an excerpt from an extended letter from one Elim Garak to Dr. Julian Bashir…

[sparrowings]

…He’s a very good man, this Dr. Parmak; he reminds me of an older version of you, Doctor. But what is once again ironic is that Dr. Parmak was once marginally involved in an illegal political group, and when he was arrested, guess who was responsible for his interrogation? The man is anything but a coward, but his sensitivity is such that all I had to do was stare at him for four hours and he told us everything he knew. He claims that even today he has a hard time looking me in the eye. I have asked his forgiveness, and he has been kind enough to give it. I hope the new Cardassia will have more people like him.

…I [thought about the] Cardassian sense of duty and how it is largely responsible for bringing those of us are left to these current circumstances. I asked Dr. Parmak how an entire people can come under the sway of this duty and blindly give allegiance to a state that goes mad and murders its own children.

“Poisonous pedagogy, Elim,” he replied. “We believe what we are taught.”

-  from A Stitch In Time by Andrew J. Robinson; this scene is set shortly after “What We Leave Behind”.

The last time I read through it, I hadn’t seen “Improbable Cause” or “The Die is Cast” in ages; the reference to Dr. Parmak (who is brought up by Tain while reminiscing about the good ol’ days of the Obsidian Order) went right over my head.