| abstract | - In the mirror universe, Ataan Rhukal was a Cardassian male who lived during the 24th century. After Kaleen Ghemor was killed, Rhukal pulled Iliana Ghemor away from her mother's burning body. Prior to 2377, Rhukal assassinated Tekeny Ghemor and subsequently confessed to the crime under interrogation supervised by Natima Lang, Ghemor's successor as director of the Obsidian Order. He was allied with the Bajoran dissident movement. His contact within the organisation was Lupaza. After the Iliana Ghemor of the primary universe arrived in his universe and assumed the identity of Intendant Kira Nerys, she attempted to discover his fate as his primary universe counterpart had been her fiancé prior to his death on Bajor in 2359. This attracted the attention of senior figures within the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance, who regarded it as suspicious given Rhukal's affiliation with the Bajoran dissidents. Consequently, Regent Martok sent the Obsidian Order agent Corbin Entek to the IKS Negh'Var to speak with Iliana and instruct her to report to him on Raknal Station. However, Iliana had her Jem'Hadar accomplice Taran'atar coerce Entek into "confessing" that Rhukal was innocent and that he was the true assassin of Tekeny Ghemor. Furthermore, he claimed that he had done so at the behest of Natima Lang, Ghemor's successor as director of the Obsidian Order. The confession was recorded on an isolinear rod. Iliana claimed that he had committed suicide only hours after making that statement. In response to this "revelation," Martok stabbed Lang with his d'k tagh, killing her instantly. Following Rhukal's release, Ghemor invited him aboard the Negh'Var as a guest, where he was witness to the recapture of Terok Nor from the Terran Rebellion. When Ghemor ordered the destruction from orbit of the dissident enclave in Vekobet in the Kendra Province, Rhukal pleaded with her to reconsider as his wife, a Bajoran named Dakahna Vaas, was among the dissidents. Ghemor was shocked by the revelation that he and Dakahna were married as, in her universe, Dakahna Vaas, had been responsible for Rhukal's death in 2359. However, she acceded to his request and ordered the Negh'Var's Klingon troops not to kill any of the Vekobet dissidents. After Dakahna was captured and taken to Terok Nor, Ghemor accused her of having manipulated her husband for over 15 years, theorising that she had been instructed by the dissident movement to become close to Rhukal during his assignment on Bajor so that they would have an agent on Cardassia in the future. Although Dakahna strenuously denied this, Ghemor felt that the strength of her reaction meant that her hypothesis was true. Nevertheless, she believed that Dakahna did eventually grow to love Rhukal and assisted them in escaping Terok Nor once the station came under attack from the Defiant and a fleet of Talarian Republic vessels. (DS9 novel: The Soul Key)
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