perceptive viewer.